A South-western Ramble, part 4 - Farewell to Cornwall…

Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Royal Albert Bridge spans the River Tamar and the border between Cornwall and Devon and even partially shrouded in scaffolding it's still a magnificent sight!

The Royal Albert Bridge, Saltash, 6/8/14

Here 43151 leads* the 14.00 First Great Western service from Penzance to London Paddington 'The Royal Duchy' across the bridge and into Devon on 6 August signifying the end of my trip to Cornwall… Trains slow considerably along the single track section across the bridge and that, coupled with the tight curve leaving Saltash station make such images possible.

Built for the Cornwall Railway's 7ft ¼in broad gauge line from Truro to Plymouth the bridge was opened in May 1859, four months before Brunel's death and the lettering 'I.K.BRUNEL ENGINEER 1859' was added as a memorial by the directors of the Cornwall Railway Company.

In 1889 the Cornwall Railway became part of the Great Western Railway, a company that had operated the line since 1877 who converted the track gauge on the bridge from 7ft ¼in to 4ft 8½in in one single weekend in May 1892! A feat hard to imagine these days…

*For the record 43195 was on the rear of the train.

A South-western Ramble, part 3 - Two Beres please!

Having already travelled over the Royal Albert Bridge linking Devon and Cornwall I decided to travel under it (by rail, not river) with a trip up the 'Tamar Valley Line' to Gunnislake.

The line splits off the West of England main line west of Plymouth at St Budeaux Junction and winds its way up the Tamar estuary to Bere Alston before reversing onto the line to Gunnislake passing over the Calstock Viaduct (and into Cornwall) roughly three miles from Gunnislake station.

150126 at Bere Alston, 6/8/14

I hopped off the train at Bere Alston and snatched a quick photo of 150126 as the guard abandoned his ticket machine on the platform and went off to change the points for the line to Gunnislake completely missing this!

Bere Alston signalbox, 6/8/14

Having swapped sides for the journey back to Plymouth I spotted the signalbox on the now disused island platform as the train pulled back into Bere Alston and I detrained once more to investigate. A London & South Western Railway type 3b box dating from 1890 it was closed in 1970 and is now apparently used by the owner of the former station-master's house… I'm not sure what for but wouldn't it make a superb summer house?

Bere Ferrers is the last station before the line re-enters the Plymouth suburbs and is home to The Tamar Belle, a small railway heritage centre that also offers overnight accommodation in a pair of London & North Eastern Railway carriages! Sadly, a lack of time prevented a visit but I managed to take a photo of a couple of the centre's locomotives before continuing on my way.

Hunslet Engine Co Ltd 0-4-0DM (works no.3133 of 1944) and Peckett & Sons Ltd 0-4-0ST 'Hilda' (works no.1963 of 1938) at the Tamar Belle Railway Heritage Centre, Bere Ferrers, 6/8/14

Information on this pair is sketchy but the diesel is a Hunslet Engine Co Ltd product, an 0-4-0DM and believed to be works no.3133 of 1944, supplied new to the Admiralty's Lodge Hill & Upnor Railway in Kent and subsequently moved to the Admiralty depot at Bullpoint, Plymouth in 1962. The 0-4-0ST was built by Peckett & Sons Ltd in 1938 as works no.1963 and I would welcome any details as to its history.

A South-western Ramble, part 2 - Now that's more like it!

You may remember that last year I photographed the First Great Western 'Night Riviera' service as it passed through Exeter St Davids on its way to London Paddington.

Last year 57602 Restormel Castle was in charge of the train, wearing the First Group dark blue livery that I thought was applied to all of FGW's locomotives and HST power cars…

So I was pleasantly surprised when this turned up!

57604 PENDENNIS CASTLE at Exeter St Davids, 6/8/14

57604 PENDENNIS CASTLE (converted from Class 47, 47209 in 2004) wearing Great Western Railway lined green complete with the GWR coat-of-arms on the cabside, a much more attractive and 'railway-like' livery than those applied to the rest of FGW's fleet in my opinion.

A South-western Ramble, part 1

31 years after I last stood on Truro station during my first visit to Cornwall on a family holiday I made a return visit a few weeks ago while travelling on a Freedom of Devon & Cornwall (3 in 7 days) Rover ticket.

I'd wanted to travel on the Falmouth branch train (marketed as the 'Maritime Line') that begins its 12 mile journey at Truro and just had time to do so before continuing my journey down to Penzance.

150238 prepares to depart from Truro with the 15.51 FGW service to Falmouth Docks, 4/8/14

I made the return trip to Falmouth Docks on 150238, passing 153373 and 153329 at Penryn travelling in the opposite direction on both the outward and return journeys.

Truro signalbox and GWR/WR lower quadrant signal, 4/8/14

Upon arriving back at Truro I had time to take a few photographs before catching 'The Royal Duchy' for the short hop to Penzance, Truro still being blessed with a traditional Great Western Railway signalbox and semaphore signals not to mention some lovely GWR platform benches (although these are more than likely reproductions), now if only First Great Western would adopt a more traditional GWR-style 'chocolate and cream' paint scheme!

Signalbox Safari - Leeming Bar

Time for another signalbox…

Just over a year ago I wrote about Dersingham signalbox on the former line between King's Lynn and Hunstanton in Norfolk and a recent visit to Leeming Bar on the Wensleydale Railway gave me the opportunity to photograph another signalbox from that line, albeit one transplanted to Yorkshire.

The former North Wootton signalbox now restored at Leeming Bar on the Wensleydale Railway, 11/7/14

North Wootton was the first station out of King's Lynn and like Dersingham a number of its buildings outlived the line itself with the station buildings now forming a private residence. The signalbox, another Great Eastern Railway 'type 7' structure, this time dating from 1901 survived as a scout hut until 2007 when the 14th Woottons Scout Group, unable to afford its restoration (or even insurance) decided to give it away.

The former North Wootton signalbox before restoration, 2/6/08

The Wensleydale Railway took the project on, carefully moving the box to its Leeming Bar headquarters in September 2007 and in 2009, after a painstaking restoration supported by a Heritage Lottery Fund grant it was reopened and apparently now forms the WR's control office.

The Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway

I make no apologies for featuring another of Hunslet Engine Co Ltd's products in these pages, this time in the shape of 'Austerity' 0-6-0ST REPULSE (works no.3698 of 1950).

Hunslet Engine Co. Ltd. 0-6-0ST (works no.3698 of 1950) at Haverthwaite station, 9/7/14

391 locomotives of this class were built between 1943 and 1953 for the Ministry of Supply and War Department with a further 93 being built for industrial users. Hunslet built the majority but Andrew Barclay, Hudswell Clarke, W.G.Bagnall, Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns and Vulcan Foundry were also involved in the construction and examples from each manufacturer still survive in preservation.

The Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway's example "REPULSE" (named after the World War II battle cruiser) spent all it's pre-preservation life working for the North Western Area of the National Coal Board, finally being withdrawn from service in 1975 from the Ladysmith Coal Preparation Plant, Whitehaven.

On the day of my visit REPULSE was handling all of the passenger services on the L&HR's three mile line, transporting a seemingly endless stream of passengers to and from the 'Steamers' that operate over the whole 10.5 mile length of Lake Windermere.

Hunslet Engine Co. Ltd. 0-6-0ST (works no.3698 of 1950) runs round its train at Lakeside station, 9/7/14

More photos from my visit to the L&HR can be found on Flickr.

Le Tour Yorkshire

Cycling is a sport about which I know nothing… Actually all sports fall into that category if I'm honest but even I hadn't failed to notice that the Tour de France was coming to Yorkshire this weekend.

As the roads will be crammed with folk wearing lycra Northern Rail have put in place additional train services and a special 'Le Yorkshire' ticket for the weekend.

They've also adorned a number of DMUs with 'Gearing up for the Tour' logos as seen here at Sheffield on Class 144 DMSL 55829 (144006) forming the 09.06 service to Leeds on 2 July.

'Gearing up for the Tour' logo, Class 144 DMSL 55829 (144006), 2/7/14

I can't help but wonder what visitors to the area will make of Northern's fleet of ageing Class 142s, 144s and 150s though, especially if the predicted two million spectators all want to travel by train!