Dartmouth Steam Rly 2014 season

Surely this can no longer be correct, is 75014 really going to take around 10 more years to complete? It's been out for ten at the end of this year already.

 

Here's a list of what's going on with engines on the DSR at the moment:

7827 is good for another 10 years on her ticket
4277 is good for another few of years
5239 will be withdrawn within the next two years for overhaul
4588 is up for sale and in need of an overhaul
4555 is in the workshop being striped down ready for overhaul
75014 will return next year. It's boiler will return from Crewe by the end of THIS year but there will still be work to be carried out after and then will be fitted and tested at the beginning of next year.

D7535, D2192 & D3014 are all good and operational.

Hope this clarifies things.

 

Does anyone know what will be in service on the 11th/12th August?

 

When was 4588 withdrawn from traffic most recently?

Edit - I have just found info on a flickr picture saying 2001 (assuming this is correct).

 

http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Uk/uk.railway/2005-09/msg01802.html

Just found this article. Is anybody able to shed any more light on what was going on at the time and the arrangements that allowed 4920 to run on the P&D in the 90s, was this to reduce rent for the Buckfastleigh line?

I guess the best of the stock and locomotives went to the P&D because it was still under DVR ownership and the fact the line is steeply graded and needs long trains to cope with traffic demands.

I guess this letter (or whatever it is) is very dated now as we all know the SDR is rich in GWR stock and locomotives these days.

 

I think it was more of a case of getting the loco earning some money as it couldn't be used on the SDR because of its weight. Obviously the income helped with the rent, but I suspect that if another railway had offered a higher steaming fee then the loco would have moved there. I think I'm right in saying that the SDR has now had its weight limit lifted enough to allow 4920 to operate, although that looks unlikely in the short-medium term.

Keith

 

How was the railway signalled when it used semaphore signals, did they use tokens and which signal boxes were open?

 

I think back in the 'old days' there were signal boxes at Paignton (North & South), Goodrington, Churston and Kingswear. I'm not sure when all of these boxes were closed and if they were ever used in preservation, but I think they did use a token system. If you look in the visitor centre at Kingswear there is a preserved token machine and bell system which says 'Churston/Kingswear'. Hope this helps.

 

Like most such railways, the situation changed over the years. Paignton was double-track between the North and South boxes and in due this course this was extended to Goodrington in 1928. Goodrington - Churston - Kingswear remained as single-line throughout. Like most such ex-GWR lines, it was probably Train Staff & Ticket at first, then Electric Train Staff, then Electric Key Token. After Churston and Kingswear boxes closed in 1968 it became One Train Working from Goodrington to Kingswear and remained as such into early DVR days. In due course the DVR built a new box at Churston (on the site of the old one) and equipped it with an 11-lever Westinghouse 'L' type miniature-lever frame (part of a much larger redundant frame) with power operation of points and colour-light signals, but that was swept away with the advent of the panel at Britannia Crossing.

 

Video from Saturday's gala.. very enjoyable indeed.

 

Busy week this week! It's the start of the Dartmouth Regatta on Thursday meaning late evening trains on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

On Friday Pathfinder tours are bringing down 2x Class 37s from Crewe on the Dartmouth Flyer.
On Saturday Statesman Rail are bringing down 2x Class 47s from Derby on the English Riviera Statesman and D7535 will haul the ex 1730 Paignton - Kingswear and return.

 

Does anyone know, please, what steam locos will be at work during the Regatta? I am preparing an application to my wife for a day's leave from gardening duties!

John

 

5239 & 7827 will be out over Regatta. The 25 will replace 5239 for the evening trip sat with 7827 doing the other evening train & running sunday.

 

Interesting to hear that D7535 will visit the SDR for their diesel gala in early November. It will be the first time the loco has left the line since if first arrived in the early 80s.

 

Does anyone know what will be working on this coming Saturday? (Oct 11th)

Thanks

 

Just found this gem of a video on YouTube. Shows 7827 and 5239 working in the 1980s... semaphore signaling, suburban coaching stock in use and a signalbox at Churston! Even the red arrows! Anybody know what 4555 was doing at 7mins?

 

This may have been said before, but it is worth reminding people that there will be trains on Thursdays and Saturdays throughout November, as well as Sunday 2nd of that month. Of course, there will also be a lot of operating days in December, but these will not all be Santa specials, so that the thrill of a 'normal' steam train in winter will be available. This courageous venture deserves support; this railway is now getting very close to an all year round operation.

John

 

I thought that might be the delivery of the (in)famous Paignton Pudding, but I can't find a record of a proper one being made in the 1980s. The one baked to mark the railway's opening in 1859 weighed a ton and a half; one baked for the town's regatta in 2009 was a mere 11 stone!

 

It could well be a Paignton Puddin' event as the procession leaves Queens Park and heads for the Esplanade and Green.

The Galmpton Gooseberry Pie is a smaller affair and is more easily carried. That makes the journey from Paignton to Churston.

The video is a bit of a mash mash - it doesn't seem to follow a logically geographic journey. However it is nostalgic and enjoyable. The Signal Box and Churston does not appear to be the GWR/BR one as that went. as far as I recall, whilst BR still ran the place. There is still a signal cabin there but as the line is controlled from Brittania Crossing it is a sattelite unit.