ndrailusers - Mag23

Issue 23, Summer 2006

Editorial

Table of Contents Editorial Chairman's Report

Welcome to the summer edition of the magazine, which hopefully reflects the season both in terms of content and colour. If you read the table of contents you will see that the range of contributors is the widest it has ever been, and it is pleasing that more and more members are willing to contribute to the magazine; it certainly makes life a little easier for me!

We are now in the throes of the main holiday season, which brings with it an increase in the number of people travelling. There is a consequent load on the resources available, and the potential to alienate the very customers that we are trying to attract. The main season has only just started and the busiest station on the line (no – not St Davids) has already experienced platform staff shortage (continuing), inadequate rolling stock (several instances of passengers being left behind), and now the bus service from the station effectively removed without warning.

Both modes of transport are run by the same overall organisation whose tag line is "transforming travel" - I will leave readers to draw their own conclusions on this transformation.

Despite the foregoing, members of the group itself are involved in many activities to try and raise the profile of the line and encourage its use among both the resident and visiting populations. Passenger counts are carried out twice a year to gain a measure of the numbers travelling for comparison with other years; publicity material is produced to locally support that which is produced nationally, and local distribution of this is maintained to many and varied outlets. In addition we have on-going discussions with the train operating company, the local authorities, Network Rail, and the Department for Transport.

I don't doubt that many of you will be way ahead of me at this point, and will have seen that I am leading up to a request for more members to become involved in the activities that we carry out. An ideal opportunity is coming up in the form of the Annual General Meeting in October, and the committee would be pleased to discuss with anyone the opportunities for getting involved.

On the subject of involvement, there has been some concern over the 4 month gaps between magazines, and whether we should institute a newsletter in the period between the magazines to keep members up to date with news. To minimise costs this could be put on the website, and printed copies only sent to those without internet access. To this end we should be interested to hear your views, and it would also be helpful if you could indicate whether you have internet access and an e-mail address. Enjoy the rest of the summer.

Will 2007 bring Beeching Mark 2?

Thoughts as I Ride the Tarka Line Go on spoil yourself Customer care or not customer care Annual General Meeting 2006 First Great Western Draft Timetable for December 2006: the Group's Response News Update and Miscellany Station Gardens Competition 2006 Judges Comments Rail Rover Diary (Part Two) Saturday 17 September Friday 23 September Saturday 24 September The Summer Sunday only "Dartmoor Sunday Rover" The Tarka Line between the Wars Down trains Exeter to Barnstaple Summer 1932 Up trains Barnstaple to Exeter Summer 1932 How Many People Can You Get Onto Eggesford Platform?

Footfall Figures 2004/2005 First's Fair Fares?

Andy Hedges

Readers Write Membership Matters New Members

Chairman's Report I start my report with a big thank you to all who were involved in Community Rail Day back in May. Half price fares, special deals on cycle hire and catering, a guided walk and a vintage bus to the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway were all on offer. The day was a qualified success, but, unfortunately the weather was not kind to us and there were a number of lessons learned, especially over publicity and which will need to be addressed by all concerned next year. Nevertheless we were thanked for all our efforts by no less than the Department for Transport!

The arrival of the first steam train for many years brought out the crowds and shows how popular excursions can be. If we had Platform 2 at Barnstaple back in service, we could attract many more, which, with a longer stay, could do much to help the North Devon economy just as the Winter Wonder did earlier in the year. We will be working with the relevant authorities to try to achieve this.

I have accompanied councillors from Devon County Council and representatives from the Department of Transport on visits to the line to improve their understanding of the constraints, problems and opportunities – one of which is, of course, Platform 2.

As the picture above shows, the music trains are a huge success this year bringing extra passengers and revenue to the line at off peak times. Our thanks are due to Rebecca and Paul at the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership for all their hard work.

This brings me to the really good news which is the new cheaper Cheap Day returns. The return fare from Barnstaple to Exeter has been reduced from £10.70 to just £7.00 and is tremendous value – even better with a railcard (£4.65) or Groupsave (four travel for the price of two or just £3.50 each)! Publicity has been slow, but is now underway and Devon and Cornwall Rail partnership are going to give it a boost in the autumn/winter period.

Further good news on the fares front is the introduction on 1 September of Carnet tickets from Morchard Road, Copplestone and Yeoford (£2.00 single) and also Crediton (£1.25 single) to Exeter. These can be used at any time and are interavailable and will hopefully boost travel from those stations, especially now that petrol is over £4.50 a gallon.

On the debit side is that many trains are being formed of single car trains with a seating capacity of just 75. This often particularly applies to the 09:01 departure where on several occasions large number of standing passengers have been observed. As I write, the situation has been drawn to the attention of First Great Western and we await a response.

This brings me to the not so good news and where we need YOUR help. Details of the new Timetable from December have now been made available. Whilst some connections are improved at St Davids, especially with Paddington trains, Copplestone and Yeoford stations will have an afternoon service and virtually all services will be through trains to and from Exmouth and Exeter Central, the biggest disappointment is the reduction in the number of trains from 12 to 11 each way Mondays – Saturdays. This is despite strenuous efforts by Devon County Council, the Rail Partnership and ourselves.

Worse still is that the "missing train" is one of the busiest, if not the busiest, of the day. This is because with morning departures from Barnstaple at 07:08, 08:40 and 10:40 there will be a two hour gap at the most crucial time. Your Committee is actively campaigning to seek the re-instatement of this train. In the meantime, the Rail Partnership are undertaking weekly loadings surveys on Saturday mornings where all the evidence suggests that two trains cannot cope with passengers, their luggage, buggies and cycles instead of three. We will all need to build a robust case, however, as First Great Western will only be persuaded to run if they see a potential commercial return.

In the meantime, we would urge YOU, our members, please to write to First Great Western Customer Services, seeking a train departing Barnstaple at 09:40. (Reasons might include the difficulty of getting to the station in time for the 08:40, the 10:40 being too late to allow a full day out shopping/leisure in Exeter and also getting there and back in time to collect children from school, the 10:40 being too late for a day at the beach in Exmouth and also too late for onward connections for long distance journeys).

Finally, to end on a much happier note, congratulations and thanks to all those who took part in the Station Gardens Competition. Our thanks also to First Great Western for jointly sponsoring the event and the Rail Partnership for their grant for planters. Our stations have never looked better and all the work undertaken is a tremendous start to developing our line as a Community Railway – about which more in the next magazine.

I hope that you enjoy the rest of the summer and the autumn and will take full advantage of the cheaper fares – the more people who use the service the more chance we will have in getting firstly our twelfth train back, then an hourly service and late evening train!

John Phillips Chairman

Will 2007 bring Beeching Mark 2?

It is now 2 years since the Committee received Jonathan Tyler's paper, and subsequently met the author, whose work was commissioned by the Department for Transport. The paper says the North Devon line is seriously under performing, attracting only half the usage per head of population that comparable lines, e.g. York – Scarborough, do. This is because it fails to provide a regular fast inter urban service, due mainly to the trains making too many intermediate stops. The Scarborough branch, in comparison, only has one intermediate stop, the others having been replaced by bus services back in the 1930s. He warned that the service needs to be improved, so as to be more relevant to the needs of the vast majority of users and potential users, i.e. the populated area encompassing Bideford, Barnstaple and Ilfracombe. Otherwise, the line would be unlikely to survive, should the Government decide

to prune the network.

But, having heard so many cries of "wolf" over the last 30 years, we tend to assume that no Government would dare to close lines. Is rail usage not growing to unprecedented levels? Don't railways have an important role in making us greener? Is the Community Rail initiative not proof that the Government believes in rural railways? Well, if anyone really believes there are no wolves stalking the corridors of power, they should read the paper by Stephen Grant, a rail consultant, published in Modern Railways, July 2006.

The facts are stark. Public subsidy is now running 50% higher in real terms to what it was in pre Beeching report times. The 2005 Railways Act streamlines procedures for closures, and dictates that closure criteria will be based on a value for money formula, which means that if the actual cost of maintaining a service is greater than replacing it with other methods, it will close. There will be no public enquiries; decisions will be made by the DfT will be final.

In 2007, a milestone white paper on the future shape of Britain's railways will be published. The white paper will undoubtedly address the major problems and requirements. Investment will be channelled to priority projects, such as Crossrail, mainline capacity improvements and relieving overcrowding on parts of the network. The need for a new high-speed line between London and the north will also be addressed, but the bringing the cost of the railway down will be forefront. Lightly used services will be withdrawn and some lines could be closed altogether.

Grant believes that the axe will fall swiftly on the remaining rural branches, as their cost is so disproportionate to the numbers using them. The recent decision by the DfT to cut local services in the South West is a straw in the wind, he claims. As one who has listened carefully to speeches made by the Transport Secretary over the last couple of years, I am inclined to believe Grant.

Statements like "there is no point in transporting trainloads of fresh air around" and "stations which have less than 30 users a day do not justify a service" should be heeded. The latter would eliminate all bar Barnstaple, Crediton, Eggesford, and perhaps Umberleigh, on our line.

So what hope is there, and what must we do? We must ensure that the huge latent potential for increased usage in the Barnstaple area displaces the fresh air. If providing the hourly fast service to connect north Devon to the network means fewer intermediate stops, then so be it.

There will certainly be no investment forthcoming to improve the infrastructure on our line if the purpose of that money is only to maintain a service to a handful of mid-Devon commuters. It may be hard for people to understand why, if a train is passing a village, it can't stop there in case anyone local wants to use it. But, planes between Exeter and Dublin fly over Barnstaple, as they do between Heathrow and New York. Should they be expected to call at Chivenor in case anyone from north Devon wants to use the service? The same disruption to journeys, increases in costs, loss of revenue apply to trains, and nowhere more so than on our line where the journey time needs to be less than one hour, both to make the service competitive and to enable an hourly service.

To survive, the line must play to its strengths, not to its weaknesses. North Devon has a growing population, which is already the largest anywhere in the UK more than 40 miles from a main line. Its visitor numbers now exceed Torbay. It has a sub regional shopping centre, an important regional hospital, and a new centre for higher education is planned, which may even achieve university status within a decade or two. It is also, at present, one of the poorest travel to work areas in the UK, and that is the only "social inclusion" argument that carries any weight at all. It is unique among the region's rural lines (and I include Castle Cary – Weymouth) in having, not only a potentially viable and important future, but also in lacking an acceptable alternative to a rail service.

The North Devon line now needs to prove, very rapidly, that it makes a significant contribution to the local and national economy.

Failure will ensure that, while the next decade sees major main line construction projects, north Devon will have a bus service to Tiverton Parkway, and mid Devon will have an excellent cycle track running right through it, much to the delight of visitors and pub landlords en route.

It's time to focus on priorities. The line cannot deliver all things to everybody, but it needs to deliver a lot more to very many more.

Patrick Adams

Thoughts as I Ride the Tarka Line It is said that individuals' letters of protest may have more influence than those of Organisations; people have votes, Organisations

don't. So I wrote to First Great Western at Swindon against the proposed cuts, stressing the 26% increase to passenger usage and as many bus routes are to converge on Barnstaple Station, filled with all over-60's travelling free, then more and more will become public transport conscious and hopefully use the train. Indeed, users from Ilfracombe and Bideford, for example, will be able to travel by train for the same cost to them as Barumites. I received a polite reply though I guess it was standard.

I was hospitalised at Royal Devon and Exeter for several weeks over the past 6 months and still return weekly. My visitors always used the Tarka Line to St Davids, which enjoys a quarter hourly bus service direct to the hospital, and so do I. I recommend to all, leave the car at home, the train and bus are far more comfortable and convenient. It is worth mentioning that personalised refreshment facilities are available on all 3 platforms at St Davids, which also boasts a sizeable bookshop and a cash machine.

Many wrongly believe that our Tarka Line ends at Exeter. It is a pity that the name, or alternative is not extended to Exmouth, after all, buffer to buffer. I think passenger opportunity is lost as little publicity is given to this fact, particularly in summer when thousands of tourists descend to the area of each town and many would enjoy a day trip on the train if they knew the opportunity existed.

On the subject of the Exmouth portion of the line, Exeter City FC are to be the first Football Club in England to adopt a station, ie St James Park. This is with the cooperation of Devon County Council and the Exe Rail Partnership, and the station will be signed, "The Home of Exeter City FC." Much work by volunteers has gone into this.

I would also emphasise another improvement. Trains are now stopping at St James at convenient match times. The 13:01 from Barnstaple, said in the timetable to terminate at Central at 14:02, now moves on to St James, though note, this does not appear in the timetable. The first to return after matches, the 17:24 from Exmouth now stop at St James at about 17:42, again not timetabled. I suggest that, to increase passenger usage, an asterisk (*) be inserted to indicate when the train stops only on matchdays.

Unfortunately the question of any service for evening matches remains unresolved.

Finally am I correct that Exeter St Davids is the only provincial railway station for London in opposite directions of the platform.

Further, one can purchase a ticket marked "London Stations" which enables you to leave Barnstaple for Paddington and return from Waterloo or in reverse. I consider this is an experience that many would enjoy if it were better publicised.

Barrie M Britton

Go on spoil yourself Seven years ago I attended the Annual General Meeting of the Railway Development Society (now Railfuture) at Exeter Central.

During the meeting a representative from South West Trains astounded his audience by announcing the introduction of Apex return tickets between various stations in Devon and Waterloo. Astonishingly the return fare from Barnstaple to Waterloo would be ÂŁ22.50.

All one had to do was a book at least seven days ahead and nominate the dates and times of the trains on which one wished to travel.

I returned to North Devon excited at the prospect of cheap travel encouraging increased use of the Tarka line. At various times I tried to obtain publicity material from South West Trains but the company always stalled; this was understandable as only a few seats at these low prices were allocated to each train. What was not understandable was the almost complete disinterest of all NDRUG committees in the promotion of these tickets over the past seven years.

In fact over the years I only once was unable to buy a ticket for the 11:30 from Exeter and had to travel on the 13:30. It will be interesting to see whether the Apex tickets survive the new franchise agreement relating to the Waterloo services which will come into operation next year. However there is another method of travel from Barnstaple to Waterloo, again it involves an Apex return.

Firstly, buy an ordinary period return from Barnstaple to Exeter, then buy the Apex first-class return from Exeter to Waterloo (you have to nominate the trains on which you wish to travel) this ticket will cost you ÂŁ40.40 and gives you 350 miles of travel in first-class comfort normally in a carriage which is less than one-third full. So go on spoil yourself, buy an Apex first-class return and travel in style.

Hugh Butterworth

Customer care or not customer care We have recently travelled twice from Tiverton to London Paddington. (Tiverton only due to poor connections from Barnstaple). Both of these were eventful trips.

Our first excursion was on a bank holiday in June, and as usual the mainline trains was full and standing as it departed Tiverton, with no seats available in standard. We managed to upgrade to First Class and get some of the last few seats, albeit dotted around coach F which is part of the buffet. As we went past the buffet the First Class customer host was complaining to the buffet stewardess how busy it was and it was going to be a nightmare to serve everyone, and that standard passengers were going into the First class area, which as a weekend or bank holiday the upgrade for ÂŁ10 applied so this isn't unusual. Her colleague's advice was not to worry and don't bother with it. So from Tiverton there was no First class service on two trips to the buffet both were stood in the buffet area behind the counter, the buffet staff member was serving customers as normal throughout the trip whilst the First Class host stood and watched/occasionally helped, and on one occasion was stood at the counter doing the crossword. I was very disappointed with this lack of customer care, as there was plenty of room for the service trolley to come through and there was nobody standing in first class, to cause any obstruction. The train manager had gone through and checked tickets and collected the fees for the many weekend upgrades with no fuss from the other passengers that I heard. So therefore everyone had paid to be there yet got no service. Later after Castle Cary, a female passenger became very volatile with the buffet staff member who then called for assistance from her colleagues. This passenger was then met by police at Reading. Even though the train was delayed at Reading we arrived on time at Paddington.

Our second excursion was on Fathers Day and the 08:45 from Tiverton, the train was fairly busy again as we got to the Castle Cary area, but (must be the Castle Cary "Bermuda Triangle") the internal sliding door failed in our carriage and as it was the last in the rake next to the engine there was no way out of the carriage externally or internally. Luckily the Train Manager was in his office at the rear of our carriage and came and attempted to open the door but to no avail. He soon informed us that this does happen on occasion when "helpful passengers" switch off the doors from the other side, he promptly removed the rubber mounting around the Perspex and removed the inner part of the door climbed through and worked his magic, walking back through the carriage with the window part of the door under his arm, much to the relief of many passengers who wished to use the toilet, unfortunately the toilet with a non functioning lock.

On the return trip most of the trains were 30 minutes late leaving Paddington due to them all arriving late, (extra cleaning staff helped ready the train including the duty manager) the train manager was very good and kept informing us of updated times for stations and that he had phoned ahead to inform various colleagues at stations of our late arrival and to start preparations for those who were going to miss their connections, some would have been the last connections as the train arrived into Plymouth around 23:00 hrs. This was very good customer care, and the continual updates throughout the journey were very helpful to those with connections or waiting taxis etc.

Mike Day

Annual General Meeting 2006 Please don't forget that the group's AGM is to be held on: Wednesday 18th October The Old Town Station, Barnstaple 6.30 pm We shall be pleased to see as many existing members as possible on the night, and will be especially pleased to welcome any new members.

Full details will be posted to you nearer the date.

First Great Western Draft Timetable for December 2006: the Group's Response With regard to the Barnstaple line, one of the less happy features of FGW's draft timetable was the relatively high proportion of services requiring Exeter Central passengers to change trains at St Davids. If recent indications of a change of heart are accurate, then the Committee is to be congratulated on the effectiveness of its efforts to get this put right. There is indeed an established demand for a good service to and from Central and, as the Committee's response indicates, a clear potential for it to grow further.

What matters is where this growth is to come from. To support what appears to be an argument for concentrating efforts on internal traffic, the Committee indicates that about two thirds of the journeys and income for the North Devon line as a whole are generated by passengers not making connections to other services. Without wishing to diminish its good work, I would point out that one might equally say that about a third of the journeys on the line involve people travelling to and from places beyond Exeter. Given that it is now carrying about 250,000 passengers a year, this means that about 83,000 journeys a year begin or end beyond the line itself.

In our understandable concern to secure the best possible service to Central, we too easily lose sight of the growth potential of this longer distance traffic. What concerns me, however, is not how great that figure of 83,000 is, but how small. It works out as about 230 passengers a day on average. This is a very low number, especially when set against the huge volume of road traffic, much of it medium and long distance, that daily pours in and out of North Devon on the Link Road. It is so low, indeed, that it provides ammunition to those who argue that North Devon would be better served by a fast bus link to Tiverton Parkway. Should they win the day, then the case for the retention, let alone the development, of the railway as a whole would be greatly weakened.

The Committee rightly refers to the 'huge potential market in "Greater" Barnstaple'. If we are serious about wanting to exploit this market, we would do well to consider why rail's share of it is so small. With the medium and long distance parts of it in mind, it is unlikely that one cause would be found. Nonetheless, the following figures†may have something to do with it: Average time between weekday train departures from Barnstaple and connecting departures from Exeter St Davids to: London Paddington, 82 minutes London Waterloo, 94 minutes Birmingham, 82 minutes; Average time between weekday train arrivals at Exeter St Davids and connecting arrivals at Barnstaple from: London Paddington, 99 minutes London Waterloo, 84 minutes Birmingham, 72 minutes.

Short of doubling line speeds and introducing jet propulsion, nothing could be done that would enable trains to match road times between Barnstaple and Tiverton Parkway. Nonetheless, even a reduction of 20 minutes in the above times would do much to make the rail service more attractive. The impediments are two. One is the excruciatingly slow progress (34 mph on average) of the 'all stations' (or nearly all stations) trains that provide half the service on weekdays and all of it on Sundays. The other involves the lengthy connection times at St Davids.

The first could be overcome by cutting out the service to the least used half dozen stations on the line. In its place, we should look to the railhead principle, the most significant innovation on the line in recent years. Already established for some trains, we should look for its extension to all of them, the aim being to ensure overall times between Barnstaple and Exeter, in both directions, of well under an hour. If five intermediate stops would make this impossible, then skip-stopping on the difficult stretch between Eggesford and Crediton should be countenanced.

A start on the second could be made by relating the Barnstaple line timetable more closely to the times of mainline trains. Since the latter are increasingly based on clock face principles, the task should not be too difficult. With three routes to relate to, however, and until more trains can be simultaneously accommodated at St Davids (as in the Swiss approach), one would have to be given precedence. With connections in mind, the Group would do everyone a service by debating which route this should be. With regard to reducing overall journey times, it should give a lead by calling for the institution with all possible speed of a purely railhead service, not just on weekdays, but on Sundays too. Hourly, fast and connecting properly with other services at St Davids, this would form the key element of a programme to transform the line's fortunes. †- The main sources of the information on which these figures are based are the Monday to Friday tables in the current (as of 4 May 2006) FGW Train Times C, South West Trains 20 and Virgin Trains VT1 and VT3 timetables. I have included all connections

advertised in these tables, except those involving waits of more than an hour at St Davids, which can hardly be regarded as connections at all.

John Gulliver

News Update and Miscellany A traditional LSWR design seat, with metalwork by Webber Bros., Blacksmiths of Morchard Bishop, has been placed on the Up platform at Yeoford in memory of the late Len Gillard NDRUG member, Devonian,farmer and lifelong Railway user and supporter.

The Lynton and Barnstaple Railway's extension to a new station at Killington Lane was opened to passenger trains on 27 May. This now gives a 2 mile round trip from Woody Bay station with arguably some of the finest views, at over 900ft above sea level, to be had of unspoilt countryside from a train in Southern England. Steam hauled trains run daily from 22 July to 3 Sept and also steam or diesel on other days (tel 01598 763487 for full details) The Dartmoor Railway now has a steam tank loco in use on passenger trains on Sundays and certain other days. Work to reinstate the Bude bay platform, to berth a sleeping car and various other vehicles has now been completed. A visit to Okehampton stn on 8/7 found 37198 working the service with 3 coaches. Plans are underway to run Dartmoor Railway trains (possibly in 2007) to/from Yeoford for interchange with ND line trains. A Rail Grinding train, normally used on the national network, was working in late June between Coleford Junction and Okehampton to give much needed grinding/reprofiling attention to the rails. Ballast trains continue to run from Meldon Quarry at approx 0930 on most weekdays to Westbury or Oxford worked by a class 66 loco. A Military Heritage weekend with Okehampton Army camp is being held on 9-10 Sept and a Diesel Gala on 14-15 Oct. For full details of train times and events tel 01837 55637.

In the railway 'desert' of NW Devon and NE Cornwall,the station house at Ashwater (closed in 1966) survives virtually intact and unaltered with the adjacent goods yard still in use as one of the last remaining coalyards in the South West.

'Friends of Crediton' under the leadership of David Gosling, continue to make steady progress at Crediton station with provision of traditional LSWR style signs and seats etc. painted in the salmon and brown livery of the LSWR. Only the third steam worked train to visit the ND line proper (ie north of Coleford Jn) since regular steam workings finished in 1965 ran on the fine evening of Thursday 2 June, organised by Pastime Rail, from Exeter St Davids to Barnstaple hauled by East Lancs Railway based Standard class 4 loco 76079 with 8 Mark I coaches (5 Maroon, 2 SR Green and 1 in BR Blue/Grey) and green liveried Diesel 37411 on the rear to haul the train back to Exeter.

Steam special at Barnstaple Photo: Mike Day Whilst all, previous to 1/4/06, Wessex stations and rolling stock soon had any reference to Wessex replaced by First Great Western, many of the DMU's in service now with First Great Western, compare very unfavourably, internally at least - due to missing, torn and dirty seats and general graffiti - with the FGW HST coaches in use on main line Express services.

The whole of Taunton Fairwater Yard (once earmarked as a strategic location for any electrification of the Paddington to Plymouth main line!) has been re-laid over the last 6 months, after the condemned stone hoppers etc that had languished there for many years were cut up. The new relaying train and high output ballast cleaning machines and associated spoil and ballast wagons at present based at Reading West Junction Yard will be transferred to Fairwater in the coming months for use on the major ballast cleaning and track renewal project planned for the Westbury/Bristol to Taunton and Exeter lines.

The ÂŁ40m road scheme including a second bridge across the Taw at Barnstaple (there has only been one bridge since the

Ilfracombe line shut in 1970) continues, with the main concrete bridge spans at present being erected.

NDRUG member Mike Day is running an increasingly busy and much needed refreshments facility at the railway station selling a wide selection of hot and cold snacks and drinks.

It is open from 0800 to 1615 on Mondays to Saturdays.

Mike continues to beaver away with the present cumbersome Railway bureaucracy to achieve his aim to lease the former station master's house to provide an enhanced refreshments service for rail (and bus) passengers and users of the Tarka Trail etc.

Tony Hill

Station Gardens Competition 2006 Presentation of the certificate by Mike Trotter, Stations Manager, to the winning Umberleigh team of Frank and Chris Adey, Judy Leach, and Andy Hedges. Photo: Neil Sunderland Judging took place on 31st July The judges were Julian Crow, First Great Western's West of England General Manager, and Richard Burningham from the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership.

Overall winner 路 Umberleigh Second 路 Crediton Highly commended 路 Chapleton and Morchard Road

Judges Comments Umberleigh impressed the judges with the overall impression of a cared-for country station, with a good mix of shrubs, tubs and planters against a backdrop of hedge roses and bramble. The mix of plants was very colourful, shrubs were neatly trimmed, and we were conscious of the big improvement that had been made at this station over the last 12 months.

Crediton produced an excellent showing, and was only very narrowly beaten by Umberleigh. The large flower beds were well-planted with a good mix of shrubs and flowers.Although not part of the judging, the new 'heritage' station sign behind the flower bed on the Up platform was a pleasant touch. The planters between the seats at the station entrance were a particularly pleasing feature that would be appreciated by passengers.

Chapleton was highly commended for the good use made of a narrow platform to produce a colourful display of tubs, planters and hanging baskets with a good mix of height and colour.

Morchard Road was highly commended for the splendid planters surrounding the waiting shelter, brimming with well-tended, healthy and colourful plants that would be a real pleasure for waiting passengers at this small station.

More Station Gardens photos can be found here.

Rail Rover Diary (Part Two) Part One is here.

Saturday 17 September I arrived at Umberleigh five minutes before my departure on the 06:52 to Exeter St Davids. There was a sharp edge to the fresh morning air. I could hear the Class 150 coming up the valley in the distance. For about two minutes the sound disappeared, then starting again before rumbling over the iron bridge, crossing the river Taw just north of the station, which announces its imminent arrival. I was the only one boarding and there were no more than half a dozen on board. Once again I had used the Traveline website to plan my journey to Lydney.

My next train was the 08:20 Virgin Voyager from Exeter St Davids to Bristol Temple Meads. Due to engineering works all services were terminating at Gloucester that day which is not now a regular stop for Virgin services. One good thing about a clock face service, is in instances like this where the trains terminate they simply wait and then take the path of the next service in the opposite direction so passengers not crossing the blockade may not even realise there is any change to services. On arrival at Bristol Temple Meads at 09:18 I quickly noticed there was a 09:23 departure to Severn Tunnel Junction which was 15 minutes earlier than the 09:38 suggested by Traveline. Once on the move I examined my timetable and saw that if my train was a minute early and my connection was a minute late there was a slim chance I could get to Lydney an hour earlier than planned. At Severn Tunnel Junction my train stood at the platform for a few minutes with the doors open I sat on the train like a coiled spring in case the Arriva Trains Wales train should come in ready to make a dash. But no train arrived so it must have been on time and had passed through a couple of minutes before my arrival, So nothing ventured nothing gained. Instead of waiting for a hour for my original connection at Severn Tunnel Junction I stayed on my class 143 and continued on to Newport. Just after leaving Severn Tunnel Junction I was fascinated to see that the centre two of the four tracks were out of use and one of those tracks had been lifted and was being renewed. On the other line, which was out of use, was a convoy of engineers trains one behind the other. The first was being loaded with the old ballast, the next had new ballast, the third had new track, and the fourth more ballast. As it was, I ended up passing the works four times that day so was able to see the progress. At Newport I had half an hours wait before catching the 10:29 Arriva Trains Wales service which I would have caught at Severn Tunnel Junction if I had kept to my Traveline plan, arrival at Lydney being at 10:59. The railway enthusiasts amongst you, will by now, realise that I was heading for the Dean Forest Railway, as I had noticed in the Diesel Diary column of Railway Magazine that they were having a diesel running day. The Dean Forest Railway now have their Lydney Junction Station just five minutes walk from Lydney mainline station. Making it an ideal destination for a day out by train.

On arrival at Lydney Junction, the sight of ex Great Western Railway Pannier tank with brake van greeted me, working a Branch Line Experience private charter. After running round the brake van it headed back up to Norchard. After a short time a young volunteer in his high visibility overalls came across from the signal box and informed the waiting passengers that the first diesel due, had failed at Norchard and that the next train would be an hour away. I decided to sit in the small waiting room and eat my lunch. After about half an hour the Pannier Tank returned and duly ran round the brake van ready to return to Norchard. The guard got on the phone and updated the intending passengers what was happening. He then invited us to board the brake van and return with him to Norchard for us to catch the delayed diesel hauled train out of Norchard Low Level. On arrival I made a dash for the ticket office and purchased a rover ticket and then boarded my train back to Lydney Junction top and tailed by 27 066 and pullman liveried 73 101. This train then headed back to Norchard, but this time to High Level Station for a run to Whitecroft, this being the current limit of operation towards Parkend.

Due to the now late running I regretfully decided not to get out at Norchard and have a look around the railway centre on the return trip, as this might upset my onward connections on the main line. I therefore stayed on the train and went back to Lydney Junction and took some more pictures before making the short walk back to Lydney mainline station.

As I had arrived back at the mainline station earlier than planned, I decided to catch the next calling train which was the near-full 15:04 class 153 back to Newport, instead of the 16:02 train to Gloucester. After a half hour wait I boarded the 16:15 class 143 service from Newport to Bristol Temple Meads. Due to a lighting fault, my carriage of the two car set was plunged into darkness, yes you've guessed it, in the middle of the Severn Tunnel. At Bristol I had a 52 minute wait for the 17:44 Virgin service back to Exeter, this being the train I should have caught at Gloucester if I had kept to the itinerary. Back at Exeter it was the 19:19 service back to Umberleigh, arriving at 20:13, a total distance of 320 miles for the day.

Friday 23 September There being no particular place or route I wanted to travel to or on, I decided to try out the connection at Upwey in Dorset, which Traveline recommends for passenger starting on the Castle Cary – Dorchester line heading for Bournemouth and Southampton. Once again I caught the 07:17 Umberleigh – Exeter St Davids along with 5 others. By now I had noticed the garden shed at the bottom of a

garden on the downside between Cowley Bridge Junction and the Johnson Laundry, Which has been made to look like a small waiting shelter complete with platform.

At St Davids I changed to the 08:37 First Great Western HST as far as Castle Cary where I then had a 29 minute wait for the Wessex trains class 150 DMU from Bristol and traveled as far as Upwey, the station just outside of Weymouth. Upwey Station is in the middle of a residential area and I was surprised to note that there were no cars in the station parking bays. Either it's passengers all walk to the train or there is a security problem here.

After a 14 minute wait at Upwey my Southwest Trains, Wessex electric unit pulled in and I was soon on my way towards Dorchester South and Bournemouth. I decided to break my journey at Brockenhurst in the hope that I might see and be able to photograph the Blue, slam door electric unit, on the Lymington Branch. At Brockenhurst it was not long before the Lymington train arrived, formed of the Green unit that I had seen the previous week but none the less I took a couple more pictures despite the heavy rain and low light levels.

I then caught a late running train on to Southampton where I then jumped onto a South West Trains new class 444 electric unit bound for Portsmouth. Having got the arrival time from the conductor, I realised that I would miss my connection to a Westbury bound train.

So I decided to detrain at Cosham and change platforms to get my Wessex Trains class 158 to Westbury, where I had a 14 minute wait for a busy Friday afternoon service from Paddington for my return to Exeter, arriving at 17:30. I then caught the 17:54 service to Barnstaple for the final leg of my journey back to Umberleigh, a distance travelled of 389 miles.

Saturday 24 September For the eighth and final day of my Railrover ticket, I had decided to head for the Diesel weekend on the Gloucester Warwickshire Railway. My journey planned by the Traveline website I was slightly apprehensive about as when checking the Virgin website earlier in the week I noted engineering works were planned. Three passengers including myself boarded the 06:52 Umberleigh – Exeter St Davids. At St Davids I checked the departure screens and saw that my service was on time and no mention of track work. I had planned in my mind that I might have to change to a bus at Gloucester to get to Cheltenham, which would probably reduce the time I would be able to spend on the G/WR. Anyway, off I set on the 08:20 Exeter St Davids heading for Cheltenham Spa. After departure an announcement stated that the train would be running 1 hour late from Birmingham, as after Cheltenham the service would be diverted via Worcester, so good news for me but not for the passengers travelling further.

The Traveline website not only includes rail travel but also includes buses, ferries, Metro and even foot. By putting in the post code of your starting point it will even estimate your departure time to get you to your nearest bus stop. Whilst planning this journey I did try bus connections to Cheltenham Racecourse but could not get anything to come up so only planned from Umberleigh to Cheltenham Spa station.

From the G/WR leaflet it stated that there was a bus service to the racecourse. So I went to the station forecourt where a bus was boarding passengers. The driver confirmed he called at the Racecourse. So I took the 10–15 minute journey to the Racecourse Park and Ride site. Then I walked the quarter mile across the Racecourse car park to the G/WR's Racecourse Station. There I purchased my ticket from the lonely ticket office and descended the path down to the platform in the pine tree lined cutting, where my train had just arrived, headed by a class 56 and 73. I travelled through to Toddington with a short wait at Winchcombe, to allow a late running service to pass, which allowed me to take a few pictures. Shortly after leaving Winchcombe my train came to a sudden halt, Which I understand was caused by someone pulling the emergency chain. At Toddington I spent a couple hours or so photographing the comings and goings which included demonstration freight trains. Motive power included Classes 37, 24 and 47. I also witnessed the renaming of the class 47.

The day was made by it being a sunny late summer's day. Mindful of my return mainline connection and the G/WR trains late running.

I set off mid afternoon, back to Cheltenham Racecourse, where I was the only one boarding a park and ride bus into the town centre, and then another to the railway station. On arrival at Cheltenham Spa station my train was waiting at the platform, having been diverted it was waiting time to take the next path south, being the 16:52 from Cheltenham Spa. Arrival back at Exeter was at 1843 where I caught the 19:19 from St Davids back to Umberleigh arriving at 20:15 having travelled 309 miles.

Thus my eight day rover was over! I had travelled a total of 2667 miles not including the preserved mileage. If you divide the cost of the ticket of £95 by 8 it gives a cost of just over £11.87 per day and takes some beating for value for money! Hopefully First Great

Western will continue a range of Rail Rover tickets from the 1 April. May be they will change the areas covered which will give some new journey opportunities.

Rob Dark

The Summer Sunday only "Dartmoor Sunday Rover" The service recommenced on the spring bank holiday Sunday 28th May with 153355 and 153377 working Exeter-CreditonOkehampton services throughout the day. As in previous years North Devon connections were virtually non-existent! Dartmoor railway used the occasion for a civic launching ceremony for their recently acquired steam loco - Ex NCB 1953 Hunslet 0-6-0 No 3783 "Darfield No 1" which will be used on Sundays and selected August weekdays throughout the summer.

Alan Wilkinson

The Tarka Line between the Wars Many years ago, I bought the Oxford Publishing Company's reprint of the Southern Railway Working Timetable for its Western Division that came into operation on 17 July 1932. Among the many timetables included is that for the North Devon line. I have transcribed the passenger trains for the Exeter-Barnstaple part of the line and these appear in the tables below.

They show that there was a basic service of ten trains in each direction. Indeed, there would not be that great a change in the service until the end of steam working in the early 1960s. It is worth noting that Exeter Queen Street had not yet been completely rebuilt and renamed Central and that Kings Nympton station is called South Molton Road, being a mere 15 km from South Molton, and not renamed until the early 1950s. The first train down was the newspaper train, leaving Exeter at 05:00 and taking an hour and twenty-two minutes for the journey. The last train down was the 19:53 and taking an hour and twenty-nine minutes. The fastest train was the 13:56, taking an hour and two minutes. This was the 10:35 from Waterloo, and in later years, retimed at leave London at 11:00, it was called the Atlantic Coast Express. It is interesting to see that this train was also allowed to make a permissive stop at Portsmouth Arms for passengers travelling from Waterloo or Salisbury. The parliamentary requirement for trains to stop somewhere on the section of line built on land owned by Lord Portsmouth was clearly being applied. It is worth noting that all but two of the down trains stop at Crediton, but that six of the up trains pass Crediton non-stop.

In the up direction the first train is the 07:45, having originated in Torrington. This took an hour and twenty-five minutes for its journey.

The last up train of the day was the 20:31 passenger and mail service, taking a leisurely hour and thirty-nine minutes, with a ten minute pause at Exeter St Davids and presumably some recovery time hidden away elsewhere to allow for mail bags to be loaded.

The fastest up train was the 11:18, taking an hour and seven minutes for the trip. This, too, was later to be called the Atlantic Coast Express, and like the comparable down train, it also had a permissive stop at Portsmouth Arms.

All in all, the service of some seventy-four years ago was not exactly dense and the journey times really quite slow. It was perhaps not quite the golden age and it does support the contention that the Southern Railway west of Exeter was the withered arm, rather neglected by Waterloo and with a poor service. In passing, there were two freight trains each way, one to and from Exmouth Junction sidings and the other to and from Nine Elms in London.

At this period passenger trains would have hauled by Maunsell's N class 2-6-0s and by Drummond 4-4-0s, mainly of class T9 (the famous 'Greyhounds') and the almost identical classes of K10 and S11 (so called 'Small Hoppers' and 'Large Hoppers', respectively).

The Bulleid 'West Country' and 'Battle of Britain' classes did not appear until after the war but soon displaced the N class to freight and secondary passenger working and left a handful of trains to the T9s alone, which through the 1950s gradually became rarer on the North Devon line.

Down trains Exeter to Barnstaple Summer 1932

01:30 06:25 Started at Waterloo Yeovil News Exeter Queen St 05:00 08:20 Exeter St Davids 05:10 08:28 Newton St Cyres 08:37 Crediton 05:22 08:43 Yeoford 08:51 Copplestone 08:58 Morchard Road 09:02 Lapford 09:09 Eggesford 05:51 09:16 South Molton Road 05:59 09:24 Portsmouth Arms 06:05 09:29 Umberleigh 06:13 09:36 Chapelton 09:41 Barnstaple Junc. 06:22 09:47

08:40 10:35 12:46 Waterloo Waterloo Salisbury 09:42 09:48 10:01 10:10 10:17

11:48 11:56 12:05 12:12 12:20 12:27 12:32 12:37 12:46 12:53 12:58 13:05 14:34 13:17

10:27 10:34 10:41

Torrington (T)/ Ilfracombe (I)

10:53 13:10 11:04 T+I

13:09 13:15

13:56 14:02

13:27 13:44 13:54 13:58 14:03 14:10 14:17 14:22 14:29

14:43s

14:40

T+I

I

16:12 16:18 16:27 16:33 16:42 16:50 16:53 16:58 17:06 17:14 17:20 17:28 17:33 17:40

14:58 I

T+I

15:00 16:45 Waterloo Salisbury

17:00 17:06 17:15 17:21 17:31 17:39 17:43 17:48 17:56 18:06 18:12 18:20 18:25 18:32

18:30 18:36

18:52

19:20

19:35

19:53 19:58 20:07 20:13 20:22 20:30 20:34 20:39 20:47 20:56 21:02 21:10 21:15 21:22

Through T+I coach to I

s - permissive stop to set down passengers from Waterloo to Salisbury

Up trains Barnstaple to Exeter Summer 1932 Torrington Ilfracombe

07:10

Barnstaple Junc Chapleton Umberleigh Portsmouth Arms South Molton Road Eggesford Lapford Morchard Road Copplestone Yeoford Crediton Newton St Cyres Exeter St Davids Exeter Queen St

07:45 07:52 07:58 08:05 08:11 08:18 08:25 08:31 08:36 08:43 08:50 08:56 09:07 09:10

Final destination

08:10 08:15

10:28 10:30

12:20 12:20

13:15 13:15

14:20 14:20

09:44 09:51 09:57 10:04 10:10 10:17 10:26 10:33 10:37 10:44 10:52

11:18

13:08

13:59 14:07 14:13 14:26 14:42 14:51 15:04 15:10 15:15 15:20

15:08

10:04 10:07

11:07 11:10

12:22 12:25

14:17 14:20

16:17 16:20

W'loo

Sbury

W'loo

W'loo

W'loo

08:58

09:23 09:30

09:00

11:34s 13:31 13:38 13:45 13:54 12:03

John Bradbeer

How Many People Can You Get Onto Eggesford Platform?

On 9th June this was put to the test, as the long line of people walked from the Fox and Hounds Hotel after a good evening

15:38

16:38 16:45

14:56 15:44 15:51 15:57 16:08 16:16 16:29 16:36 16:41 16:46 16:53 17:01 17:07 17:19 17:22

17:35 17:43 17:49 17:58 18:05 18:13 18:21 18:27 18:32 18:39

18:58 19:01 Eastleigh

19:45 mail/pas 20:31 20:38 20:43 20:50 20:57 21:05 21:14 21:20 21:25 21:32 21:39 21:45 22:04 22:10

listening to the Steve Tucker All Stars jazz band. They crammed onto the platform at Eggesford waiting for the last train back to Barnstaple. The answer to the question is nearly 200 people, for when the train arrived a count was made on the train and it was just over 200 people which would have included the passengers that were already on the train. Don't panic - there were not 200 people crammed on a 153 or even a 150 - we were supplied with two 150s (four units). It was arranged earlier in the evening for the extra units because of the large number on the train heading to the Fox and Hounds Hotel. This was one of our most successful music trains taking place on the Tarka Line to date.

Further details about the music trains from the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership on 01752 233094.

Paul Rendell Music Train Events Organizer

Footfall Figures 2004/2005 The Office of Rail Reguation have just released their annual footfall figures for the financial year 2004/5.The number on the left is the overall ranking, ie St Davids is the 181st busiest station in the country.

Rank Last Year ==== ========= 8 (7) 12 (12) 39 (36) 65 (60) 181 (185)

Station Name Footfall ===================== ========== Paddington 25,788,145 Birmingham New Street 16,243,912 Bristol Temple Meads 5,641,372 Bath Spa 3,726,900 Exeter St. Davids 1,632,285

Change ====== 2.0% 12.5% 8.2% 10.6% 6.3%

1,519,011 1,045,697 720,606 623,832 353,580

5.7% -3.0% 11.6% -15.2% 10.6%

195 286 402 455 704

(191) (262) (430) (382) (719)

Plymouth Exeter Central Newton Abbot Exmouth Totnes

714 748 790 825 1006

(676) (767) (765) (802) (982)

Paignton Teignmouth Torquay Dawlish Tiverton Parkway

345,738 318,532 298,494 281,659 202,588

2.7% 10.1% 4.7% 5.9% 8.6%

1024 1141 1199 1231 1532

(1009) (1130) (1191) (1273) (1612)

Barnstaple Torre Digby and Sowton Topsham Dawlish Warren

194,474 153,214 134,804 127,903 69,763

9.1% 9.7% 10.6% 17.3% 20.8%

1536 1572 1624 1730 1753

(1558) (1537) (1461) (1662) (1838)

Starcross Lympstone Village Lympstone Commando Polsloe Bridge Ivybridge

69,175 63,325 55,875 43,788 40,613

15.6% -1.6% -21.2% -4.6% 24.2%

1865 1897 1964 2067 2100

(1753) (1864) (1928) (1976) (2119)

Bere Alston St James' Park Crediton Devonport Eggesford

29,552 27,477 22,478 16,202 14,152

-22.1% 0.9% 3.9% -13.8% 19.2%

2116 2201 2235 2245 2260

(2001) (2204) (2207) (2163) (2257)

Bere Ferrers Umberleigh Yeoford Keyham St Budeaux Victoria Rd

12,862 8,301 6,883 6,374 5,818

-27.8% 4.2% -13.9% -28.8% 6.3%

2278 2324 2354 2363 2428

(2293) (2288) (2294) (2269) (2416)

Dockyard Morchard Road Kings Nympton Lapford St Budeaux Ferry Road

5,088 3,442 2,400 2,104 969

20.0% -26.4% -40.2% -57.2% -1.8%

2442 2452 2458 2459

(2406) (2425) (2436) (2403)

Newton St Cyres Chapelton Portsmouth Arms Copplestone

702 472 372 356

-38.8% -35.7% -39.4% -71.1%

Thanks to Neil Sunderland for extracting the data.

First's Fair Fares?

The group has long held the opinion that the level of fares applicable to the Tarka Line compares poorly with similar lines elsewhere in the country, so the introduction in June of reductions in the cost of cheap day return fares was warmly welcomed, in the hope that more passenger would be encouraged to use the line.

The cheap day return fare from Barnstaple to Exeter has reduced from £10.30 to £7.00, with a similar level of reduction from all stations as indicated below.

To Exeter from: Chapelton Umberleigh Portsmouth Arms Kings Nympton Eggesford Lapford Morchard Road Copplestone Yeoford Crediton Newton St Cyres

£7.00 £7.00 (£6.50 from 10/9/2006) £7.00 (£6.50 from 10/9/2006) £6.00 £6.00 £6.00 £4.50 £4.50 £4.00 £3.00 £2.50

Similar reductions have been made to the cost of most Ranger tickets, for example the Devon Ranger, which was £14.00 is now £10.00. I note that the area covered by this ticket now excludes Taunton (not in Devon, but always included by the previous TOC) Similar reductions have been made to the cost of most Ranger tickets, for example the Devon Ranger, which was £14.00 is now £10.00. I note that the area covered by this ticket now excludes Taunton (not in Devon, but always included by the previous TOC) For longer journeys the introduction of "Firstminute" fares along the same lines as Virgin's leisure fares, allows the purchase of two single journeys, potentially much cheaper than even a Saver. The only points to bear in mind with these are the limited availability (so book early), the only booking means being via the internet, and (since the prices are already low) there are no railcard discounts.

Examples of these fares are: Exeter to London Exeter to Penzance

£12 each way (£28 each way first class) £6.50 each way (£11 each way first class)

Andy Hedges

Readers Write Two comments on the last magazine [Autumn 2005 issue - Ed]. Page 14 refers to the jazz train. We inquired of train staff couple of days before the last one ran, they had no knowledge at all the event. Staff in Barnstaple were better informed, but even they did not know whether the group went through to Exeter or even whether it was a single or return event.

Secondly I note the comment "and even Dorset" on page 13 by Alan under "Does North Devon Exist?". I like to think that the connection from Dorset (i.e by LSWR. mainline service) is the result of many complaints from myself and others, that for several years the first train to Okehampton was timed depart from St Davids about two minutes before the arrival of train from Yeovil Junction. We now have a sensible connection which we use. It seems a great pity that the Tarka line is not included in Dartmoor Rover tickets.

Terry Gough

I wrote to Patrick recently re his letter to the North Devon Journal on the topic of bus-rail integration. Now First run the trains and the buses it could be better but First Bus are an inefficient company and I sent Patrick examples of this including a letter to the North Devon Journal concerning a bus that didn't meet a train at Barnstaple. Stagecoach now rival first bus with an Exeter to Barnstaple service, it means some competition bus-wise but a rival service to the train.

Garth Smith Member of Bus Users UK Member of Bideford Council public transport committee

[At the time of writing First are surrendering the licences for several commercial and financially supported services including the 315 Barnstaple-Exeter service. — Ed]

Membership Matters If you know someone who you think might like to join NDRUG please contact the Membership Secretary whose address is here.

New Members We welcome: Drs Peter and Sarah Hunt and Family, Abbotsham Graham Houghton-Baugh, Teignmouth David Rattue, Pilton Sue Bennet, Barnstaple