TRA - Mag31

Representing users of the Barnstaple to Exeter rail line

TARKA RAIL ASSOCIATION MAGAZINE Issue 31

Autumn 2009

www.tarkarail.org 1

Contents Topic

Author(s) Page

Editorial Community Rail Awards Communication Masts (again!)

The date the Tarka Line was saved Visit to Exeter Traction Depot Improvement works Exploring the Line—Newton St Cyres Barnstaple goes National Hourly service to Waterloo Line closure this Autumn Great Western RUS Club 55 returns First steps?

Latest passenger figures Thirty Years Ago (Part 2) Line Update & Miscellany Membership Matters

Andy Hedges

John Nicholas John Burch Peter Craske/AlanClark Mike Day

John Phillips Tony Hill

Design: Tarka Rail Association

Articles, information, and letters for the next edition should be sent to: Andy Hedges 20 Barton Meadow Road, High Bickington, Umberleigh, EX37 9AN or e-mailed to andyhedges@gmail.com

Opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the editors nor of the Tarka Rail Association

Front Cover: Crediton’s new heritage lighting

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3 4 5 8 11 13 15 16 18 20 20 21 22 23 24 27 30

Editorial Welcome to another edition of the Association magazine, just for a change this time I have struggled to fit everything in, and we are now back to 28 pages for this issue – let’s hope this continues in the future!

Just recently there has been much activity on the rail front, both locally and nationally On the national side there has been the firm support for a second high speed line, a rail reopening report entitled “Connecting Communities’ from the Association of Train Operating Companies, a report on electrification from the Department for Transport, and most recently Network Rail’s consultation document on future plans for the South West rail network for the next decade.

Unfortunately, the Tarka Line is a long way down the pecking order when development of the rail network if concerned, and much of what is discussed in these documents will have no effect on us, I certainly don’t think that we shall be electrified! However there is work going on, with infrastructure developments happening, or due to happen, at Barnstaple, Umberleigh, Eggesford, Morchard Road, and Crediton. These, however, are not developments related to the actual running of the service.

We still need other factors addressed to improve the current service now that the mostly hourly pattern has settled down. Obviously the most noticeable and the most commented on item is the standard of rolling stock currently in use, hopefully to be addressed in the next 12-18 months. Another hotly debated item is the journey time; improvements need to be made to line speed availability, the level crossing and token exchange arrangements at Eggesford and Crediton, and the speed restriction at the ungated Salmon Pool crossing on an otherwise fast stretch of line. The aim is for a journey time of less than an hour without compromising present calling patterns.

The Tarka Line is in a unique situation. It is designated a Community Rail Line, as are all the Cornish branches, but unlike them the line is more an inter-urban, or secondary main line, being a main artery between the large population centres of Exeter and “Greater Barnstaple” – the gateway to North Devon. Can we expect investment commensurate with this situation?

Andy Hedges

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Chairman’s Report Since this issue of the magazine has been timed to coincide with the mailing of paperwork for the forthcoming AGM, there is no chairman’s report in this issue, as a report for the whole of the year is part of the AGM paperwork supplied to members.

Community Rail Awards The Tarka Rail Association has made several nominations for this year’s Community Rail Awards, which is run annually by ACORP (the Association of Community Rail Partnerships), and of these the following four have made the shortlist — Best catering outlet Mike Day, for Stationmasters Cafe, Barnstaple Station — Outstanding volunteer Peter Craske , for all the work on the Walks booklet — Outstanding railway staff contribution Julian Crow , for the continuing support of our line — Best marketing publication Tarka Line Walks booklet Unfortunately the awards are made at the ACORP annual conference on 25th September, just too late to report in this issue, but we hope to have some success, which in turn will raise the profile of the Tarka Rail Association, and of the line itself.

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Communication Masts (again!)

In 2003 Network Rail’s plans to put 30m high radio communications masts along the Tarka Line caused much consternation. During June Network Rail showed revised plans with masts only half as high at 15m, placed at 13 locations along the track. At these meetings people had the chance to see these plans at exhibitions at Yeoford, Crediton, Umberleigh and Chulmleigh.

It was the first time Network Rail had shown its plans in this sort of exhibition and if it works, it could be repeated elsewhere on a network such as Anglia Rural in East Anglia. Responses made on the forms provided at each exhibition will be gone through and analysed, with the findings subsequently reported to parish councils along the Tarka Line.

Work is planned to begin in September to put the masts up and is scheduled to be completed by Christmas. Observant passengers may have noticed the green cable snaking along beside the track all the way from Exeter to Barnstaple which is the first indication of this work. Most of the poles can be put up in two days and it is hoped that this would not cause too much disturbance to people. When the work is all done, a test train will be run. A spokesperson for Network Rail advised that they did not anticipate having to put in any five metre high repeater masts and would hope to find 100 per cent coverage along the whole track on the first run.

The Network Rail communication system works with a linear signal, not like the mobile phone signal and instead of the original lattice style masts, Network Rail will be using slimline monopole masts to go along the side of the railway track in the 13 places. where masts will be sited.

At Newton St Cyres the mast has been moved 600m east away from the original site close to the station to maximise the distance from houses. At Crediton the mast would be on a new location, down the line from the signal box, opposite the breaker’s yard. At Yeoford the mast has been moved 250m north west of the station towards Colebrooke. The 30m mast would have been at the station. At Morchard Road the original plan was for a 30m mast by the railway bridge under the Morchard Bishop road. It has been moved past the houses and almost opposite the fishing lake, screened by trees. At Nymet Bridge the original plan was for one 30m mast, now there will be two, some distance apart, at 10m high. At Eggesford Barton the original mast has

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BEFORE

AFTER

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been moved 1200m north west, from opposite Eggesford Barton to a site between the station and the Fox and Hounds, where there is a lot of screening by trees. At Kings Nympton the mast has been moved to the other side of the track near Newnham Railway bridge over the river. There will be a 15m mast at Abbotts Marsh where the mast has been moved 1km east, further away from the Portsmouth Arms, the station and houses. A mast will be at Park Farm, moving it 550m north of the previous location to where it will have more tree screening.

At Umberleigh the new mast would be more than 700m north, away from the station and houses.

Key factors that helped to determine the final locations include: 1. Maintaining 100% coverage for the railway communication system to be effective 2. All sites are built on Network Rail’s land, which limits available locations for build 3. Visual impact 4. Access to a fixed electricity supply 5. Proximity to sensitive land uses 6. Safe accessibility during construction and maintenance According to Network Rail the benefits of the new Railway Communication System will be: Improved safety – In the event of an incident all trains in the area will now be able to stop immediately.

More reliable – Train drivers and station staff will be able to provide passengers with more accurate up-to-date information on levels of service.

Improved punctuality – Minor incidents on the network will now be able to be resolved quicker which will mean long delays will be avoided.

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The date the Tarka Line was saved Richard Burningham has done us all a great service in publishing his researches from the Ministry of Transport Line Closure files, and I would like to add some background from my own researches for my North Devon Line and Okehampton Line books, and subsequent.

The three-arch Cowley Bridge was designed by James Green and opened in 1814, taking the turnpike road, now the A377, over the River Creedy, the previous bridge having been destroyed by flooding. To its east is the River Exe bridge, designed and built by Brunel when the river was diverted for the construction of the Bristol & Exeter Railway which opened in 1844, there being both a river bridge and a railway bridge. In 1847 Cowley Bridge Junction was built, the broad gauge Exeter & Crediton line being carried over the River Exe on a double track wooden viaduct. This nominally independent company was taken over by nominees of the standard gauge LSWR who delayed opening until 1851. Deterioration of the wooden viaduct resulted in its replacement by a single track iron viaduct in 1858, the line and junction being converted to double track in 1875, when the second iron span over the River Exe was opened. So the Southern lines west of Exeter commenced with the 1858/1875 iron viaducts over the River Exe until the discussions of 1964-5 described by Richard Burningham. However the point of confluence between the Creedy and Exe has always been susceptible to flooding, damaging roads railways and bridges. To this day train services between Taunton and Exeter are occasionally suspended following flood damage.

On 30th September 1960 there was torrential rain in the area, resulting in the washing out of a bridge and section of embankment at Downes, just east of Crediton, leaving the two tracks suspended over the torrent. The Southern Region Civil Engineers staff based at Exeter Central made good use of their considerable resources to re-build the line, but until 12th October buses replaced trains between Exeter and Crediton, and freight services were diverted. The Beeching Report did not assign any value to such diversionary routes. In 1960 these engineers had also strengthened Meldon viaduct to take the extra weight of the re-built Bulleid light pacifics over the Plymouth line, although they remained banned over the North Devon line. So what was behind the astonishing change in attitude of British Railways to the Southern lines west of Exeter between 1960 and 1964 ?

The 1955 British Railways modernisation plan was implemented in their own different ways by the largely autonomous regions — the Southern extended

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its third rail electrification, the London Midland its 25kv overhead electrification, the Eastern its Deltic diesel electrics, and the Western its range of diesel hydraulics. Surprisingly enough by 1960 the hoped-for improvements in railway finances failed to materialise. Civil service mandarin Mr Eric Serpell was transferred from the Treasury to the Ministry of Transport to tackle the railway deficit, and it was he who brought in Dr Richard Beeching to produce and implement his report. Serpell’s view was that the only railways worth keeping were those that made a profit. Beeching did not achieve this and some 20 years later in 1980 Serpell’s own report recommended closure of all but 1500 miles of profitable? railway, with Exeter to become the terminus serving Devon and Cornwall. The political storm was such that Mrs Thatcher sacked her Transport Minister David Howell for allowing his top mandarin Serpell to publish this report. Subsequently Serpell retired and the political climate for railways improved.

In January 1963 the Western Division of the Southern Region — all the lines west of Salisbury with headquarters at Exeter Central — were transferred to the Western Region, with a management dedicated to the aims of Serpell and Beeching, whose report was published in March. There seems little doubt that the 6th April 1965 letter from Mr F.C. Margetts of the BRB Reshaping Team to the Ministry of Transport strongly recommending complete closure of all Southern lines west of Exeter were inspired by Serpell’s quest for a profitable British Railways.

However the October 1964 General Election brought a Labour Government headed by Harold Wilson, but with a majority of only four and a second election came in March 1966 with the Labour majority increased to 96. Beeching had proposed the retention of passenger services on both the Barnstaple and Okehampton lines, so just two years later a complete closure proposal would have been politically highly contentious, particularly with an impending general election. Although most North Devon goods yards had been closed in 1964 there was still significant freight traffic including general merchandise at Barnstaple, milk from Torrington, ball clay from Marland and Meeth, and railway ballast from Meldon Quarry. The Southern Region would lose its supply of high quality ballast, with a requirement for up to five trainloads a day for many years. Since railway accounting at the time ignored engineering trains this traffic was deemed to have no value. It would have been interesting to know of the response of the Southern Region Civil Engineer to the Reshaping Team proposals. In 1965 most Devon A- class roads were similar to the A377 today, decades before the M5, A30 dual carriageway and new A361 so there would have been real problems in transferring the passenger and freight traffic to road. Job losses would have followed, particularly at Meldon Quarry where about 100 men were employed.

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In retrospect it would appear that no government, Conservative or Labour, particularly with a wafer thin majority, could have accepted the Reshaping Team proposal. Withdrawal of railway services from such a huge area of England, including some 200 miles of coastline between Weston super Mare and Newquay, would have serious electoral consequences. In the event in the 1966 general election Labour gained seats from Conservative at Exeter, Plymouth and Bristol. For Harold Wilson’s government the £304,500 for new bridges at Cowley Bridge proved to be a wise investment.

John Nicholas

Annual General Meeting 2009 Please don’t forget that the group’s AGM is to be held on :

Wednesday 14th October at The Henry Williamson Room, Barnstaple Library at 6.30 pm Guest speaker : Julian Crow, West of England General Manager First Great Western

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Visit to Exeter Traction Maintenance Depot On 6th July seven TRA members were joined by three members of the Avocet Line Rail User Group. Our hosts for the visit were Acting Depot manager Colin Page and Depot Engineering Manager Steve Vial. Colin’s background is that he was transferred to Exeter in an acting capacity to cover for the current depot manager who is long term sick. He had previously been involved with the High Speed fleet at Laira and before that worked in the Naval shipyard at Devonport on Nuclear submarines. He therefore knows all about safety culture! Steve, meanwhile, had most recently come to the South West from Chiltern Railways and was happy to admit that he had found working at the depot something of a culture shock compared to his previous roles.

Colin first assembled the TRA and ALRUG contingent in his depot office to give us a summary of the current position at the depot and plans for the future. He first told us that the last class 143 came out of refurbishment on 26th June. Two of these units were away at any one time during the programme.

Colin was well aware that there were still issues with class 142’s – particularly with the doors. Colin was asked about cleaning of these units and he indicated that currently each unit was cleaned approximately every 2 days. He hoped that users had noticed a significant improvement since the new washing plant had been installed. Colin indicated that it was hoped that seven of the class 142 units would be cascaded away from the area in June 2010.

Having said that Bombardier were running late with construction of new units and this would have a consequent knock on effect with class 172 cascading.

Colin’s captive fleet (i.e that part of the Exeter allocation for which his team were directly responsible) has seen much attention in recent months.

We were told that the depot has 53 staff. 24 of these are fitters, 10 are cleaners, 5 are shunters, 4 are production engineers and there is one graduate trainee. The balance are management and supervisory staff.

Colin explained that the depot is expanding not just surviving. He felt that since he’d arrived it was clear that the staff there still had a ‘merging philosophy’ resulting from the franchise changes when Wessex and FGW were amalgamated.

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There is a need to free all the VHF radio networks used by the rail operators for other allocations by 2012. This is why the new radio system is being installed along the line. A GSMR global satellite system is being installed on the trains and units are now being stood down for 3-4 days for installation. One class 143 / 150 per week is being fitted.

Colin explained that the depot now has reliability issues rather than availability issues. Exeter TMD has historically been better at fire fighting than other depots because of its proximity to the station. It is his intention to change the culture to preventative maintenance to avoid the time wasted diverting attention to in service problems at Exeter St Davids.

Tony Hill had asked a question about the poor riding on sections of the line. Steve explained that the class 142 units suffered from “Hollow Tyre” syndrome. Steve explained that this was caused by class 142’s bogies hunting. Network Rail had tested the section of line, but in a class 150!

This was a source of some frustration to the team. Unit 143.619 was said to be a particular problem. The policy was to put the best performing units on the worst lines. There was a discussion about the difference between welded bull head rail versus flat bottomed rail and the effect this has on the ride.

Colin and Steve feel this needs to be resolved off depot for the matter to be taken forward – now there’s a challenge for the TRA. We then had our safety talk, donned our Hi-Vis jackets and made our way out for the depot tour. The captive allocation currently is 7 x class 142 (001/009/029/030/063/064/068), 8 x class 143 and 12 x class 153. Additionally 23 x class 150/1 and 150/2 units are allocated to the division, but are the maintenance responsibility of St Phillips Marsh depot as are the 5 x class 158/2 and 11 x class 158/3 units. There are also still two hired in units in use.

We noted a unit leaving the depot, running up the main line and then reversing back again. Steve explained that the units have to run out onto the Exe Bridge because the head shunt spur is too short for the longer units and the shunt dolly is not visible. Only the single car class 153 units can use the headshunt.

Steve explained that ‘A’ exams are undertaken overnight. In addition one class 153 is also serviced at Laira each night.

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Interestingly Colin told us that possible expansion could include an HST unit (the one that stables in the station each night) being maintained at Exeter each evening.

We passed by the depot’s 55,000 litre fuel tank and 3,000 litre waste oil tank.

Road 4 and road 6 are the old Riverside yard through roads and this is where the new facilities have been built. No1 and 2 roads are the Network Rail roads and are reserved for their infrastructure maintenance stock. Their depot is alongside the FGW base and is served by the same access road.

We were shown the new underside inspection and cleaning pit. Colin surprised us by explaining that he has no facilities for dropping toilets on units.

Astonishingly the only way these can be emptied is out on the track! I must admit that I hadn’t realised that only the most recent units have sealed chemical toilet units. Colin explained to us that although the underside inspection pit is an excellent facility, the depot is not equipped for bio-hazard work and so as such cannot deal with units that have been involved with a fatality. The nearest facility is at Reading taking a unit out of service for a complete day.

We were then taken to watch the new washing machine and associated recycling pump house in action. Unit 142.068 was run through the facility while we watched and Colin pointed out the speed sensors that are activated as the unit approaches.

Nearby was the all important Hazardous Spill Response kit, all part of the many items of FGW safety equipment on site.

We then visited the maintenance shed. In the main shed on the occasion of our visit 143.612 and 142.068 were undergoing inspection. 142.063 and one other unit were on the adjacent civil shed road. An A-exam takes approximately 6 hours. The depot team apparently endeavour to achieve 1518 exams every night. We noted the waste fuel collectors in the inspection pits designed to minimise spillages when units are having oil changes.

It was now starting to get dark, so we began to make our way back to the offices. It is nice to see that the supporting walls of the old steam shed have been incorporated into the newer facility, rather than the old building just being demolished and rebuilt.

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We were then taken into the reception area and Colin explained the system for monitoring and auditing depot and fleet performance. We studied the Headline Board, Outstanding Workload board and my favourite, the Tag board. This latter tool is used by the shunters to show the status and location of all the stock based at the shed. On shed that night during our visit were units 142.001,142.063, 142.064, 142.068, 150.234, 143.603, 143.612, 143.613, 143.618 and 143.621. It had been a very interesting tour and one which demonstrated the busy nature of operations at, what some still consider to be the Cinderella of the FGW operations. We thanked Colin and Steve for a very interesting evening.

John Burch

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Improvement works There appears to be no shortage of investment along the line at the moment; following on from the complete resurfacing of the station approach at Umberleigh detailed in the last magazine , the new lighting has been installed there, as shown by the picture opposite when the lighting poles were being delivered.

Further work is being carried out at Barnstaple, where new lighting under the canopy, and along the platform is being installed, not without much disruption, particularly the necessity to narrow the width of the platform. This follows updating of the booking office with automatic doors and a more accessible ticket counter

Crediton too has had the problems experienced at Barnstaple, with extended loss of platform space and limited access to the award winning floral displays. In this instance it is also due to lighting. The long awaited heritage style lighting is being installed to complement the already completed decoration of the station building and the signal box into London & South Western Railway colours by The Friends of Crediton Station.

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Exploring the Line (4) - Newton St Cyres Circular walk to Upton Pyne. 5.3 miles.

A gentle walk along the Creedy valley to the village of Upton Pyne. The outbound sections along the river bank can be muddy after rain. The return route is mostly by quiet country lanes.

Facilities: Pub at the station.

On leaving the station, turn left over the railway bridge and, just before the ancient bridge over the River Creedy, turn left onto a footpath following the river bank downstream. After one mile, where a footbridge spans the river, cross the stile and immediately turn left away from the bridge and river bank along a footpath. This leads over the railway line [be especially vigilant with children and dogs!] and across a field to a much smaller footbridge. Proceed over this and follow the path past two round hogan-like dwellings on the right to reach the site of Langford Environmental Education Project and, immediately beyond, a road.

Turn right here and follow the road for 0.6 miles to New Bridge, where the road crosses first railway and then river. It was under the arches of this bridge towards the end of World War II, that three bedraggled German POWs were recaptured following their escape from a nearby internment camp.

Just before New Bridge, take a signposted footpath to the right past Oakford Lodge, and 100 metres beyond the lodge turn left off the drive by a large oak tree. A path leads uphill and then along field edges. Note the rapidly decaying cob wall in hedge at the top of the second field -- evidence of what happens if cob, which can last for centuries, is left unprotected from the rain. At the end of the third field the path enters Lake Down Wood, where there’s a fine tree house just to the left of the gate by which you enter, and proceeds uphill through gloomy conifers to reach a field. Follow the path across this field, past the rear of some modern houses, to the quiet village of Upton Pyne.

The derivation of the village’s name is fairly straightforward. “Up-town” indicating the village’s elevated location on the northern side of the Pynes

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Hill, a prominence overlooking the confluence of the Creedy and Exe rivers. Pyne is a reference to the local family who occupied the manor for ten generations following the reign of Henry I. Pynes, their ancestral home is a Queen Anne residence located at some distance from the village, close to the river Exe. It can be easily be seen by looking west across the river from the railway main-line just north of Cowley Bridge.

Built of local Raddon stone, the ancient church of Our Lady fully repays a visit, while the distinguished Devon historian, W.G. Hoskins considered the outlook north from the churchyard over a gentle landscape inhabited since at least the bronze age to be “one of the most satisfying views in all Devon.” The church is reached by a fine Devon cobblestone path. Note the ancient granite shaft just outside the South porch. The church tower, which dates from 1380, houses several statues in niches, those of David and Christ being the most easily recognisable. There are numerous memorials inside the church, many of them commemorating members to the Northcote family, who made their fortune from the local serge industry and who have been associated with the area since the 16th Century. The horse trough in the street opposite the church forecourt is further evidence of that family’s close ties to the village.

In Victorian times, manganese ore was mined in the village at the Pound Living Mine -- known to locals as “the black pit.” The row of cottages -Belgrave Terrace -- just beyond the church on the left was built expressly to house the miners.

Continue along the lane that leads past the church, and in 0.3 miles at a road junction [Pye corner] take the left hand fork and follow the lane for 0.6 miles, passing Little and Great Ley farms. Shortly after being joined by a lane from the right, and just beyond the bridge, take a footpath on the left which leads alongside a stream through a pleasant water meadow to a small bridge over a ditch. Cross the bridge and turn left into a larger field following the field edge clockwise around the field’s perimeter to reach a road. Dog slightly left across this road at Winscott Cross and take the lane almost opposite the footpath. This lane leads past Winscott Barton and Norton Farm to Newton St. Cyres station just 1.3 miles distant.

Peter Craske/Alan Clark

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Barnstaple goes National

Waiting for the off!

James May at “Barnstaple Junction�

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Well it’s been an exciting few months here at Barnstaple Station Masters Cafe, in May we were nominated in the top ten railway cafes in the UK, and have recently been shortlisted for the National Community Rail Awards “Best Station Outlet”. More recently we have been working with Plum Pictures who are producing a new BBC2 series called “James May’s Toy Stories”, Over the past few months we have been undertaking research locally for the programme to find people who used to travel on the Atlantic Coast Express. The idea behind the programme is that James May and Oz Clarke along with 400 local people would rebuild the railway back to Bideford, which many of you will know was closed down with the fall out from the Beeching report. This time however it was to be a Hornby Model Railway that was to go the almost 10 miles from Barnstaple to Bideford.

We housed the production crew and events co-ordination control centre in our 1st floor conference rooms, which gave the teams a birds eye view over the start of the epic trip and through the first few hundred metres along the station car park. We acted as on site liaison between Plum Pictures and FGW, and the full crew were on site for just under a week. It was a very thrilling but sometimes stressful period particularly as the traditional English summer wasn’t kind to us on the day, and delayed proceedings. Oz Clarke arrived off the 1235 and the whole event kicked off, with James on site from the early hours checking track and ensuring the rolling stock was OK. A large crowd had gathered at the station and along key points throughout the route, it was a real community event. Sadly due to various issues, the trains took a lot longer to travel along the track than expected, and as this was a Guinness World Record attempt the train wasn’t allowed to be changed or stop and had to complete the distance under its own steam (pardon the pun).

The production team worked virtually for 48 hours non stop before, during and after the record attempt, their dedication and determination to complete this absolutely huge undertaking was truly admirable. Our day started at 0445 and finished around 2300, whilst theirs continued on for many hours after.

Throughout their time with us, all of the crew, James and Oz were really good to work with, we had always planned to help draw new customers into the station through our activities, but never in such a Hollywood type style!

The programme will be aired later this year in the Autumn, so make sure you tune in to see it! Hopefully it will promote North Devon and the Tarka Line to the rest of the UK, and make next year even busier for the line.

Mike Day

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Hourly service to Waterloo I must apologise if the heading has readers fired up with the possibility of direct services from North Devon to London again after so many years—it is not to be.

The hourly service referred to in the heading above will be from Exeter, with the introduction of the new South West Trains timetable in December, following the completion of the work being carried out on passing loops in the Axminster area.

Initial indications are that departure time from Exeter for most of the day will be around 20 past the hour. Whilst not a great connection from the incoming Barnstaple services for most of the day at xx.48 it does allow for any late running on the Tarka Line without having to panic. Unfortunately when the Barnstaple arrivals diverge from the standard pattern in the evening connections become poor.

Arrivals from Waterloo should be around a quarter to the hour and this again gives a fairly poor connection onto the Tarka Line whose departures during the day are at xx.27, improving during the late afternoon and evening when the departures are at xx.57 giving a 15 minute connection.

The downside to the new service will be the cessation of all South West Train services west of Exeter, and I am sure that I will not be the only one who will miss the experience of travelling along the sea wall from Exeter all the way to Newton Abbot on a train that is invariably smooth, clean, and quiet, and with comfortable seats that line up with large windows. Thanks for the experience South West Trains.

Andy Hedges

Line closure this Autumn Don’t forget that the line will be closed from Monday 9th November until Friday 13th November for maintenance work, with buses replacing trains during this period. A timetable for the bus replacement will be produced as usual.

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Great Western RUS The committee are currently trawling through the 192 page document that is Network Rail’s Route Utilisation Strategy for the Great Western area. Issued on the 1st September it is a draft document for discussion relating to the strategy for the rail network in the South West for the next decade. We have to have comments in by the end of November, and the final version will appear in early 2010. Part of the document refers to the electrification of some lines, and the committee are already considering the Department for Transport’s document on this subject published in July.

Whilst we are a small voice amongst a group of very large organisations with interests in the proposals within the document, we feel that it is important for those at the grass roots level to make their voice heard, and hope that the comments and opinions expressed are taken into account at the decision making stage

Club 55 returns For those readers not aware of this, First Great Western ran this promotion earlier in the year. Anyone aged 55 or over can buy Club 55 tickets. There is no membership fee to join Club 55 and you don’t need a Senior Railcard (although it will give you a further discount), just make sure you carry proof of age when travelling.

These tickets allow for off-peak return travel anywhere on the First Great Western network, and can be bought on line, at staffed station, on board if your station is not staffed, or by calling 08457 000 125. Tickets are available to buy between 6th September 2009 and 13th November 2009 and are valid for return travel up to one calendar month from the date of outward travel. All outward travel must be taken by the 13th November 2009, and all return travel completed by the 12th December 2009.

Club 55 tickets cost £25 return (Standard) or £45 return (First Class) and Senior Railcard holders get an extra £5 discount on all Club 55 ticket types.

Full details on leaflets available at FGW stations

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First steps ?

On the agenda of the full council meeting of Torridge District Council on 7th September was the following item : Agenda Item 11 Notices of Motion (a) To consider the following Notice of Motion submitted by Councillor Mrs M M Cox: “That Torridge District Council supports the re-opening of the Bideford to Barnstaple railway link alongside the Tarka Trail.”.

Observers at the meeting indicate that the motion was overwhelmingly approved, and the next stage will be discussion in committee.

The Bideford link was also considered by the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) in their recent publication “Connecting Communities”, but with an estimated cost of £80 million and a very low estimated benefit-cost ratio it was low down on the list of possible schemes for consideration.

Capacity problems?

© Ian Walmsley Ian Walmsley is an associate member of the Guild of Railway Artists and readers may like to check out his web site at www.whamart.co.uk where there are further examples of his excellent cartoons as well as his many oil paintings of railway subjects.

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Latest passenger figures These are the latest available figures for the Tarka Line. Year to date, the line is 91.6% busier than it was in 2001. Growth so far this year has been 12.5% and we're looking at probably 375,000 journeys on the line for 2009.

Network Rail’s recently published utilisation strategy says “Exeter to Barnstaple has experienced the most growth with a 74 percent increase in passengers since 2001. Of all the branches, it is still experiencing the highest growth per year with an eight percent increase during the year to 2008.”

They seem to be using different figures, but the picture is till the same.

Period

2006

2007

2008

2009

% 07 - 08 % 08 - 09

1

(9 Jan - 5 Feb)

18.036

17.952

21.340

22.253

18.87

4.28

2

(6 Feb - 5 Mar)

22.050

18.924

26.461

26.146

39.83

-1.19

3

(6 Mar - 31 Mar)

16.088

18.207

20.931

25.793

14.96

23.23

4

(1 Apr - 30 Apr)

22.545

22.564

24.560

32.967

8.85

34.23

5

(1May - 28 May)

21.982

22.741

25.442

28.857

11.88

13.42

6

(29 May - 25 Jun)

23.560

26.004

27.892

29.916

7.26

7.25

7

(26 Jun - 23 Jul)

26.198

25.320

30.271

33.042

19.55

9.15

8

(24 Jul - 20 Aug)

31.064

29.400

34.216

38.558

16.38

12.69

9

(21 Aug - 17 Sep)

29.615

27.633

32.735

18.46

10 (18 Sep - 15 Oct)

26.841

24.481

27.920

14.05

11 (16 Oct - 12 Nov)

23.849

26.658

29.220

9.61

12 (13 Nov - 10 Dec)

24.872

20.218

21.229

5.00

13 (11 Dec - 7 Jan)

19.469

21.028

25.676

22.10

Total

306.169

301.131

347.893 23

237.532

Thirty Years Ago (Part 2) In the first part of this article, I dealt with some of the financial comparisons between British Rail in 1978 and the privatised railway of 2008. I have now turned my attention to the passenger railway and, with the assistance of the Office of Rail Regulation’s Year Book, am able to highlight some very interesting comparisons!

By way of introduction I should explain that in many cases I have had to compile some of the data from various publications, so some of the figures might not be entirely accurate; nevertheless they do give a good indication of the significant differences.

Stations I will start with stations, which are as follows:

1968 1978 2008

Staffed

Unstaffed

Total

2,385 1,716 n/a

365 642 n/a

2,750 2,358 2,516

(current total figures for staffed/unstaffed are not available due to the split between train operating companies responsible for stations) It is interesting to see that despite the many reopenings since the 1980s, the total number is still below 1968 when the last of the Beeching closures were still being implemented and some others not on his list were being proposed such as to Okehampton! Significantly all stations served by the Tarka Line were to be closed under Beeching except Eggesford, Lapford and Crediton!

How they survived is a mystery (to me at any rate!) and there is, of course, ongoing debate about the likes of Chapelton!

Trains The number of loco hauled passenger vehicles has, of course, declined substantially over the years as follows: 1968 1978 2008

9,307 6,388 446*

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*Note: this figure excludes non-HST coaches used by non-franchised operators for excursions etc, including the loco hauled trains chartered by FGW. The main users are, of course, National Express East Anglia (London – Norwich) and East Coast Railway (London – Edinburgh and Leeds) [The Aberdeen and Inverness services use HSTs] and also Arriva Trains Wales for the Cardiff – Holyhead service. FGW and Scotrail use day coaches associated with their sleepers and, finally, we must remember the Royal Train (although strictly speaking I suppose this is a non-franchised operation!).

We take air conditioned trains for granted nowadays (although not on the Tarka Line!!). Back in 1968 there were none, but then there were far more sleeping cars.

Air conditioned Coaches 1968 1978 2008

HST Coaches

0 1,197 1,226

0 302 717

Sleeping cars 447 365* 63

* There were a total of 6,388 loco hauled passenger coaches in 1978

There was a case not so long ago when a number of High Speed Trains (HSTs) appeared to be surplus to requirements. Network Rail purchased around five Class 43 HST locomotives and First Group made a very prudent (as it turned out) purchase of six complete trains. The situation has now been reached where demand is such that a number of loco hauled coaches have been converted to be compatible with and operate in HST sets, notably for Cross Country and Grand Central. So over the years, the total number of HST coaches has increased significantly.

Turning now to multiple unit vehicles, the comparative figures are: Diesel multiple units 1968 1978 2008

Electric multiple units

3,988 3,313 2,836*

7,492 7,343 7,444**

*+ 39 Class 172 on order ** + over 100 outstanding orders for classes 377, 378 & 380

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It must be remembered that 1968 was the last year of steam and so the reduction in vehicles over the ensuing decade can partly be explained by the tail end of the Beeching era but also the start of making more productive use of fewer vehicles to reduce costs. What is really surprising is how significantly fewer vehicles are carrying ever more passengers.

Age Of Rolling Stock Although much has been made of how the fleet has been modified, notably the widespread replacement of former Southern Region slam door emus, the average age has not changed much. Although direct comparisons are not possible due to the way data is now collected, by far the largest age group in 1978 was 16 – 20 years old. Today, the average age of all passenger rolling stock is just over 15 years. Our Pacers are well above this, having been built over 20 years ago in 1985/6. However, with many diesel units being 20 plus years old, it is really hard to expect them to continue indefinitely to perform as if they were new!

Passenger Journeys Let us now take a look at comparative journey times, and, in particular, London to Bristol and London to Plymouth.

Year

No of trains Per weekday

Fastest Journey Time

Average speed of fastest train

London –Bristol 1968 14 1978 24 2008 32

110mins 85mins 99mins

64.6mph 83.6mph 71.8mph

London –Plymouth 1968 7 1978 11 2008 14

230mins 214mins 183mins

58.9mph 63.3mph 74.0mph

The contrast between these two will become immediately apparent! Whilst the number of trains has increased significantly in both cases, the journey times have gone in opposite directions. The fastest Plymouth journey is just three minutes over the even three hours (surely three minutes could be squeezed out somewhere!) and is much quicker than thirty years ago. The Bristol journey, however, has gone the other way since the euphoric early days following the

26

introduction of HSTs in 1976. This can partly be explained by the need for additional stops to meet the growth in demand from places such as Didcot Parkway and Chippenham, but also the effect of what one might euphemistically call padding to try to ensure a right time arrival at final destination!

In part 3, I shall look at various other comparative statistics. In the meantime, if you have any comments or requests, please let me know via the Editor John Phillips

News update and Miscellany Anyone who has travelled on the Arriva Trains Wales 0532 Holyhead to Cardiff Central and 1615 return may be forgiven for wondering how such a loco hauled train (thankfully) manages to exist in an otherwise almost entirely Tram like and unexcitingly run national rail system we endure, particularly on the ND line, these days.

Travelling on the 1615 Cardiff as far as Shrewsbury on 4 August was a real treat, Diesel loco 57313 headed a BR blue/grey Inter City MKIII Restaurant/Kitchen First and 3 Arriva Green MK II Standard coaches with from Abergavenny, after the Cardiff & Newport commuters had alighted, just 48 passengers (& with a few less from Shrewsbury) including 10 first class who enjoyed a real meal on the train prepared by the chef and served by the stewardess; no ‘Retail Sales Manager’ padding here!.

This train, which does not have the indignity & extravagance of dragging a ‘dead’ loco on its rear, is heavily subsidised by the Welsh Assembly in its efforts to connect North Wales with the southern capital of Cardiff. It runs surprisingly non stop from Abergavenny through Hereford to Shrewsbury.

Timekeeping was impeccable on a route that still retains some traditional railway character, mostly semaphore signals with signal boxes and staff watching the safe passage of the train through the very scenic Border country on a secondary main line route that in the early 1970’s was threatened with singling with then just 7 passenger trains each way. ..now it’s about 25.

Planned redoubling, with ‘Welsh’ money, of part of the Shrewsbury to Wrexham & Chester route will enable the direct Holyhead/Cardiff trains to run this way avoiding the current lengthy deviation via Crewe.

27

Travelling through Mid-Wales on the Salop to Aberystwyth line I was impressed by the high max. line speed of 80mph with lower speed restrictions where they were actually needed ..oh that the same could apply on the ND line north of Copplestone where 55 applies regardless almost throughout to Umberleigh and 60 thence to Barnstaple.

Incidentally this ‘Cambrian’ route is also receiving ‘Welsh’ money to enable new loops for an hourly vice current 2 hourly service. Very fortunately the then BR LMR were not so hasty in the 1970/80’s as the WR in removing run round loops at terminus stations (such as at Newquay and Barnstaple) so loco hauled excursion trains can & do still run to Aberystwyth & Pwhelli.

Towards the end of August saw the running of trains of stone again, after many months absence, from Merehead Quarry in the Mendips to the stone distribution centre in Exeter Riverside yard .. no doubt mainly for the prominent ‘Tescofication’ works at Crediton.

Those of you who look out of the train windows will have noticed in the last few months much spot resleepering has taken place on the former down main between Salmon Pool LC and Yeoford (now used by Okehampton line trains) so hopefully in due course leading to the 40 permanent speed restriction (on the Okehampton line) between Crediton & Coleford Jn being raised for the day when hopefully Okehampton has its own trains to/from Exeter. At the time of writing no actual works have yet started at Yeoford in rehabilitating the Down platform for use by Okehampton line trains.

Several lineside ditches, incl. those at Copplestone, Lapford & Chapleton have finally, after several years total neglect, been cleared out by a mini digger in line blocked possessions; until the late 1980’s they were regularly cleaned out during the day by hand by Crediton & Umberleigh LOCALLY based Permanent way staff and with no need to do it at night when there are no trains!

The no longer justified loop at Lapford is now severed/plain lined at both ends with some of the redundant and in excellent condition rails being requisitioned for use elsewhere on the ND line.

The almost one man led personal project under the auspices of ‘The Friends of Crediton’ with its NR owner to transform Crediton station over what has proved far longer than anyone could have imagined into a living L&SWR station is very nearly complete with the Signal Box the latest achievement - but still awaiting a new nameboard. Only the footbridge now remains to complete the project.

28

Where 8 electric light poles were sufficient in the past, the new NR illumination standards dictated that as many as 18 poles (all Heritage style) were needed for this lengthy and expensive (£200K + scheme), which as of mid September is still not complete.

Community Rail is meant to have cost reductions as a major objective …yet there seems so far after 2+ years to be no inroad into the expensive & vast army of specialist staff, many from private companies, who travel long distances by road to do simple tasks such as changing a light bulb, greasing a point or just looking at something.

By all accounts the Heritage and tourist railways of the South West have had a good year so far with increasing business and Network Rail take note that the West Somerset Railway had a new 4 coach station professionally & competitively built at Norton Fitzwarren in just 6 weeks this Summer by a local firm of contractors.

The news that the National Railway Museum’s 1899 built L&SWR T9 class 44-0, now loaned to the Bodmin & Wenford Railway, is to receive a major overhaul to return her to service is to be applauded, …would it be a dream too far to hope one day it could run again from its old home of Okehampton.

Tony Hill

Information Line It has long been a problem at intermediate stations that if there are any problems that affect the running of the train service then prospective passengers will not be aware, as there is no effective customer information system available. The existing dial up system on platforms only supplies details of the next trains as timetabled, (that is when it works), but now, through the good offices of the Stationmaster’s Café at Barnstaple there is an continuously updated message service available during normal opening hours which will advise if there any problems with the train service. The number to ring for the up to date recorded message is :-

07964 525084

29

Membership Matters If you know someone who you think might like to join the Tarka Rail Association, please contact the Membership Secretary whose address is shown opposite.

New Members We welcome: Mr E Pugh Mr T Copley Mr D Riley Mrs M Marquiss Mr D Edwards Mrs S North Mrs V Cory Mr D Holdcroft Ms C Elwell Mr & Mrs G Davis Mr & Mrs R Hateley Mr P Jones Mr & Mrs J Kelsey Dr G Cloke

Westward Ho! Dawlish Chatham Croyde York Northam Barnstaple Exeter Warkleigh Teignmouth Northam Bideford Crediton Alphington

Committee Meetings (Members Welcome) Wednesday 14th October— AGM Barnstaple Library 18.45 Wednesday 18th November — Rising Sun Umberleigh 19.00 Wednesday 20th January—Barnstaple Station House 19:30 Wednesday 17th February—Fox & Hounds, Eggesford 19:00 Wednesday 17th March—Barnstaple Station House 19:30 Wednesday 21st April—Rising Sun Umberleigh 19.00 30

Committee Members Chairman: John Phillips Higher Living Farmhouse, Down St Mary, Crediton, Devon, EX17 6EA. j.phillips142@btinternet.com

Secretary & Vice Chairman: Tony Hill Langridge, Ingleigh Green, Winkleigh.

Devon, EX19 8AT tony@hillglobal.wanadoo.co.uk

Treasurer: Andy Hedges 20 Barton Meadow Road, High Bickington, Umberleigh Devon, EX37 9AN. andyhedges@gmail.com

Membership Secretary: Andy Hedges 20 Barton Meadow Road, High Bickington, Umberleigh Devon, EX37 9AN. andyhedges@gmail.com

Press And Publicity Officers: Peter Craske Blackhall Cottage, South Tawton, Devon EX20 2LP pcbcraske@yahoo.com

Magazine Editor: Andy Hedges 20 Barton Meadow Road, High Bickington, Umberleigh, Devon EX37 9AN andyhedges@gmail.com

Bus & Coach Liaison: John Burch Avercombe, 28 Belmont Road Ilfracombe Devon EX34 8DR johnaburch@btinternet.com

Stations Officer: Janet Day Toye Farm, Durrant Lane, Northam, Bideford, Devon EX39 2RL

Committee Members: Alan Clark Mike Day Phil Simkin

Benslee, Morchard Road, Crediton, Devon EX17 5LR Toye Farm, Durrant Lane, Northam, Bideford, Devon EX39 2RL Puffing Billy, Railway Station, Torrington, Devon EX38 8JD 31

Š Authors And Publishers, Tarka Rail Association, 2009 32