The End Of HSTs Between Exeter And Cardiff
Clive Smith
Clive Smith
With this week being officially the last week of booked Castle HST sets on services to and from Bristol and Cardiff east of Exeter I thought I would take a look back through at these shortened versions of the iconic trains that have been such an improvement to local services since their introduction in 2019. As they enter their final period in service centered on Cornwall here's a look at them in action 'further up the line'. Enjoy them while you can .
Regards, Clive Smith.
Regards, Clive Smith.
(1) 43188 arrives with the ECS for the 2C87 18.00 Cardiff Central - Penzance on the 18th August 2023 at Cardiff's platform 1 on a really gloomy afternoon prior to a storm brewing in the west. This power car is appropriately named Y Cymro / The Welshman / Geraint Thomas as well as Newport Castle. 43156 is on the rear. Copyright Clive Smith.
(2) 43029 leads the 05.40 Penzance - Cardiff Central with 43188 on the rear at Newport on the 8th February 2023.
(3) 43188 & 43093 depart Bristol Temple Meads on the 25th February 2023 with the 06.40 Penzance - Cardiff Central. Copyright Clive Smith.
(4) A gloriously sunny day in Somerset as 43042 with 43187 work the 2U14 09.39 Plymouth - Cardiff at Weston-Super-Mare on the 10th November 2023. Copyright Clive Smith.
(5) 43153 at Taunton on 29th March 2023 with the 1G77 17.50 Plymouth - Gloucester with 43040 on the rear. The train did not operate in Cornwall due a week long engineering blockade between Par and Liskeard. Copyright Clive Smith.
(6) 43016 brings in the 14.00 Cardiff Central - Penzance at Tiverton Parkway with 43192 on the rear on the 17th February 2022. Copyright Clive Smith.
7) HST Sunset : 10th November 2023. On the 2C79 14.00 Cardiff - Plymouth between Taunton and Tiverton Parkway. Copyright Clive Smith.
Sad times, still we can continue to enjoy comfort and less noisy carriages in Cornwall at least.
Many many thanks Clive.
Many many thanks Clive.
NINETEEN SIXTY TWO
PART 56
Michael L. Roach
PART 56
Michael L. Roach
Devonport Kings Road Station (3)
Regular readers will know that it is sometimes necessary to show photographs taken in years other than 1962 to complete a story. Such is the case here where the photos of Devonport Kings Road Station were taken in 1970, which was the year of the “Mayflower 350” celebrations in Plymouth. The two photos were taken on Saturday 7 March 1970 because the station buildings were “soon to be demolished” as my notebook records. Both views were taken looking east towards Plymouth Station and the platforms are trackless after the rails from St. Budeaux had been lifted. Although the passenger service had been withdrawn on and from Monday 7 September 1964 in fact on 7 March 1970 the station was still open for freight which continued for another 12 months to 7 March 1971 when it was withdawn and the station closed completely. Why didn't I walk to the other (east) end of the station and look over the wall to photograph that end of the station – I don't think I ever did which is quite strange in view of what I am about to write. At the east end the line passed under Paradise Road with the road carried over the line on a low multi-arched viaduct constructed of Plymouth limestone, as were the station buildings. I passed over that viaduct hundreds of times on my way to school in the nineteen fifties.
My secondary school was located immediately to the east of Devonport Kings Road railway station and is called Devonport High School for Boys, known to all as DHS; and I studied there from 1953 to 1959. The school was founded in Devonport in 1896 and during World War Two was evacuated to Penzance. When the school returned to Devonport in 1945 it was not to its pre-war buildings but to the historic buildings still in use to this day. There are five main blocks in a straight line linked on the south side by a colonnade with a walkway on the top for when the weather is dry and to keep pedestrians dry underneath when it rains. The four original blocks were built in 1797 as a military hospital and would have dealt with casualties returning from wars such as the Napoleonic and the First Crimean War of 1853 to 1856. In their first term new boys were regaled with gory stories of the amputations of limbs that had taken place in the hospital in the days before anaesthetics. At the time I lived some 1½ miles away to the east but for the first three years I arrived by bus from the west as it described a horsehoe shaped route around Plymouth. Morning and afternoon I passed along Paradise Road and over the railway at the east end of Kings Road station. However occasionally I would walk home to save the bus fare and even less frequently catch the 4.19pm train from Kings Road station to North Road station which took me about half way home..
In September 1956 my parents bought me a bicycle for my birthday and for the next three years I cycled to school each day. The bicycle allowed me to explore the railway infrastructure of Plymouth, and one of my particular interests was sketching track layouts of stations and yards in addition to taking photos. The bicycle also allowed me to go further afield to places like Wadebridge and St. Blazey. One of my regular rides, done dozens of times between 1956 and 1959, was to Sparkwell Bridge, which crosses the main line at the top of Hemerdon Bank. It was a marvellous place to see steam engines working hard to surmount the two miles of 1 in 42, and I felt lucky to live a mere 7 miles away from that wonderful location. It took me about 35 minutes to cycle from home to Sparkwell Bridge.
DHS now has about 1150 pupils but in my day the number was around half that at 600 pupils from a much smaller catchment area because there was a second boys grammar school in Plymouth which has since closed. As I passed through the school there were several railway enthusiasts in every class, and it was natural that most of my friends were enthusiasts too. I found watching trains far more interesting than chasing a ball around a field. Directly opposite the main school entrance was the fifteenth century Stoke Damerel Church which originally was the parish church for the whole of Devonport. In Plymouth the L&SWR and the Southern Railway were seen by many enthusiasts as the other railway, and the poor relation to the Western, and treated as such which is quite sad. I should have visited and photographed the Southern infrastructure a lot more than I did.
RECOMMENDED READING: The Okehampton Line by Irwell Press. ISBN 978-1-911262-03-9
MLR / 03 December 2023
Regular readers will know that it is sometimes necessary to show photographs taken in years other than 1962 to complete a story. Such is the case here where the photos of Devonport Kings Road Station were taken in 1970, which was the year of the “Mayflower 350” celebrations in Plymouth. The two photos were taken on Saturday 7 March 1970 because the station buildings were “soon to be demolished” as my notebook records. Both views were taken looking east towards Plymouth Station and the platforms are trackless after the rails from St. Budeaux had been lifted. Although the passenger service had been withdrawn on and from Monday 7 September 1964 in fact on 7 March 1970 the station was still open for freight which continued for another 12 months to 7 March 1971 when it was withdawn and the station closed completely. Why didn't I walk to the other (east) end of the station and look over the wall to photograph that end of the station – I don't think I ever did which is quite strange in view of what I am about to write. At the east end the line passed under Paradise Road with the road carried over the line on a low multi-arched viaduct constructed of Plymouth limestone, as were the station buildings. I passed over that viaduct hundreds of times on my way to school in the nineteen fifties.
My secondary school was located immediately to the east of Devonport Kings Road railway station and is called Devonport High School for Boys, known to all as DHS; and I studied there from 1953 to 1959. The school was founded in Devonport in 1896 and during World War Two was evacuated to Penzance. When the school returned to Devonport in 1945 it was not to its pre-war buildings but to the historic buildings still in use to this day. There are five main blocks in a straight line linked on the south side by a colonnade with a walkway on the top for when the weather is dry and to keep pedestrians dry underneath when it rains. The four original blocks were built in 1797 as a military hospital and would have dealt with casualties returning from wars such as the Napoleonic and the First Crimean War of 1853 to 1856. In their first term new boys were regaled with gory stories of the amputations of limbs that had taken place in the hospital in the days before anaesthetics. At the time I lived some 1½ miles away to the east but for the first three years I arrived by bus from the west as it described a horsehoe shaped route around Plymouth. Morning and afternoon I passed along Paradise Road and over the railway at the east end of Kings Road station. However occasionally I would walk home to save the bus fare and even less frequently catch the 4.19pm train from Kings Road station to North Road station which took me about half way home..
In September 1956 my parents bought me a bicycle for my birthday and for the next three years I cycled to school each day. The bicycle allowed me to explore the railway infrastructure of Plymouth, and one of my particular interests was sketching track layouts of stations and yards in addition to taking photos. The bicycle also allowed me to go further afield to places like Wadebridge and St. Blazey. One of my regular rides, done dozens of times between 1956 and 1959, was to Sparkwell Bridge, which crosses the main line at the top of Hemerdon Bank. It was a marvellous place to see steam engines working hard to surmount the two miles of 1 in 42, and I felt lucky to live a mere 7 miles away from that wonderful location. It took me about 35 minutes to cycle from home to Sparkwell Bridge.
DHS now has about 1150 pupils but in my day the number was around half that at 600 pupils from a much smaller catchment area because there was a second boys grammar school in Plymouth which has since closed. As I passed through the school there were several railway enthusiasts in every class, and it was natural that most of my friends were enthusiasts too. I found watching trains far more interesting than chasing a ball around a field. Directly opposite the main school entrance was the fifteenth century Stoke Damerel Church which originally was the parish church for the whole of Devonport. In Plymouth the L&SWR and the Southern Railway were seen by many enthusiasts as the other railway, and the poor relation to the Western, and treated as such which is quite sad. I should have visited and photographed the Southern infrastructure a lot more than I did.
RECOMMENDED READING: The Okehampton Line by Irwell Press. ISBN 978-1-911262-03-9
MLR / 03 December 2023
7575 View of a trackless Kings Road looking east towards Plymouth Station at teatime on 7 March 1970. Kings Road is on the right. Copyright Michael L. Roach.
7576 The pleasing architectural style and detailing of the main station frontage looking east. Paradise Road is at a higher level on the left. Copyright Michael L. Roach.
Many thanks Mike, you knocked up quite a few miles on your bicycle!