Items added on the 20th April 2016 Those added most recently come first

Colas Rail Tamper 73931 
By Mick House

This morning Colas Rail Tamper 73931 ran from Tavistock Junction 09.35am arriving at Truro 34 minuets early at 10.53am on its way to Penzance arriving 36 minuets early at 11.35am.
​I captured it at Apex Bridge.  

73931 about to go under Apex Bridge. By Mick House

Cornwall moves to Dorset

In yesterdays news we covered a visit by D821 Greyhound to the Bodmin and Wenford Railway following a commitment at Falmouth Docks on March 24th 2001 for a twining ceremony. Here we see pictures taken by John Cornelius, then the signalman at Chard Junction, of D821 and class 50 D449 heading for an unknown destination a few days later.  
                                                                               Many thanks to John.

The pair stand on the loop at Chard Junction, in the background lies the Kilk Factory, now, in April 2016 in the process of demolition.Copyright John Cornelius;

A smashing view of D821 at Chard Junction in 2001. Copyright John Cornelius.

The nameplate carried by 'Greyhound' for a while. Copyright John Cornelius.

Class 50 D449, later 50 049 Defiance also subject to a conversion for use with the rail freight pool as 50 149. Copyright John Cornelius

John Cornelius   fills a space

Up until now our coverage of the Somerset and Dorset Railway has lacked a picture of Templecombe Lower, however, coming up trumps, John Cornelius has provided that missing picture for which many thanks.

Copyright John Cornelius

The Lower station at Templecombe was a single platform, originally a terminus but later little used, most trains using the spur up to the Southern main station on the Waterloo-Exeter route, where many passengers changed trains for onward transit. The original Lower station was opened on 18th January 1862 and closed on 17th January 1887, the Lower Platform opening on the same day at a site between the LSWR main line and Combe Throop Lane road bridge. The platform which was linked to the LSWR station by means of a footpath could only accommodate two coaches. The Lower Platform closed on 3rd January 1966, the original closure date planned for the S&D.
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Minehead re-union twenty years ago.

The late Donald Beale was a legend on the Somerset and Dorset, a very skilled driver and a gentleman for whom Peter Smith, often his fireman, had a great respect. The pair are seen here at Minehead station during a re-union in 1986 - twenty years after the S & D closure. Copyright John Cornelius.