Bulleid memories and my story of the Atlantic Coast Express.

Just read that lovely article again.

Makes me wonder how I always managed to get a timing seat in the front coach of the down ACE! What with having to queue under a board on the station concourse first. I think it was because I only ever travelled on the summer ACE when on a seven day SR rail rover ticket. So used the ticket to get onto an adjacent platform to where the ACE was going from, and therefore be at the end of the platform when the rolling stock was hauled in. Those seven day rovers were wonderful for doing things like that! You could also using them to get off a "picks up only" train at Woking on the down road. Might get shouted at by the guard as you got off, but too late by then!

 

Just seen this forum. Have also been searching various sites re the ACE and am wondering why I can't seem to find any reference to the midnight departures from Waterloo which our family used to use regularly in the early fifties arriving at Mortehoe at 0630am. Anyone any ideas please?

 

Try this online timetable:

Timetable World

 

What an amazing resourse - thanks for posting that link; facinating.

 

Just seen this.

The train was the 01.10 ex Waterloo. Did it a couple of time when on my 7 day rovers. But only as far as Salisbury.

 

The 'Timetable World' website has a Southern Region timetable from 1950 and a later Western Region timetable from 1965 which includes the Waterloo - Exeter services and the branch lines.


Here's a rather sad photo of the old Waterloo departure board for the West of England with a (no doubt) class 33 hauled service to Exeter (calling Woking, Basingstoke, Andover, Salisbury, Tisbury, Gillingham,Sherborne, Yeovil, Crewkerne, Axminster and Honiton) and another service to Salisbury - this was taken in the 1970s when the Exeter line was at its lowest ebb - 15 years earlier this would have been full of destinations such as Padstow, Bude, Ilfracombe, Sidmouth etc. No doubt, these destinations were still hidden on the old departure board, never to be used again.

 

Just as a side point , does anyone know how often they transported prisoners to Dartmoor on the ACE -- I witnessed the event one summer back in, I think 1961 . I was spotting at Salisbury, when the ACE arrived behind 35018 British India Line & the first carriage was carrying prisoners - we were kept back , but there was a visible presence of police , on train and on the platform . Never witnessed it again but am sure it did happen -- anyone else ever see it .