Nick Perring:
A Tribute And Introduction
Clive Smith
My friend Nick Perring lost his fight for life on the 30th August 2022 a week after suddenly collapsing with a massive stroke, meningitis and encephalitis while volunteering on the South Devon Railway. He will be sorely missed by his lovely wife Wendy and adoring family as well all his many friends. A proper Plymouth janner boy and Argyle fan, I'd known Nick since the mid 1970s when we were young trainspotters on Plymouth station . Then we both started following peak locos clocking up ridiculous amounts of mileage and spending many hours day and night together on trains across the country. As with most of us when our favourite locos' days ended and we started relationships and families so did Nick, becoming a true family man with children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews. Nick worked for British Rail and Network Rail for thirty nine years and thankfully took an early retirement at 57 . On the South Devon Railway he was a volunteer and led the S & T department and played a major role in the installation of much of the signalling on the SDR. Nick passed as a fireman on the SDR in 1991 and a steam loco driver in 1995 as well as driving the diesel fleet on the line. Somehow he still managed to follow Argyle around the country as well as still scratching new engines on the network for which we ribbed him mercilessly along with his desperate habit of ticking new Wetherspoons pubs. I never arranged to meet Nick anywhere socially in later life as he was a busy man with his new wife Wendy of just five years and him travelling the rail network with his red pen or stewarding on Pathfinder railtours. But our paths always seemed to cross at galas, railway events or the odd wedding or birthday do and we loved catching up and exchanging travel stories, finding out how we old bashers were getting on and reminiscing about the great times we had in our bashing heyday behind peaks. A real true good guy greatly admired and loved and always with an ever present smile. He will be much missed. R I P Nick.
Nick’s family kindly asked me to be custodian of his photo collection of which the the non-digital pictures span 1976 to 2007 with the period 1979 to 1987 being slides and the other years prints. The collection is quite extensive with a fair proportion with no identification of number, working, location or specific date. I have been greatly helped by people on the Flickr photo site as well as many on various Facebook groups to assist me with loco I-Ds, locations and dates as well as disseminating his old notebooks. Hopefully users of the Cornwall Railway Society web pages will enjoy Nick's photos as much as I have.
To start from Nick's collection of photos I have included seven pictures which give an insight into the life he lived .
Nick’s family kindly asked me to be custodian of his photo collection of which the the non-digital pictures span 1976 to 2007 with the period 1979 to 1987 being slides and the other years prints. The collection is quite extensive with a fair proportion with no identification of number, working, location or specific date. I have been greatly helped by people on the Flickr photo site as well as many on various Facebook groups to assist me with loco I-Ds, locations and dates as well as disseminating his old notebooks. Hopefully users of the Cornwall Railway Society web pages will enjoy Nick's photos as much as I have.
To start from Nick's collection of photos I have included seven pictures which give an insight into the life he lived .
Nick as he will be remembered by those that knew him. Giving his usual cheery smile driving class 20 D8110 on the South Devon Railway in 2012. Copyright Clive Smith.
A great and moving send off for Nick at the South Devon Railway in September 2022 . Poignant and emotional. His family did him proud and gave him a wonderful farewell, first with the funeral train from Buckfastleigh to Totnes and back, then the service in Weston Mill Crematorium Plymouth where Wendy and his family paid moving heartfelt tributes to Nick and brother Iain whistled and flagged off his coffin at the end of the service. Copyright Clive Smith.
Nick doing the job he loved so much. Here he is at Newton Abbot working for the S & T department in 1982. Copyright Clive Smith.
One of Nick's very early photos so apologies for the quality. The first ever visit of the prototype HST 252001 to Plymouth on the 18th March 1975. Nick had a pro-railway teacher at Ford Secondary that allowed him to go off to the station and record this historic occasion. This first visit was a run to Penzance but I'm not sure where it originated. It is now over fifty years since this momentous occasion and with the exception of the Midland Pullman and Network Rail's NMT we won't be seeing their like for much longer in Devon and Cornwall. Copyright Clive Smith (original photographer Nick Perring).
D1023 'Western Fusilier' with D1023 'Western Ranger' behind await departure from Plymouth with the 'Western Tribute' farewell BR railtour on the 26th February 1977, the advertised last ever Western class 52 hauled train on BR metals. This was the 19.40 Plymouth - Paddington leg of the tour that had started from Paddington and worked via Swansea. I was in the crowd at the end of platform 8 with Nick. My abiding memory is of when the organisers were applying 'THE END' transfers on to Fusilier and legendary enthusiast Gilbert piped up very loudly "That's not the end. That's the front" to uproarious laughter. Copyright Clive Smith (original photographer Nick Perring).
As much as Nick loved Westerns he also loved the peaks just as much and was of an age that allowed him to 'bash' the locos for many years until their withdrawals and he certainly clocked up the mileage behind them. This is Nick in front of 45118 'Royal Artilleryman' with the 1E37 10.54 Paignton - Leeds at Exeter St Davids on the 2nd January 1982. 45118 was Nick's class 45 'machine' and sadly he never lived to see its recent re-emergence on the main line. Copyright Clive Smith.
Finally, as a precursor to showing more of Nick's own photos and those in his collection, here is a shot that captures everything that has been lost at Newton Abbot station. This was taken by Nick from Newton Abbot East signal box, a massive advantage to working in the S & T Department for BR. 45054 pulls away from the station with the 1E37 10.54 Paignton - Leeds 'Devonian' on the 2nd February 1981. What a gem of a photo. Copyright Clive Smith (original photographer Nick Perring).
Many thanks Clive - fascinating photographs. We look forward to seeing more from Nick's archives in the coming weeks.
Two Ninety-Nines at Swindon
Guy Vincent
A nocturnal visit to Swindon, the spiritual home of the GWR, on the evening of 1st October to see the latest additions to the GBRf fleet being put through their paces.
99002 and 99001 hauling 20 JNA box wagons with diesel 66302 at the rear. The locos were working off the 25kv OHL as 4Q48 1843 Pengam Sidings - Wellingborough Yard with several technical staff on board monitoring performance. Note the thin cable running between the two inner cabs. A short pause at a red signal on the up through line gave sufficient time for a few photos to be taken from platform 3 prior to an impressive departure towards Reading.
My chosen name for these impressive beasts.... Flakes. Think ice cream cornet with a small crumbly chocolate bar poked into its side!
99002 and 99001 hauling 20 JNA box wagons with diesel 66302 at the rear. The locos were working off the 25kv OHL as 4Q48 1843 Pengam Sidings - Wellingborough Yard with several technical staff on board monitoring performance. Note the thin cable running between the two inner cabs. A short pause at a red signal on the up through line gave sufficient time for a few photos to be taken from platform 3 prior to an impressive departure towards Reading.
My chosen name for these impressive beasts.... Flakes. Think ice cream cornet with a small crumbly chocolate bar poked into its side!
99002 and 99001 at Swindon hauling 20 JNA box wagons on 01.10.2025. Copyright Guy Vincent.
99002 and 99001 at Swindon hauling 20 JNA box wagons on 01.10.2025. Copyright Guy Vincent.
99002 and 99001 at Swindon hauling 20 JNA box wagons on 01.10.2025. Copyright Guy Vincent.
99002 and 99001 at Swindon hauling 20 JNA box wagons on 01.10.2025. Copyright Guy Vincent.
Many thanks, Guy - great to see these. The future of British Railfreight.
Remembering the Falmouth Branch celebrations
The 150th anniversary - 25.08.2013
Roger Salter
The 150th Anniversary of the Falmouth Branch was celebrated on Sunday 25th August 2013. To mark the occasion, First Great Western laid on a special service using a HST set which travelled from Truro to Falmouth Docks and back.
43150 leads the special train's ECS into Truro from Penzance. 13.08.2015, copyright Roger Salter.
Departing Truro for Falmouth on the HST set. 13.08.2015, copyright Roger Salter.
Passing through Penryn Platform. 13.08.2015, copyright Roger Salter.
The view from the viaduct. 13.08.2015, copyright Roger Salter.
Arrival at Falmouth docks, the train doesn't quite fit the platform! 13.08.2015, copyright Roger Salter.
Disused trackwork running to the docks, now removed/disconnected. 13.08.2015, copyright Roger Salter.
Keith Jenkins of the CRS enjoying the journey. 13.08.2015, copyright Roger Salter.
A photograph of the photographer, Roger Salter photographed by Keith. 13.08.2015, copyright Keith Jenin.
Arrival back at Truro where the Mayor of Truro & dignitaries meet to unveil the plaque. 13.08.2015, copyright Roger Salter.
A busy scene at Truro station. 13.08.2015, copyright Roger Salter.
Many thanks indeed, Roger.
A wet day on the Sea Wall
Paul Barlow
43198 43156 on 1127 Exeter to Penzance passes Rockstone Bridge, Dawlish. 03.10.2025, copyright Paul Barlow.
43198 43156 on 1127 Exeter to Penzance has just arrived at Dawlish. 03.10.2025, copyright Paul Barlow.
Many thanks Paul - not long to go for the HST's.
New book
Penzance - Paddington, Stop Block to Stop Block
In the last hundred and eighty or so years, there have been thousands of books written about railways. They include everything from locomotives to rolling stock, from signals to stations and depots You will find each subject has been more than well covered, many, many, many times, by a great many experts on railways. However, it is far more difficult to find books about the most precious resource the railways have, its people, and what it was like working on the railways in times past.
This story is a lived social railway history from the 1950s through to 2013. It is about a career, or rather a vocation, which lasted thirty-nine years and four months, working on the railways. A career that started in the District Inspectors Office at Penzance in British Railways days and ended in the Station Managers Office at Paddington in First Great Western days.
This is why it is a book entitled Stop Block to Stop Block. According to the milepost on Platform 1 at Penzance Station it is a distance of 326.75 miles (via Bristol) from the Penzance stop blocks at the start of the GWR main line to the Paddington stop blocks at the other end of the GWR main line.
For more information, click here.
This story is a lived social railway history from the 1950s through to 2013. It is about a career, or rather a vocation, which lasted thirty-nine years and four months, working on the railways. A career that started in the District Inspectors Office at Penzance in British Railways days and ended in the Station Managers Office at Paddington in First Great Western days.
This is why it is a book entitled Stop Block to Stop Block. According to the milepost on Platform 1 at Penzance Station it is a distance of 326.75 miles (via Bristol) from the Penzance stop blocks at the start of the GWR main line to the Paddington stop blocks at the other end of the GWR main line.
For more information, click here.