Torbay Express 2018

My footage of her at Berkley with the addition of the White Horse, Allerford Crossing and Burlescombe. Enjoy.

 

I have, Eastbound:

Whiteball Min 61mph
Somerton Tunnel 66mph
Bruton 63/64mph
Min 50mph over Brewham

 

Thanks for that. Good run.

 

The return working crossing the Somerset Levels. https://www.flickr.com/photos/79185888@N04/44099456452/in/dateposted-public/

 

My footage of yesterday's run, as well as a couple of shots of this year's first Torbay Express on June 3rd. Locations include: Newton St Loe, Limpley Stoke, Marlands, Bishopsteignton, Bascombe Road Bridge and Woodrow Barton. I hope you enjoy it!

 

When you wait for a perfect shot of a Voyager and it’s photobombed by a Bulleid

 

I think Bishopsteignton was a much wiser choice - if that is what it was - than Dawlish. A good video which proved an earlier post about the climb from Goodrington to Churston.

 

A few shots from yesterday:
Speeding through Cogload Junction nearly 10 minutes early.


Departing Taunton.


The return passes Red Rock at Dawlish, a little into the sun here so I converted to black and white.

 

What's a disgrace Taunton Station looks now. Fortunes are spent on rebranding but why bother when they have got a major station looking like wasteland

 

Exactly my first thoughts - didn't even spot the platform on the extreme left for the 'foliage'!

Steven

 

Doesn't help with that overwhelming, ugly monstrosity in the background.

 

A million miles from how it looked when I joined the railways at Taunton in 1963. All platforms from 1 to 9 were in use. Locomotive depot 83B still bustling with mostly steam locomotives. Mainline and branch trains ensuring the station was busy at all times. And then came Summer Saturday. Not a better station anywhere in the UK, in my view, for variety of steam and diesel and high speed on the up and down mainlines. It is sad to see how it is today. The real end for me came when they demolished West Station signal box where I was a booking lad before moving on to my own box in Stonehouse. The island platform (5 + 6) was closed and general decay followed and it has never recovered.

 

Yes I thought the same thing. I took the train from there down to Dawlish in the afternoon. When ascending the stairs from the subway to the platform, a recorded voice played to remind me to hold the rail and take care on the stairs. Must be motion sensor activated...some bright spark at GWR actually thought that was a good thing to spend money on. To be fair to the TOC though I imagine anything growing beyond the end of the platform is firmly in Network Rail's domain, the disused platforms who knows.
The other weekend I took a couple of friends who aren't into railways for a ride on the SVR, they remarked how the stations actually looked cared for compared with their usual experience of train travel.

On a similar note I hope Clan Line isn't too scratched up after its Torbay trips, my journey from Taunton to Exeter featured its fair share of foliage almost touching the window.

 

Taunton station has some good memories for me. In 1957 before I bought my first car I used to travel to South Devon from Weston-super-Mare for week-ends and leave when in the RAF. Those were the days of - almost buffer to buffer - trains during the summer taking folks to the West for their holidays. Often the hoped for connection, from WSM, was late but often, due to being held by signals, a non-stopping train did stop at one of the centre road platforms. A very quick sprint, as only someone under 21 years old can do, down through the subway and onto the stopped train. This was to a chorus of 'you can't get on here', but of course we did and no one threw us off or even questioned us.

 

Exeter St Davids is another one that has seen better days. I remember spending time there on summer Saturdays in the 1970s and it has gone sadly downhill since then.

 

No locomotive available on the 2nd Sept so final TBE pushed back to the 9th with Clan Line.

 

That works for me as I was looking for something to do that weekend given Tornado's trip to Plymouth has been moved to April.

 

Thanks for the update.

 

That's what I remember in 1960. Fast run down the Berks and Hants behind a class 42, stop at Cogload, crawl past Taunton and Norton Fitz, stop at Victory Siding alongside some other train. Then clear away to.....Cowley Bridge where it started again.

 

http://www.torbayexpress.co.uk/

Cheers, Neil