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North Devon line services in 1980s


Ramblin Rich
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Hi,

 

After leaving Cowley Bridge junction - which route would have been taken by the Meldon stone trains- presumably east on the SW Mainline? If so, would the Class 45 remained with the train?

 

Or would they have been run around and head north east via Taunton?

 

 

 

Tim

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Things might well have changed later as we are talking about Scotland where the seemed to take a fiendish delight in being that bit different from the rest of BR in a way that almost made the Western look totally integrated.

 

Oh yes :D

 

I'm sure I've seen a published image of the Mallaig "mixed" with a single 20 nose first, a few Mk1s then a sinlle TTA - but no barrier wagon. It might have been returning empty but can't be sure...

 

Not unlikely Rich, but I'd think that will be a late 70s or early 80s pic. Whether it was empty or loaded shouldnt make a difference (the usual instruction being to treat empty tanks as loaded anyway), but from around the turn of the 70s the use of barriers with oil or petrol type products generally ceased, so it seems likely that it also extended to this working.

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Hi,

 

After leaving Cowley Bridge junction - which route would have been taken by the Meldon stone trains- presumably east on the SW Mainline? If so, would the Class 45 remained with the train?

 

Or would they have been run around and head north east via Taunton?

 

Tim

 

Sorry can't help much with this - don't know which Peak you're referring to but some of Dave Vinsen's shots show Peaks around Crediton on trains to Bristol East yard (which presumably reversed at Riverside Yard) and on trains to Salisbury (which I presume headed up the SW line). Whether the Peak stayed or got substituted at Exeter is the question. The only pictures I've seen of Meldon trains heading through Exeter Central are from early 1990s with pairs of 33s or 37s....

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  • 3 months later...

 

 

Sorry can't help much with this - don't know which Peak you're referring to but some of Dave Vinsen's shots show Peaks around Crediton on trains to Bristol East yard (which presumably reversed at Riverside Yard) and on trains to Salisbury (which I presume headed up the SW line). Whether the Peak stayed or got substituted at Exeter is the question. The only pictures I've seen of Meldon trains heading through Exeter Central are from early 1990s with pairs of 33s or 37s....

 

 

Sorry it's aclong time since Tims post, haven't been into this thread for a while. Odds on the peak ran round at Exeter Riverside, and hauled train ex Meldon to Bristol East Depot via Taunton. I did ballast train planning over the period 1986 to 1990 and until 88 peaks were provided at Bristol for engineers traffic and I used to book them on ballast trains to/from Meldon. Regards Paul aka Devonbelle

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  • 1 month later...

Hi

 

Thanks for introducing me to this fascinating thread.....

 

I've just spent a very enjoyable couple of hours reading( & looking at the pictures & links ) from start to finish.

 

You've got some really informed & interesting contributors,whose information kept me fascinated.

 

As you know from your comment on my thread, where I say I am proposing a layout project on this line, I am interested in this area.

I lived in Crediton from '77 til '80,then in a close by village 'til 87.Working in Exeter meant I travelled by the line most days so saw a lot of the traffic mentioned,but not all.

 

Any way,my thanks to you for the introduction & to the contributors for some fascinating background info.......Trouble is to take it all in I'll have to read it all again.......Isn't life a Bitch.

 

I think I took a few pics of lapford.....I'll try to find them & scan & post them.

When the station building was up for sale we looked at it with a view to buying, but circumstances changed & we didn't.

 

 

Thanks again

 

Cheers Bill

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Thanks for the mention, Bill. It's been a marvellous thread, very wide ranging (!) and bringing in a lot of useful info which I intend to make some use of soon - hopefully your project can get off to a good start too ;)

I realised the sub-title was a bit misleading as it was from last year so I've edited that!

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  • 1 month later...

I've found myself drawn to this thread again. Rich mentioned that mixed service on the Mallaig line, it was a pic in one of the Janes railway year books, with a class 20, mark 1s and TTA tank wagons.

 

Ironically looking the pic up, I stumbled on the 1982 Janes year book, which had photos and text of loco hauled trains on the Barnstaple line, with text stating they had displaced some DMUs with the start of the Winter 82 timetable and a lovely shot of a 33, a rake of mark 1s and several GUVs on the back, entering Crediton.

 

The same edition of Janes year book had two photos of the last train to Torrington, a staggering 30 years ago this year, I remember it like yesterday - the weather was the same as today, grey and wet. Harry Beer (the last Torrington railman) and the mayor greeted passengers as we piled off the train at Torrington and as a school boy I patted 31174 at the Meeth end of the train! Paul

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The same edition of Janes year book had two photos of the last train to Torrington, a staggering 30 years ago this year, I remember it like yesterday - the weather was the same as today, grey and wet. Harry Beer (the last Torrington railman) and the mayor greeted passengers as we piled off the train at Torrington and as a school boy I patted 31174 at the Meeth end of the train! Paul

And there's some excellent footage of that last train in the DVD 'By Southern to the Far West', Vol 1 (Transport Video Publishing). I have Paul to thank for bringing my attention to this DVD (I bought mine from Mike Day in The Stationmaster's Cafe at Barnstaple!). If anyone else has a copy of the DVD, see if you can spot a young CK on it, trespassing on the track for gricing purposes in a way that the older CK would never allow these days!... ;)

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Sorry it's aclong time since Tims post, haven't been into this thread for a while. Odds on the peak ran round at Exeter Riverside, and hauled train ex Meldon to Bristol East Depot via Taunton. I did ballast train planning over the period 1986 to 1990 and until 88 peaks were provided at Bristol for engineers traffic and I used to book them on ballast trains to/from Meldon. Regards Paul aka Devonbelle

I think I'd agree with this, in that there's the additional dimension that the drivers links that signed the Southern main line may not have had traction knowledge for Class 45s? Perhaps Paul can recall?

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I think I'd agree with this, in that there's the additional dimension that the drivers links that signed the Southern main line may not have had traction knowledge for Class 45s? Perhaps Paul can recall?

 

The Captain had me thinking, and checking my notes from when I used to cover the ballast train planning job 1986-88, Southern workings ex Meldon were definitely not 45s, and were almost solid class 33s so would point to Salisbury crews; i recollect there was a 7O70 1130 Meldon Salisbury working which used to feature class 33s, and those drab olive green Dace four wheel ballast wagons. Thinking on does anybody know when in 1993 the Lapford fertiliser finished - which ended up with a 47 or class 37 working the 4 or so bogie vans - I've got it in mind it was the summer, when the log traffic which was being loaded in Exeter Riverside Yard (in OTAs) also finished.

 

Incidentally cant wait for the Heljan O gauge class 31, I've built some Speedlink wagons (1 OCA and 2 VGA) to run my Barny trip with.

 

Paul

 

 

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Nice to see this is reawakened!

 

Thinking on does anybody know when in 1993 the Lapford fertiliser finished - which ended up with a 47 or class 37 working the 4 or so bogie vans - I've got it in mind it was the summer, when the log traffic which was being loaded in Exeter Riverside Yard (in OTAs) also finished.

 

Paul

 

The "Past & Present - North & West Devon" book says April 1993 for the end of fertilizer at Lapford - so not far off there.

 

 

Incidentally cant wait for the Heljan O gauge class 31, I've built some Speedlink wagons (1 OCA and 2 VGA) to run my Barny trip with.

 

Paul

 

Ohhh - North Devon in O gauge! If only....

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  • 7 months later...

All gone a bit quiet on here recently. How's the layout coming along Rich? Been a bit quiet on that thread too.

 

Well, having moved house a bit more than a year ago and finding myself with a new layout to build on a foot(ish) wide shelf about 15ft long, I've contemplating my own take on Barnstaple junction and have been doing some research.

 

I've been trying to locate old photos/pictures/drawings showing the track layout South of the old signal box before it was rationalised. It can absorb hours of time but has unearthed a few  cracking photos that I haven't come across before. They're not 1980s and not my era but fascinating nonetheless.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/auchlander-thephilipcromecollection/7866497762/

 

and

http://www.flickr.com/photos/74802869@N03/7271975576/

 

and

http://www.flickr.com/photos/74802869@N03/7271975392/in/photostream/

 

and

http://www.flickr.com/photos/74802869@N03/7271957260/

 

and

http://www.flickr.com/photos/74802869@N03/7271957190/

 

and

http://www.flickr.com/photos/74802869@N03/6974831804/

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Sorry, didn't see this reply 'til now....

Not much to report here or on the layout - life gets in the way sometimes! :O

Those "transition era" shots are very evocative; I do think the earlier eras are very tempting, but they have to go in the "if only..." category! ;) If I can't even make progress with my limited 1980s plans, there's no hope of doing other eras justice :(

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi Rich

 

Must admit, ever since first coming across the Cyber Heritage site, my mouth has been watering. I had been looking for a location somewhere not too far from Salisbury but Barnstaple and the rest of the line make a superb location for a "based on if all that traffic had survived another handful of years"

 

I've never done it before but I think I need to start a thread about the new layout. The track plan is pretty much finalised and most of the boards are built. You can only claim to be "researching the new layout" for so long !!!

Edited by ChrisB
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Hi Chris - I like the RFD 47, not seen that before, a shame it's not dated.

I'd suspect it was also 1990, there was a lot of DMU substitutions around that time, IIRC the class 155 door problems was at least part of the cause.
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