NINETEEN SIXTY FOUR – PART 94
Castle Cary Station, Somerset
Michael L. Roach
On 11 September 1964 I made another longish day trip from Plymouth on my West of England Rail Rover. I travelled east on the 8.30am to Paddington as far as Westbury (130¼ miles) where arrival was at 11.31am. I stayed in the Westbury area for three hours which will be described later. A 3-car dmu on the 13.05 Bristol TM to Weymouth, running 15L, took me back to Castle Cary where I stayed almost exactly one hour. It was my first visit to this delightful Great Western rural station in the Somerset countryside.
The first railway in the area passed some distance to the north of the town of Castle Cary and the station was built adjacent to a main road. The railway was the Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth, which obtained its Act of Parliament in 1845, and it was here at Castle Cary that it turned from basically heading west to south west on its way to its ultimate destination at Weymouth. The line and station opened to passengers on 1 September 1856, but by then the Wilts Somerset and Weymouth had sold out to the Great Western Railway. Fifty years later the GWR was keen to shorten its route to the South West and did this by building a number of cut-offs which saved 20 miles off the trip from Paddington to Taunton by trains no longer travelling via Bristol. One of those cut-offs started at Castle Cary which became an important country junction. The Signal box at the junction dated from 1905 but was destroyed in WW2 and was replaced by a reinforced bomb-proof design with a flat roof. It was still extant at the time of my visit in 1964 complete with a full complement of semaphore signals. In connection with the construction of the Castle Cary to Langport cut-off Castle Cary Station was rebuilt and the long curve at the London end of the station was eased to 60 chains radius to permit higher speeds for non-stop expresses.
The semaphore signals may have gone but Castle Cary remains a delightful country junction with 120-year old buildings and lots of character and atmosphere. My last memory of passing through and stopping at Castle Cary just happens to be in first class luckily when our train stopped specially at Glastonbury for festival goers to alight and witnessing how the new GWR coped with the crowds alighting at the station.
After 60 minutes at Castle Cary in 1964 I travelled to Bristol TM by 3-car dmu arriving at 17.43 some 2L on the 15.00 from Weymouth. The second mission of the day was to travel on the 18.50 to Westbury train which was then steam-hauled – one of the few then remaining on the route. That trip may be described later. Arrival at Westbury was at 19.59 some 4L. Here I picked up “The Mayflower” the 18.30 from Paddington to Plymouth. This was the last daytime train of the day to Plymouth (due 23.10) with no connection for Cornwall and loaded to 15C on this a Friday with 11C over the South Devon banks after dropping 4C at Newton Abbot for Paignton (due 22.45). This train was Western-hauled just like the train up in the morning.
Castle Cary was featured on the rear cover of the BRWR Magazine for October 1957 and the write-up gave some interesting facts about the station. “A busy junction where the line to Weymouth (for the Channel Islands) leaves the one to the West of England. On a Summer Saturday more than 100 trains pass through, of which about 30 stop at the station. Goods out 6,000 tons; goods in 16,000 tons plus 12,000 tons of coal. Total staff is 26, and passengers booked 15,000.” The figure of 15,000 has to be doubled to include alighting passengers, making 30,000 for modern comparisons. The latest Castle Cary passenger usage figures for 2024-25 are 355,000 entries and exits. With so many rural stations removed from the rail network I think the figures of 355,000 against 30,000 in 1957 show really dramatically how important the remaining rural stations are to countryside dwellers.
PS It was good to see Ian Thomas's two recent articles on “The Midland in Gloucestershire” (a neglected subject) and some of Ben Ashworth's photographs. I have been an admirer of Ben's photos ever since I first saw some, more than sixty years ago.
The first railway in the area passed some distance to the north of the town of Castle Cary and the station was built adjacent to a main road. The railway was the Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth, which obtained its Act of Parliament in 1845, and it was here at Castle Cary that it turned from basically heading west to south west on its way to its ultimate destination at Weymouth. The line and station opened to passengers on 1 September 1856, but by then the Wilts Somerset and Weymouth had sold out to the Great Western Railway. Fifty years later the GWR was keen to shorten its route to the South West and did this by building a number of cut-offs which saved 20 miles off the trip from Paddington to Taunton by trains no longer travelling via Bristol. One of those cut-offs started at Castle Cary which became an important country junction. The Signal box at the junction dated from 1905 but was destroyed in WW2 and was replaced by a reinforced bomb-proof design with a flat roof. It was still extant at the time of my visit in 1964 complete with a full complement of semaphore signals. In connection with the construction of the Castle Cary to Langport cut-off Castle Cary Station was rebuilt and the long curve at the London end of the station was eased to 60 chains radius to permit higher speeds for non-stop expresses.
The semaphore signals may have gone but Castle Cary remains a delightful country junction with 120-year old buildings and lots of character and atmosphere. My last memory of passing through and stopping at Castle Cary just happens to be in first class luckily when our train stopped specially at Glastonbury for festival goers to alight and witnessing how the new GWR coped with the crowds alighting at the station.
After 60 minutes at Castle Cary in 1964 I travelled to Bristol TM by 3-car dmu arriving at 17.43 some 2L on the 15.00 from Weymouth. The second mission of the day was to travel on the 18.50 to Westbury train which was then steam-hauled – one of the few then remaining on the route. That trip may be described later. Arrival at Westbury was at 19.59 some 4L. Here I picked up “The Mayflower” the 18.30 from Paddington to Plymouth. This was the last daytime train of the day to Plymouth (due 23.10) with no connection for Cornwall and loaded to 15C on this a Friday with 11C over the South Devon banks after dropping 4C at Newton Abbot for Paignton (due 22.45). This train was Western-hauled just like the train up in the morning.
Castle Cary was featured on the rear cover of the BRWR Magazine for October 1957 and the write-up gave some interesting facts about the station. “A busy junction where the line to Weymouth (for the Channel Islands) leaves the one to the West of England. On a Summer Saturday more than 100 trains pass through, of which about 30 stop at the station. Goods out 6,000 tons; goods in 16,000 tons plus 12,000 tons of coal. Total staff is 26, and passengers booked 15,000.” The figure of 15,000 has to be doubled to include alighting passengers, making 30,000 for modern comparisons. The latest Castle Cary passenger usage figures for 2024-25 are 355,000 entries and exits. With so many rural stations removed from the rail network I think the figures of 355,000 against 30,000 in 1957 show really dramatically how important the remaining rural stations are to countryside dwellers.
PS It was good to see Ian Thomas's two recent articles on “The Midland in Gloucestershire” (a neglected subject) and some of Ben Ashworth's photographs. I have been an admirer of Ben's photos ever since I first saw some, more than sixty years ago.
Castle Cary looking east from Platform 1 the Paddington bound platform on 11 September 1964. Copyright Michael L. Roach.
Looking west from the footbridge showing the avoiding line behind platform 2. In the 1980s a third platform was added fronting on to the avoiding line. Copyright Michael L. Roach.
Another view west from the footbridge. Note the wartime signal box at the junction of the Weymouth and Taunton lines. Copyright Michael L. Roach.
Looking east from platform 2. The station buildings date from the rebuilding of 1905-06. Copyright Michael L. Roach.
Split box 37's
Steve Clark
A few images of some Split Box 37s on the Western Region.
First up is 37035 stabled at Bristol Bath Road. Note the nose mounted headlight from its time working trains in the Highlands of Scotland. Copyright Steve Clark.
37025 approaches Westbury with a Test train heading to Weymouth. Copyright Steve Clark.
37109 is seen in Trainload Metals livery stabled at Acton Main Line along with 37715 in Construction livery. Copyright Steve Clark.
A couple of well stained workhorses there (and 37025!). Many thanks, Steve.