ndrailusers - Mag07

Issue 7, June 2001

Table of Contents

Editorial

Editorial Crediton Signal Box May 12th 2001, on the occasion of 150th anniversary celebrations.

Picture: Photic Beans

Up and Down the Line Portsmouth Arms and Barnstaple Lapford

May the 12th 2001 saw the one hundred and fiftieth Anniversary celebrations of the opening of the line between Exeter and Crediton. It was a huge success. The day was filled with fun, laughter and the most tremendous atmosphere. It was a wonderful community effort. The article written

by Sue Read of the Crediton Courier gives all the details. I think you will agree that the photographs taken by The Photic Beans have truly captured the days atmosphere. More of these will be on show in the Station Tea Rooms during July.

These celebrations and the Yellow Hat Day, as detailed in this issue, prove, to me at least, that with some innovative thought and promotion people can be encouraged to use the train and what's more enjoy it!

We have also included articles bringing you up to date on the Franchise situation and the recent activities of the committee and individual members.

Yellow Hat Day Summer Rail Timetable North Devon Line Improved First Group Services Wessex Franchise Beating the floods?

Plymouth Today, Barnstaple Tomorrow?

Busy times for the Committee...

Members Event Rail & River Outing — "The Taw & Exe Explorer" Readers Write 150th Anniversary Celebrations Celebrating the day the railway came to Crediton Membership Matters Welcome New Members Members Meetings Members Outing

Here you will find details of a members outing organised by Tony Hill. If you would like any further information please phone Tony on 01363 877229 The magazine is your magazine and we need your input if you have an opinion or story you wish to tell then we would love to hear from you.

The next issue of the magazine will be in October and the deadline for any articles or letters to be included is 1st September 2001.

Please send your letters to any of the editors.

Up and Down the Line Portsmouth Arms and Barnstaple Works to remedy and prevent scour damage around the base of river piers on Weir Marsh bridge, near Portsmouth Arms have been carried out. Also much ballasting and tamping between Portsmouth Arms and Barnstaple has been undertaken following last October's flood damage. The various temporary speed restrictions imposed when trains ran to Barnstaple again from the 12th march have now been removed.

Umberleigh Mark Toms has kindly volunteered again to provide and maintain the floral displays at Umberleigh station.

N.B. If any members would like to help at Copplestone or Portsmouth Arms please contact Tony Hill on 01363 877229.

Lapford The bridge over the River Yeo at the east end approach which had a 20mph temporary speed restriction for some months has had its longitudinal timbers renewed. A new boundary fence has been erected by Railtrack between the loop sidings and down goods yard sidings following the sale of the goods yard.

Crediton A start was made to the fire damaged upside waiting room, but then stopped again. We are awaiting further developments. The works to the road area on station approach is due to start within the next week or two.

Tony Hill

Yellow Hat Day A rash of yellow hats has broken out over North Devon this fitful spring. They have appeared on the heads of stall-holders in pannier markets, of people who frequent golf courses and other low places, and even of those who, for hours an end, comb sandy beaches with metal detectors. The mere fact that no letters claiming first sightings of this phenomenon have appeared in The Times should not be taken as proof that none has been written.

It's all down to Wales & West, of course. Wishing to relaunch (interesting term in the circumstances) the Barnstaple line, now fully open at long last after its winter immersion, with the greatest possible publicity, it hit on a splendid wheeze. Free travel for a whole dayl All day! Anywhere on the line! For everyone! On a Saturday, too: March 20!

There had to be a snag, of course. Only those wearing hats would qualify. Such a requirement would have posed few problems for the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Pope, the Chief Rabbi or even the Patriarch of All Russia. If none of these turned up on the day, it was no doubt only a matter of the short notice of the event that W&W was able to give.

But the railway company, alert as always to sartorial trends, recognised that headgear of any kind has largely gone out of fashion, not least in Barnstaple, which is ever to the fore in such matters. Aware that the forthcoming Census would be too late to furnish information about hat ownership per household in this part of Devon, and concerned that only about three people from the whole population might be in a position to take advantage of this magnificent offer, it came up the obvious answer: provide hats for free!

Better still, emblazon them with the W&W logo, set off against a fetching canary yellow background. Paris and Milan, eat your heart out: Bob 'Armani' Houghton, (day-job: W&W's Area Business Development Manager) is on his way!

So, Yellow Hat Day was born. And what a success it was! Would-be passengers responded in their hundreds. At Barnstaple, by 10 o'clock, the platform was crowded. Most people were intent on catching the mid-morning departure to Exeter, expanded for the occasion to four coaches, as were many other trains on the day. Town Mayor John Preston was there. Firmly escorted by Nick Harvey MP, Bob Houghton and Mike Trotter, Exeter Stations Manager, his job was to flag the train off at its allotted time of 10.14 am.

The local press was present. naturally, for photographic opportunities were there in abundance. So, too, mere representatives of the national rail magazines, festooned in impressive arrays of expensive cameras (although, so far as this writer is aware, nothing has come of their efforts). Nonetheless, MP, Mayor and even a genial member of the station staff, but, above all, the line itself, received useful publicity in a subsequent North Devon Journal picture. If Mike Trotter was inadvertently identified as 'John Morris', the person responsible is to be forgiven: his W&W headgear might have induced temporary deafness in the most seasoned reporter.

Such significant happenings were not confined to Barnstaple. Alerted to the imminent start of a football match at Exeter by Lewis Andrews, our Publicity Officer who knows about these things, Bob Houghton arranged for the 10.14 to make a special stop at St. James Park, where a dozen or so City supporters disembarked, demonstrating rail's flexibility and practically doubling the day's gate at a stroke. Here, indeed, is a traffic that, with suitable encouragement, might grow substantially when we get the hourly service!

Perhaps most encouraging of all were the numbers of people wanting to travel from the lesser stations up and down the line, some of them not widely noted for overcrowding. Nowhere was this more so than at Crediton, where, for reasons best known to themselves,

large numbers were intent on travelling to Barnstaple. So great was the demand, indeed, and so heavily loaded was one of the trains which arrived from Exeter (just one coach, sadly: the one miscalculation of the day), that a great many people had to be left on the platform. However, any rioting which might have ensued was nipped in the bud by a telephone call to Bob Houghton, who arranged for coffee for all to be provided at W&Ws expense by the Station Tea Rooms.

Good for the Tea Rooms. Good for Wales & West - and a credit to all concerned. Above all, good for the line as a whole, as was the week of £2 tickets to go anywhere on it that followed. let's have more of such initiatives in times to come!

John Gulliver

Summer Rail Timetable North Devon Line Services introduced on 21st May reflect the least amount of changes I can ever recount for the North Devon Line! Nearly all Monday to Friday trains leave Barnstaple and Exeter at the same time or within a few minutes and make the same station stops as in the winter Monday to Friday service.

Summer Saturday times are almost identical to last summers service, likewise summer Sundays; except the first train to Exeter leaves Barnstaple at 1100 (vice 1033) and the last train leaves Exeter St Davids at 2019 (vice 2008) for Barnstaple.

The Okehampton line has five trains each way on Sundays as in last summers service. All Okehampton trains do stop at Crediton, although this is not stated in the Dartmoor publicity leaflet The Dartmoor Pony service will, in addition to the Okehampton/Meldon trains, also run one trip to Sampford Courtney and back on Saturday afternoons - it will not be possible for passengers to alight or join at Sampford Courtney.

Tony Hill

Improved First Group Services As readers will know, First Group runs Great Western Trains which operate between Paddington and South Wales and the West of England. What it does materially affects the attractiveness of our North Devon line to many would-be passengers. We have to take note!

Its current franchise ends in 2006. It is applying for an extension to 2008. The company plans a number of improvements, some of which depend on this extension.

Under its original franchise, the company undertook to increase the hourly services between Paddington and Bristol and Cardiff respectively to half-hourly. The Bristol services have been increased. The Cardiff ones are due to be increased this summer. To effect this, First Group has ordered fourteen five-coach new trains at a cost of £80 million. Unfortunately, the delivery of these trains is late, but the Strategic Rail Authority still requires the new Cardiff service to begin on time. Accordingly, some High Speed Trains now serving Devon and Cornwall will be replaced by temporary locomotive-hauled stock. The HSTs wil be gradually returned as the new trains are delivered.

Everything is expensive these days. Even the modest improvement of bringing the two central platforms at Taunton back into use cost £360,000. Even so, First Group is carrying out substantial improvements to Bristol Temple Meads and Bristol Parkway and is contributing to the cost of improvements to the sea wall at Dawlish and of a new station at Corsham.

Since privatisation, First Group has increased its services by 31%. There will be no increase this year (a consequence of Hatfield), but additional peak services for Devon and Cornwall will be introduced in 2002 and other services will be accelerated. It is also intended to introduce a daily through service to Newquay for the 2002 summer school holidays. This service, which at present runs

just at weekends, will unfortunately retain its 'Atlantic Coast Express' name.

First Group will spend £20 million on refurbishing its present HST fleet, but still intends to replace them with high speed gas turbine trains with greater acceleration and a top speed of 140 mph. Catering services will be improved on 300 services, with freshly prepared food for standard class passengers and at-the-seat meals for first class. There will be a 5-minute bus service between Bristol Temple Meads and the City Centre. The Taunton-Minehead service will have refurbished buses and bus information at bus stops. It is hoped in due course to introduce an hourly service at Tiverton Parkway - a great improvement on the present sparse service.

Hugh Butterworth

Wessex Franchise Progress on the Wessex franchise appears to the layman to be agonisingly slow. This franchise includes the Waterloo—Exeter and Exeter—Barnstaple lines. It is on this 20-year franchise that we pin our hopes for a direct Barnstaple—Waterloo service.

Seven companies or consortia have submitted bids. These will in due course be whittled down, probably to three. From them, the successful applicant will be chosen.

It is to be hoped that, by now, all local authorities and other interested parties have submitted their wish lists. It is, after all, our last chance for 20 years.

One application has been made jointly by Laing/Chiltern Railways and Swiss Rail. Chiltern, writh the advantage of a modernised railway, is arguably one of the best Train Operating Companies in the country. Swiss Rail is legendary. One is tempted to ring them up and ask, 'Can you start tomorrow?' but I suppose that is too easy.

Hugh Butterworth

Beating the floods?

Eagle-eyed travellers to Exeter may have noticed the honeycomb of large diameter pipes beneath the main line on the Taunton side of Cowley Bridge Junction. Installed just where the embankment was twice washed away last winter, the pipes should contribute substantially to the prevention of damage to this key stretch of the main line in the future.

As we saw in the last issue, Railtrack has worked hard to secure the foundations of most of the bridges on the North Devon line. As far as we know, however, nothing has yet been done to provide extra flood relief channels at points of repeated damage, notably just below Portsmouth Arms and above New Bridge, between Chapelton and Barnstaple. Mindful of the way in which flood waters build up so quickly behind the embankments at these spots, we shall ask Railtrack to consider providing the Barnstaple line with its own honeycombes.

John Gulliver

Plymouth Today, Barnstaple Tomorrow?

Last autumn, South West Trains acquired eight new trains. The main reason was to increase the Waterloo—Salisbury service from hourly to half-hourly, but some benefits have trickled down to Devon.

The two-hourly Waterloo—Exeter service has been strengthened by an additional train at 11.35 infuriatingly, it arrives at Exeter five minutes after a Barnstaple train leaves, a consequence of the singling of the Salisbury—Exeter line in the 1960s, which now means holding the 11.35 at the old Chard Junction while an Exeter—Waterloo train passes. Better still, three trains a day now run, Mondays

to Fridays, from Waterloo to Totnes, lvybridge and Plymouth.

So, for the first time in 37 years, 'Plymouth' appears almost daily on the destination board at Waterloo. Today Plymouth, tomorrow Barnstaple? We can but hope!

Hugh Butterworth

Busy times for the Committee...

The refranchising process is grinding forward. Sometimes its progress is visible, as with the announcement of the new Wessex franchise that, among other things, will include the North Devon line. At others, nothing seems to be happening.

Nobody should be deceived by these periods of apparent silence. As explained elsewhere in this issue, would-be franchisees are busy working up their bids. Meanwhile, the SRA, we must presume, is equally occupied with the task of determining which of these bids it will favour.

The Rail Group has long recognised that, if the North Devon line is to get the service vie all seek, the SRA must be persuaded that our wants are justified and that it is reasonable to expect the company that gets the new franchise to satisfy them. It follows from this that we must persuade the SRA of the merits of our case. In recent months, the committee has been exceptionally busy in trying to do just that. We have gone about this formidable task in two main ways. The first is by direct action. This hasn't meant storming the barricades of Golding's House, where the SRA has its fortress. Such militancy would ill-suit the committee. Most of its members, you will understand, are peace-loving citizens most of the time. Our weapon has been the pen, or, more literally, the keyboard.

We have bombarded the SRA with letters (well, twe, actually: but they were very substantial ones, put together with all the persuasiveness we could muster) pointing out why the continuation of civilisation as we know it depends on Barnstaple getting its hourly service, and so on and so forth. And, again with letters, but also in face-to-face meetings, we have whole-heartedly supported the efforts of the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership to improve branch-line services throughout the two counties.

Our second approach has been indirect. We have recognised that the people most likely to catch the SRAs ear are our elected representatives. For this reason, me have lobbied them at every level, with letters written to people from parish councils to Parliament.

More than that, vve have tried to meet them face-to-face John Burnett, until recently MP for Torridge, came along to one of our committee meetings. So, too, did Graharn Watson, our MEP. Our chairman and secretary have recently attended a meeting of Barnstaple Town Council to encourage its members to advocate the line with full vigour. Group member Nick Way has worked assiduously - and successfully - to persuade Mid Devon District and Crediton Town Councils to put their weight behind it.

We don't know how successful we have been. Success in this field isn't something that you can measure by the yard. It's more a matter of capturing the hearts and minds of the decision-makers so that, one day, they make the decisions we want. Time will tell, and vie think that the tide is running in our favour.

Meanwhile, we shall go on trying. in this, we are greatly heartened to learn of the efforts of those group members who, individually and independently, have added their let. ters to ours. They let the decision-makers know that people care about the improvement of this line. To them, especial ly, thank-you - and keep going!

John Gulliver

Members Event Rail & River Outing — "The Taw & Exe Explorer" Members (and their partners) are invited to the following NDRUG outing planned for SATURDAY 7th July:-

Travel by 1008 Barnstaple (and intermediate stations) to Exeter St Davids thence 1134 St Davids/Starcross, optional pub lunch, thence 1300 or 1400 Ferry to Exmouth (fare £2.50) then walk along sea front and visit shops etc before train to Exeter Central, where some might like to inspect the various improvements made last year. Thence train to St Davids, optional visit to the Great Western Hotel, before catching the 1610, 1828 or 2035 train back to North Devon.

To enable us to have some idea of those interested in this trip please contact Tony Hill 01363 877229 by 26th June. For passengers from Barnstaple the total rail cost will be £16.30 OR £12.05 if group rate for 10 or more is arranged.

Tony Hill

Readers Write

Good News for Railcard Holders Anyone buying or renewing a Young Person's, Family, Senior, Disabled Person's or HM Forces cards on or before 18th May 2002 will receive a 15-month card for the price of a 12-month one.

This offer has been made following the disruptions of last autumn and winter.

Hugh Butterworth

Help, please!

Can the Tarka Line Working Party do anything about the 'missed connection' between the 11.35 Waterloo—Exeter and the 14.51 Exeter—Barnstaple? It might not be easy. The alteration of one train's departure time can have a knock-on effect on other trains.

The Working Party should also tackle the Dartmoor Rover connection at Crediton. For some years, a Sunday Exeter— Okehampton service has operated successfully in the summer months. The second train of the day leaves Central at 11.27 and Crediton at 11.47. The first train from Barnstaple, the 11.00, arrives at Crediton at 11.50, too late for an Okehampton connection. The stock for this train arrives at Barnstaple at 10.27. Surely it could leave at 10.50 and thus make an Okehampton connection at Crediton easy?

Incidentally, if you have not tried a Dartmoor Rover, which covers buses and trains, give it a try. The journey from Exeter to Plymouth via Moretonhampstead and Princetown on the top deck of a double-decker is worth the ticket price in itself.

Hugh Butterworth

150th Anniversary Celebrations Article taken from the Crediton Courier, May 28th 2001.

Celebrating the day the railway came to Crediton The Up and Down trains passing at Crediton, 12th May 2001.

Picture: Photic Beans A number of good results have come from the rail day at Crediton on May 12th when, it is estimated. more than 2,500 people went down to the railway station for a day out in brilliant sunshine. There was the model railway set up by Scaleseven Group in the Station Tea Rooms, outside were lines of classic and vintage vehicles, rides on a small-scale steam train, entertainers, plus refreshments and ice creams.

The whole day was to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the opening of the railway at Crediton on May 12, 1851. West Country class steam engine, Bodmin, should have been there, too, so that the naming of the engine, Crediton, could be re-enacted. But Bodmin developed two cracked wheels which could not be repaired in time to haul the train from Hampshire to Crediton for the day. Nor could a replacement engine be found. In the end the general consensus was that a steam train would have been a diversion away from all the rest of the programme.

Left:Crediton Town Band play before the opening ceremony.

Right: Haywards School children sing a selection of war time songs before leaving on the vintage bus for Sandford.

Pictures: Photic Beans

Two evacuees looking suitably sad before getting on the vintage bus without their parents.

Picture: Photic Beans Not least of all the good things to come from the day, which had been regarded as highly doubtful by some citizens, was the fact that the station area was a superb spot for such an event, especially given the generosity of Crediton Poultry Company Limited in lending their car park and store shed. The car park was ideal for showing off the classic and vintage vehicles, and for the miniature steam train rides, while the hardcore and grassed area at the side was just right for more displays and for the puppet show.

It was due to the work of a very small committee that the day happened at all. Linda Rogers who runs the station Tea Rooms and whose husband, Richard, is a steam enthusiast; David Gosling of the North Devon Rail Users Group; Jenni Pitts, Crediton Town Council; Nick Way, Crediton Town Council and Mid Devon District Council, another rail enthusiast; Nan Gaskell, deputy Town Clerk and Jill Greig who organised the entertainment, all helped by other people as needed, spent 18 months planning the day.

Another good thing to come from the day is that there is now a permanent display of photographs of Crediton station and others along the Tarka Line through the years at the Station Tea Rooms. Some photos are of the engines, many others of staff at work or posing for a special occasion, some from not so long ago. The small gauge railway system set up in the Station Tea Rooms for the day is staying there, too, plus some other railway mementos.

Sue Read, Crediton Courier Left: Great Western Morris Dancers.

Right: Our Chairman, David Gosling, at the end of a very exhausting but enjoyable day.

Pictures: Doreen Miles

There will be an exhibition in the Station Tea Rooms in July of the photographs taken by Photic Beans.

Membership Matters Welcome New Members Ian Baxter, Shropshire Cyril Chudley, Crediton Eric Stone, Crediton L. Watson, Barnstaple If you wish to join please contact the Membership Secretary Membership fees are £5.00 standard or £3.00 senior.

Members Meetings 18th July — Corner House, Barnstaple, 18.15 29th August — Station Tea Rooms, Crediton, 17.30 3rd October — Country House Hotel, Eggesford, 18.45

Members Outing 7th July contact Tony Hill — See article for details