Items added on 7th December 2017 Those added most recently come first

Minehead branch
A missed opportunity
Guy Vincent

The Minehead branch was closed by British Rail on the 4th January 1971, goods had been withdrawn from Minehead w.e.f. 8th July 1964.  Luckily the metals stayed in position and reopening commenced from Minehead as the West Somerset Railway with effect from the 28th March 1976. Here we are 41 years on and fortunately the West Somerset goes from strength to strength.  A replacement bus service now runs every half hour from early in the morning until to about nine at night and serves most of the calling points once served by rail.  The bus takes about one and a quarter hours for the journey and serves Taunton Town Centre and Station - it has numerous stopping places within the town of Minehead to terminate outside the station.

Although in British Rail days trains ran direct from Taunton station to Minehead and could easily cope with the heavy holiday traffic the service could not compete with the frequency provided by today's buses.

In retrospect it was a shame that in haste to divorce the Minehead branch from the operational system the track was lifted for the 3000 yards between the currently existing WSR metals and the unused platforms which are awaiting the return of a service at Taunton.  Maybe in time this will happen, we can only hope!

To provide a comparison between today and 50 years ago we look at an old timetable provided by Guy Vincent and at the trackless platforms at Taunton.        Many thanks to Guy for the views shown below.

Guy Vincent

The west country map provided in the Western Region Timetable for 6th March 1967 to the 5th May 1968. Note that the Taunton - Barnstable service is already covered by buses. Copy from Guy Vincent.

Taunton Station, former Minehead Bay 10th October 2017 Copyright Guy Vincent N.B. All that is needed is about 3,000 yards of track to reach Norton Fitzwarren.

Salisbury Activity
Terry Waldron

​Shots taken today 5 December 2017 at Pullman Drive Salisbury. This is just to the North of Skew Bridge and shortly before Wilton on a 115 Gradient.
 
                                 Many thanks Terry

66003 heads 759R from Fareham ARC Sidings (1147) and passes at 1315 (14 minutes late) and heading for Whatley Quarry where it is timed to arrive at 1448. 5th December 2017 Copyright Terry Waldron

45212 heads the Alton to Bath 1Z92 and is running 19 minute late. 47580 on the rear, passing at 1341. This Christmas Market Special left Alton at 0921 and is timed to arrive Bath at 1422. The return train 1Z94 is due to leave Bath at 1854. 5th December 2017. Copyright Terry Waldron

Class 800
​- First impressions
Derek Buttivant

​I sampled the new Class 800 (IET Hitachi) train on 4 December on a journey from Reading to Cardiff.  This train was formed of two five-car bi-mode units coupled together.  I will send further photos and details over the next few days.  Let's start with the accommodation.
The attached photos show the standard class accommodation.  Like the HSTs, there are variations in interior layout between vehicles, depending on whether they contain other facilities such as crew accommodation, cycle/trolley storage compartments, etc. The first picture shows the vehicle with most seats and the extra three metres of length, compared with a Mk3 coach is noticeable. The layout feels less cramped and the seat backs seem less intrusive than in a Mk3. Overhead luggage racks are deeper, allowing slightly larger items to be placed in them. Most seats have reasonable alignment with windows but some have almost no useable window and, at the ends of the vehicle (see photo 2) where the door pockets intrude, there is no window at all. Worse still, these two seats are opposite the luggage stack so there is no window to be seen on the other side of the carriage either.  This might be acceptable for short journeys but, on the class 802 units being provided for services to Cornwall, sitting for up to five hours with no view through a window, it would certainly not be.  More useful would be to replace the no-view seats with additional luggage racks. Many thanks Derek, I too sampled the 800's from Swindon to Newport on the 4th December and share your thoughts - we look forward to your next installments.

Standard class vehicle - the seat with no view. Copyright Derek Buttivant 4th December 2017

The First Class seat without a First Class view! 4th December 2017 Copyright Derek Buttivant

Bodmin General
Roger Winnen

Early days 1363 on the approaches to Bodmin General Station during an Open Day in April 1970. Copyright Roger Winnen

Taunton
John Cornellus

This picture was taken in the yard outside the former loco shed which would have been behind the locos. Locos and track maintenance machines were stabled there for several years after the shed closed and the old roundhouse demolished. Copyright John Cornelius