Dartmouth Steam Railway General Discusssion

Thank you everyone for the replies, suppose at least we are staying local so if it comes to it can just walk down the road and have a look each day!

 

5520 and 5239 Goliath were running today. Trains to Kingswear were heavily loaded.

 

Just back from a great couple of weeks in Devon, had a lovely trip on the line and then boat over to Dartmouth the second Tuesday, and in between managed plenty of filming. Discovered could see a short bit of the line from our lodge so all we had to do was look out from the balcony at 10am so find out what was running - lovely start to the day! Video compilation of 12 days featuring all four locos, photos to follow.

 

Anyone wondering what the names of the cruise vessels are; Queen Victoria, Marella Discovery and Arcadia.

 

Thank you! My wife was tracking them on her phone - Ship finder I think, anyhow it was interesting. Amazing how much they move, everywhere we went we kept saying they look closer here - then we got to model village at Babbacombe and it was wow they are bigger here, then we realised they were in fact two different boats! Photos to add to above video...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/alts1985/albums/72157719562631619

 

Well the QV is staying until 2022 I understand.

 

Nice video, thanks for posting.

The Dartmouth Steam Railway is a line that I've only visited once way back in the 1980s. I really must get back down there again. Although the priming S160 is a bit concerning, I hope it wasn't damaged.

 

Excellent films of a very well-run railway. No posers, no rotting "restoration" projects under sheets of plastic, no raffles, donation boxes, begging envelopes , appeals for white-elephant extensions. A line that is still doing the job for which it was built.

 

Always had special memories for me, and the combination of steam to Kingswear along the coast, and then the ferry to Dartmouth, was like catnip in my youth, and I don't think there's anything quite like it anywhere else in the UK (I may be wrong). I get the snippy comments about inauthenticity and not being for enthusiasts, but it's a great gateway drug for the general public and kids in particular into heritage rail.

Simon

 

If it is commercially viable now, why wasn't it commercially viable when BR decided to close it?

 

You could say that about any heritage line. There is a big difference between a transport link and what is now a tourist attraction.

 

I suspect the answer is related to the hours and days of operation. Not many passengers on a wet Wednesday evening in January, which isn't a concern to a heritage line, but is to a transport operator when you basically spend money running empty trains.

Tom

 

Viability changes over time, cost/benefit balances change over time.

As for the lack of raffles/collection boxes etc, how very dare others seek to raise money for their works... I'd hardly say it's unusual in the heritage sector either.

Linear scrapyards... well let's say there's a difference of opinion there. I find the railway a bit overly tidy. And you'll find me looking over the gates to "back of house" areas. How things work are much more interesting than the shiny front of house matters to me.

 

Was it a red route... they get very expensive in Somerset...

Clearly creative accounting to fit a pre-agreed decision, but I wonder how much was maintaining it to a national network standard, making allowances for signalling/pw upgrades etc that would fit national programmes