3rd July 2019

A closure 80 years ago today :-
Mutley Station
Michael Roach

NEWS ITEM FOR 3 JULY
Mutley Station, Plymouth, opened in August 1871 and closed on 3 July 1939, 80 years ago today. It had no freight facilities and only ever dealt with passengers and parcels. After closure passengers would have had to walk just over a quarter of a mile to Plymouth North Road Station, now Plymouth Station. Today all that remains of Mutley Station is the sloping pedestrian access to the down platform and a flat area where the main station buildings were located on the up platform. An article about Mutley Station appeared in the Spring 2019 CRS Magazine.
     Regards,  Mike Roach                Many thanks Mike

Mutley Station looking east towards Mutley Tunnel. Note the sloping path up to the public road and the wooden steps both on the right of the picture. Lens of Sutton Association. With regard to the signal, the 1894 25-inch plan on NLS shows a small signal box about 100 metres west of Sutherland Road bridge. I am thinking that the top signal was the advanced starting signal of that box, while the bottom signal was the up distant signal for Mannamead Box at the other end of the tunnel.

2579 4936 "Kinlet Hall" is seen passing the site of Mutley Station in May 1961 with the up Mayflower. Note the remains of the down platform on the left and the station tower still under construction. Copyright M.L.Roach

Mutley:- 43161 leads the 12.55 Plymouth to Paddington on Thursday 14th March 2019. Copyright Clive Smith. Note on the left hand side of the cutting the wall of the pedestrian slope leading down to the site of the down platform.

Copy from the 25 inch O.S. Map 1892 - 1914 of the Mutley area reproduced courtesy of the National Library of Scotland. Note the slope leading down to the down platform. Also note the tramway tracks up on Mutley Plain. The tracks past the station were for a horse drawn tramway and closed early. The Plymouth Tramway system badly damaged by the war lingered on until 25th September 1945. Ref P.W. Gentry Tramways of South West England.

Further to Mikes article on Mutley - Roy Hart writes

If you expand the picture a little, you will catch a glimpse of Mutley signal box beyond the up side station building. Mutley box was small and had little function except to act as an 'outer home' for North Road East.Mannamead box (situated in a better spot to break the North Road East to Lipson section) was opened in 1906. The signal is Mutley up starter with distant for Mannamead. Therefore the photo can be dated to 1906-10 as Mutley box closed in 1910.

                   Roy Hart       Many thanks Roy - please see below.

Mutley Signalbox. Lens of Sutton Association.

Further comment on 
Mutley
Chris Osment

The signal-box west of Sutherland Road bridge would have been North Road East. The NLS map to which you refer also shows Mutley signal-box on the up platform between the station building and the footbridge and it can just be seen in the photo.
 
The signal was the Up Starting (No 6) for Mutley with, as you suspected, the Up Distant for Mannamead. Also visible beyond the footbridge on the Down side is the bracket that carried Mutley’s Down Home (No 2) and splitting Down Distants for North Road East. See details at https://www.s-r-s.org.uk/html/gwf/T3151.htm  . According to SRS records Mutley box was ordered in February 1896, contained 6 working and 2 spare levers, and was closed in 1908, while Mannamead was ordered in 1905. What is not clear therefore is whether the photo dates from the short period between 1905 and 1908, or after 1908 at which time the former Mutley signal 6 would have become the Up Advanced Starting for North Road East. It all depends really on whether or not the Down Home arm is still there on the bracket out-of-sight beyond the footbridge!
 
Regards,  Chris.  Thank you Chris.  The article compiled by Mike Roach has produced further comment and a link for which we are most grateful.  See photographs above.

Crow Catchers
Brian Pibworth

I snapped this XC unit in Plymouth recently and it wasn't until today that I noticed the remains of a young Pigeon attached to the front housing.  Maybe bad taste for the site so I shan't be offended if it hits the Editor's spike - the image that is, not the pigeon!

   With kind regards, Brian  Many thanks Brian, not for mealtime viewing!!

1) I've seen trains with Cow Catchers and Snow Ploughs but this one appeared to be a Crow Catcher. 18th June 2019. Copyright Brian Pibworth.

2) No, on closer inspection it's not a crow but a pigeon embedded in the nose faring of XC 221140 in Plymouth on 18th June2018. Copyright Brian Pibworth.