Devon Transition from Steam by TransportTreasuryPublishing

Devon Transition from Steam

ISBN 978-1-913251-43-7

£14.95

Devon Transition Cover v2.indd 1

Compiled by Andrew Fox

Devon is a county where the railway network changed more than most in the Beeching era. A county which had previously been well served by both the Great Western and Southern railways now presented an amount of duplication added to which quaint branch lines served areas of limited population, the latter financially viable for just a few months of the year and associated with tourism. Peak and flows of traffic were not something to be tolerated by Dr Beeching, but the resultant pruning of the network had other unforeseen and less welcome effects that reduced the traffic flow onto the main lines. Add to this the move away from steam and the continual advent of the motor car and the result was a local rail map altered beyond what might anyone could ever likely have perceived. True, some passenger services had already been culled in the 1950s prior to Beeching, Princetown and Ashburton two examples, but when the unthinkable, Padstow, Kingswear, Ilfracombe and then even almost the whole of the Okehampton line was closed, it is small wonder there were those who may have had doubts about where it all might have ended. Within these pages we are delighted to present an exercise in pure nostalgia; an opportunity to sit back and enjoy Devon at its BR peak – a railway network in the early throws of transition.

Devon Transition from Steam

Images from the Transport Treasury Archive

Compiled by Andrew Fox

16/01/2023 10:48

Devon Transition from Steam

Devon Transition from Steam Compiled by Andrew Fox

Reviving the memories of yesterday… © Images and design: The Transport Treasury 2023. Text Andrew Fox ISBN 978-1-913251-43-7 First published in 2023 by Transport Treasury Publishing Ltd., 16 Highworth Close, High Wycombe, HP13 7PJ www.ttpublishing.co.uk Printed in Tarxien, Malta at Gutenberg Press Ltd.

The copyright holders hereby give notice that all rights to this work are reserved. Aside from brief passages for the purpose of review, no part of this work may be reproduced, copied by electronic or other means, or otherwise stored in any information storage and retrieval system without written permission from the Publisher. This includes the illustrations herein which shall remain the copyright of the copyright holder.

Front Cover: For a period during the transition from steam to diesel, the two locomotive types could be seen working together over the South Devon banks. Grubby ‘Hall’ class No 4905 Barton Hall double-heads ‘Warship’ No D812 The Royal Naval Reserve 1859-1959 on the down ‘Cornish Riviera Express’ at Tigley on Sunday 11 September 1960. The ‘Warship’ entered traffic on 12 November 1959, and was originally intended to have been named Despatch in the alphabetical ‘Warship’ name sequence. It was withdrawn on 3 November 1972, in the final weeks of the ‘Warships’. Barton Hall entered service in December 1928 as one of the first batch of ‘Halls’. It was withdrawn from Oxford shed in November 1963. Peter Gray PG2450 Frontispiece: ‘Castle’ No 7022 Hereford Castle is seen at Tigley bank at 6.40pm on Monday 29 July 1963 with the 5.40pm Goodrington - Plymouth. One of the British Railways-built ‘Castles’, No 7022 entered service on 15 June 1949, and was fitted with a double chimney and four-row superheater in January 1958, subsequently spending five years based at Laira from January 1958 until November 1963, when it moved, appropriately, to Hereford shed (86C). After a working life of 16 years, No 7022 would be withdrawn from Gloucester, Horton Road shed (85B) on 25 June 1965. Peter Gray PG3330 Rear Cover: Having joined the Western Region down main line at Lipson Junction, and after passing through the 183yd Mutley tunnel, Drummond ‘M7’ 0-4-4T No 30668 heads towards Plymouth North Road station on Tuesday 15 April 1952 with a five-coach train formed of venerable former LSWR coaches. The ‘M7’ had entered service in September 1897 as LSWR No 668, and would remain in traffic for a further nine years, finally being withdrawn at the start of September 1961. Roy Vincent REV 1 (2142)

Contents

Introduction 1. The Western Region Main Line 2. The Southern Region Main Line 3. The First Closures 4. Motive Power Changes 5. Sheds Old and New 6. Operational Challenges and the Decline of Steam at Exeter 7. Transformation at Plymouth 8. The Closure Wave of the 1960s 9. Farewell Specials 10. The Devonport Dockyard Railway

4 5 22 30 43 53 63 72 81 103 111

Bibliography

BR Steam Motive Power Depots - SR and WR, Paul Bolger, Ian Allan Branch Line to, Branch Lines around - various, Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith, Middleton Press British Railways Pre-Nationalisation Coaching Stock - Vols 1 and 2, Hugh Longworth, Crécy Publishing The Culm Valley Light Railway, Michael Messenger, Twelveheads Press Devonport Dockyard Railway, Paul Burkhalter, Twelveheads Press The Exe Valley Railway, John Owen, Kingfisher Railway Productions From Devon to Dorset: The Story of the Lyme Regis Branch, Martin Smith and George Reeve, Irwell Press The Ilfracombe Line, John Nicholas, Irwell Press An Illustrated History of Plymouth’s Railways, Martin Smith, Irwell Press Lines to Torrington, John Nicholas and George Reeve, Irwell Press Main Line to the West - Parts 3 and 4, John Nicholas and George Reeve, Irwell Press Men, Machines & Maintenance, Robert E. Trevelyan, Noodle Books The Moretonhampstead Branch, John Owen, Kingfisher Productions The Okehampton Line, John Nicholas and George Reeve, Irwell Press A Pictorial Record of Great Western Coaches (Part Two 1903-1948), J.H. Russell, OPC Rail Trails: South West - Essays in Steam, Peter W. Gray, Mortons Media Group Railways round Dartmoor, Bernard Mills, PiXZ Books Southern Main Lines - various, Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith, Middleton Press Southern Big Tanks - Nos 3 & 4, Leslie Tibble, Irwell Press Steam around Devon and Cornwall, Peter W. Gray, Ian Allan Steam in Devon, Peter W. Gray, Ian Allan Steam on West Country Branch Lines, Peter W. Gray, Ian Allan Steam on West of England Main Lines, Peter W. Gray, Ian Allan The Pannier Papers - Nos 1 - 4, Ian Sixsmith and Richard Derry, Irwell Press The Prairie Papers - Nos 1 - 3, Ian Sixsmith, Irwell Press The Book of the … series - various, Irwell Press West Country Branch Lines: a Colour Portfolio, Peter W. Gray, Ian Allan Western Main Lines - various, Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith, Middleton Press The Railway Observer, Railway Correspondence and Travel Society www.brdatabase.info www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk www.sixbellsjunction.co.uk https://davidheyscollection.myshopblocks.com/pages/david-heys-steam-diesel-photo-collection-95-great-waywest-4 3

Introduction This book covers the period of transition on Devon’s railways during the 1950s and 1960s - a time of change and transformation in many respects. At first this would largely be a matter of gradual development, but the nature of the changes would grow dramatically, and the pace would accelerate, leaving the county, within a few years, with a railway network altered beyond recognition. Looking back on this period, it is striking how fast things changed, with a largely stable and familiar railway system disappearing in a remarkably short timescale. The end of steam was accomplished in less than eight years from the arrival of the first diesels, and by 1965 steam had virtually disappeared from Devon’s railways. A period of roughly 10 years from the second half of the 1950s saw the disappearance of many stations and the larger part of the county’s railway network, and the passing of a whole way of life. Reorganisation and the ‘Beeching Report’ 1963 in particular would be a year of great significance, On 1 January 1963 the Southern Region lines in the south-west were transferred to the Western Region. In the context of the economic pressures of the time, and the closures and rationalisation that were to come, this development perhaps did not augur well for those lines. More significantly, less than three months later, on 27 March 1963, the notorious ‘Beeching Report’, The Reshaping of British Railways, was published, recommending large-scale cuts to the country’s railway system. Loss of Goods Traffic Whilst passengers were increasingly abandoning the railways for private cars, the 1960s would also see the loss of traditional forms of goods traffic, in particular of agricultural loads, including the disappearance of cattle trains from Devon’s railway network. With the inexorable movement from the railways to road transport, many rural stations would see a great reduction in the level of goods traffic, although in some locations freight would continue for at least a limited period after the end of passenger services. Despite the loss of many goods loads, however, the transportation of milk and china clay would continue on some Devon lines into the 1970s. Infrastructure Developments Dieselisation and far-reaching cut-backs to Devon’s railway system were accompanied by equally significant changes to infrastructure, with the closure of almost all locomotive sheds, and new depots being built at Laira and Newton Abbot, designed for the requirements of the diesel fleet. Unimaginable just a few years earlier, the once mighty Exmouth Junction shed would close completely. Although Newton Abbot shed would remain, being rebuilt to provide facilities for the recently introduced diesel-hydraulics, its status was henceforth diminished in comparison with Laira, which became the principal locomotive maintenance and servicing centre for the south-west. The early 1960s would also be accompanied by the completion of the long drawn-out rebuilding of Plymouth (formerly North Road) station. A Shrunken Railway The railway network in Devon had been much reduced by the end of the 1960s, with its core now consisting of the Western Region main line, with its branch to Paignton and Kingswear. The former Southern main line from Waterloo remained, but much reduced in status and quality of service, the Exmouth branch continuing as a commuter line for travel to Exeter, whilst in North Devon the Barnstaple line survived with its continuation to Ilfracombe, and the truncated remains of the former Exeter - Plymouth line as far as Okehampton. Although some threatened lines clung to life into the early 1970s, however, the Barnstaple - Ilfracombe line would close in October 1970, and passenger services to Okehampton would end in June 1972. Not all of the lines which had lost their passenger services were lifted; several sections of line continued in use for goods services, including milk trains from Hemyock and Torrington, china clay from Meeth and Marland, and in particular ballast from Meldon Quarry. Amidst all the retrenchment and gloom, the new phenomenon of railway preservation brought a little positivity, including a limited rebirth of steam. Four years after the end of regular steam in Devon, on 21 May 1969 Dr Richard Beeching, former Chairman of British Railways, performed the re-opening ceremony for the preserved Dart Valley Railway, operating between Buckfastleigh and Totnes, on the remaining section of the truncated former Ashburton branch. In November 1972, the scenic line between Paignton and Kingswear would be transferred to private ownership, and would subsequently operate as a successful tourist railway. The period covered by these pages was one of tremendous variety and change. With the benefit of hindsight, many errors were made. The headlong rush into dieselisation, disposing of steam locomotives which were in some cases only a few years old, would be followed by the new diesels themselves leading wastefully short lives. Although many closures were necessary and unavoidable, the precipitate closure of some lines, without consideration of possible future requirements, is now widely viewed as a mistake. The changes to Devon’s railways during the 1950s and 1960s were, of course, in many respects similar to those across much of the country, but with the county’s often beautiful scenery, lines which were sometimes remote, sometimes challenging to operate, the integration of the former Great Western and Southern lines, the innovative but short-lived era of the diesel-hydraulics, and the changes made to the network to fit it for a changing world, the 1950s and 1960s were a fascinating period of transition in Devon’s railway history. 4

Chapter 1: The Western Region Main Line

The former Great Western Railway main line crossed the border from Somerset into Devon just before the western end of the 1,092yd Whiteball tunnel, following the demanding climb of Wellington Bank. From Whiteball summit it was downhill most of the way to Exeter.

Leaving Newton Abbot station, the line is near level until Aller Junction. Beyond Aller, the climb proper begins at Stoneycombe, where there was a signal box and quarry siding, continuing through Dainton tunnel to Dainton signal box, a distance of 2 miles and 17 chains (3.56 km).

The Western Region main line in Devon is above all characterised by, and famous for, two things. The section between Exeter and Newton Abbot is dominated by the run along the beautiful Exe estuary, followed by the dramatic stretch along the seawall past Starcross, Dawlish and Teignmouth, followed by the Teign estuary to Newton Abbot. Between Newton Abbot and Plymouth the character of the line was, particularly in steam days, defined by the famous South Devon banks, which posed a formidable challenge to operating a busy main line. Heading west from Newton Abbot, after passing Aller Junction, where the Torbay branch diverges from the Plymouth line, the line climbs Dainton Bank, and immediately on leaving Totnes, trains are confronted with Rattery Bank. Reaching its peak at Wrangaton summit, the line then descends Hemerdon Bank to reach the approaches to Plymouth. Until the end of steam the South Devon banks required the use of pilot or banking locomotives on all heavier trains, adding to the operational workload, but also to the fascination and drama of this stretch of line. One of the now nearly forgotten aspects of operating over the banks, which was phased out during the period covered by these pages, was the very onerous and dangerous practice of pinning down the brakes of unfitted freights at the top of an incline, and then the requirement to reverse the process, releasing the brakes after the descent.

Rattery Bank Rattery is the seventh steepest main line bank on the British mainland, with a constant 4¼ miles (6.8 km) initially between 1 in 45 and 1 in 70, before easing to 1 in 90 and then increasing to 1 in 65. Leaving Totnes, the line immediately climbs past the site of Tigley signal box, continuing to the site of Rattery signal box, a distance of 4 miles and 50 chains (7.44 km). Hemerdon Bank Hemerdon is the fourth steepest main line incline on the British mainland, with a constant 1 in 42 for 2½ miles. Heading east from Plymouth, the climb begins at Plympton and continues to Hemerdon signal box, a distance of 2 miles and 50 chains (4.22 km). Newton Abbot - Kingswear The features which made the Exeter - Plymouth line remarkable were reflected in a slightly different but equally alluring form on the further part of the line which diverged at Aller Junction, heading for the coast at Torbay, encountering its own challenging gradients, in particular beyond Goodrington, and completing its journey with the picturesque run along the estuary of the Dart to Kingswear. Brunel’s Royal Albert Bridge The final dramatic flourish on the South Devon main line comes with the transition from Devon into Cornwall via Brunel’s Royal Albert Bridge, dating from 1859, over the lower reaches of the Tamar.

Dainton Bank Dainton Bank is the third steepest main line bank on the British mainland, with 2 miles varying between 1 in 36 and 1 in 57.

The 8.5am Cardiff - Kingswear service emerges from Whiteball tunnel, where the line moves from Somerset into Devon, and passes Whiteball Siding signal box behind ‘Britannia’ class No 70024 Vulcan on Saturday 1 July 1961. The BR Standard Pacific was not quite 10 years old, having entered traffic on 6 October 1951. Previously allocated to Laira, it had moved to Cardiff Canton (86C) in December 1956, and would soon be on the move again, being reallocated to Aston (21D) in September 1961. It would be withdrawn from Carlisle Kingmoor (12A) on 30 December 1967. Despite its traditional appearance, the signal box was in fact fewer than five years old, being a replacement for the previous box, which had burned down on 28 November 1956. Peter Gray PG2579

Devon Transition from Steam

Penzance-allocated Class 6959 ‘Modified Hall’ No 7925 Westol Hall passes Tiverton Junction on the up through line with a Swansea service on Monday 5 August 1957. As displayed on the fine enamel sign on the down platform, the station served the Culm Valley branch to Hemyock and the line to Tiverton for the Exe Valley line south to Exeter and north to Dulverton on the Taunton - Barnstaple line. Tiverton Junction, alone of the stations between Wellington and Exeter, would survive the cuts of the 1960s. No 7925 was one of the last batch of ‘Modified Halls’ to be built, entering service in October 1950, and would survive until the end of steam operations on the Western Region, being withdrawn from Oxford shed on 31 December 1965. Peter Gray PG1150

On a fine winter’s day, ‘4300’ class Mogul No 7311 passes Rewe, between Silverton and Stoke Canon, with a lengthy down Class H mixed goods train at 12.15pm on Saturday 9 December 1961. The line here runs close to the meandering course of the River Culm, in a low-lying area prone to flooding. No 7311 had entered service 40 years earlier, in December 1921, and had been an Exeter locomotive since 1958. It would be withdrawn from Exeter shed nine months later, in September 1962. Peter Gray PG2790

The Western Region Main Line Running under clear signals, ‘Castle’ class No 7000 Viscount Portal passes Cowley Bridge Junction, and the adjacent Cowley Bridge Inn, with the down ‘Torbay Express’ on Saturday 17 August 1957. The Southern line to Crediton, and thence to North Devon, Plymouth and North Cornwall, diverges to the left. Charles Portal, 1st Viscount Portal of Hungerford, was commander-in-chief of Bomber Command during the early months of World War 2. In October 1940 he was appointed Chief of the Air Staff, remaining in this post for the rest of the war. No 7000 had entered service in May 1946, allocated to Newton Abbot, where it would be based for the first 13 years of its life, before moving to Gloucester, Horton Road (85B) in May 1959. Peter Gray PG1164

Devon Transition from Steam

Running between the Exe estuary and the A379 road, ‘Hall’ class No 4909 Blakesley Hall of Bristol, St Philip’s Marsh shed (82B) approaches Starcross with a 10-coach return Swindon holiday train at 7.15pm on the evening of Saturday 13 July 1957. Although the ‘Hall’ is distinctly in need of attention from cleaners, the rake of mainly Collett-era former Great Western coaches makes a fine sight in the evening sunlight. No 4909 would be withdrawn from Swindon shed in September 1962 after a working life of more than 33 years. Peter Gray PG1116

No 3440 City of Truro passes Dawlish Warren on the up through line with a returning excursion from Swindon to Kingswear on Sunday 19 May 1957. The veteran 4-4-0 is making good progress with the eight-coach train. Earlier it had run light engine to Newton Abbot for coal and water before returning to Kingswear. In a remarkable move the Western Region returned City of Truro to steam in 1957, some 26 years after it had been withdrawn from service. Based at Didcot, it operated until 1961, not only on specials but also regular service trains on the Didcot, Newbury & Southampton line. Dawlish Warren, with its platform loop lines, was an important location where express trains could pass stopping passenger services and goods trains, being followed, heading west, by the space-constrained coastal section through Dawlish and Teignmouth. Peter Gray PG1039

The Western Region Main Line

The great days of summer on the South Devon sea wall in the days of steam are evoked by this view of No 5011 Tintagel Castle of Newton Abbot shed departing from Dawlish at 6.10pm on Tuesday 7 July 1959 with the 10.45am (Saturdays excepted) Manchester - Plymouth. No 5011 was one of a batch of 10 ‘Castles’ to be delivered by Swindon works between May and July 1927, after which there would be a five-year pause before the next members of the class were built. It spent much of its life as a Devon locomotive, spending time based at Exeter, Newton Abbot, and Laira. With the continuing delivery of Type 4 diesels to the Western Region, No 5011 would be withdrawn from Old Oak Common on 17 September 1962, after a working life of just over 35 years. Peter Gray PG1943

Looking in the opposite direction, recently-built ‘9F’ No 92206 of Bristol St Philip’s Marsh shed attracts admiring looks as it leaves the 209yd Kennaway tunnel, the most easterly of the five tunnels at Dawlish, and emerges into the evening sunlight, running beside Marine Parade with an up Perishables service at 7pm on Sunday 28 June 1959. Entering service on 6 May 1959, No 92206 was one of a series of 18 Class 9Fs built at Swindon in 1959 and early 1960 for use on the Western Region, culminating in No 92220 Evening Star in March 1960. It would be withdrawn from Wakefield shed on 9 May 1967 after a working life of just eight years and three days - a sad waste of a fine locomotive. Peter Gray PG1915

Devon Transition from Steam

Skirting the Teign estuary, Class 2884 2-8-0 No 3864 of Newton Abbot shed drifts westward towards Hackney yard with a relatively light load at 6.42pm on the evening of Sunday 13 July 1958. One of the final batch of ‘2884’ class locomotives to be built for the Great Western, No 3864 left Swindon in November 1942, and would survive in traffic until the last months of Western Region steam, being withdrawn from Ebbw Junction shed in July 1965. Peter Gray PG1410

‘Grange’ class No 6813 Eastbury Grange, another Newton Abbot locomotive, coasts into Hackney yard, just north of Newton Abbot station, with a down express freight at 6.50pm on the evening of Tuesday 30 June 1959. No 6813 had entered service on 1 December 1936, being delivered new to Exeter shed, but would spend many years based at Newton Abbot. It would survive almost to the end of Western Region steam, being withdrawn from Worcester shed on 10 September 1965. Peter Gray PG1917

The Western Region Main Line

The 2.10pm Plymouth - Cardiff departs Newton Abbot behind ‘Castle’ No 5054 Earl of Ducie of Bristol, Bath Road shed on Sunday 12 January 1958. The third carriage in the formation is W 8323 W, a Churchward gangwayed ‘Toplight’ all first. Built in May 1914, this fine vintage coach would survive for a little over a year longer, finally succumbing in June 1959 at the grand age of 45 years, as the penultimate example of its type. Peter Gray PG1243

On Friday 30 March 1962, ‘5101’ class Large Prairie No 5153 of Newton Abbot shed bowls along near the site of Aller Vale pottery between Newton Abbot and Kingskerswell, with the Kingswear portion of the 2.30pm from Paddington. At the rear of the train are two Great Western Railway ‘Special Saloons’, attached to the train for the use of the party of Princess Margaret, who was making a private visit to Torquay. No 5153 would move from Newton Abbot to Kidderminster in the late summer, and would subsequently be withdrawn from Leamington shed in November 1964. Peter Gray PG2834

Devon Transition from Steam

The Western Region Main Line Opposite Top: Climbing the 1 in 73 gradient above Torre station, No 5987 Brocket Hall of Old Oak Common shed (81A) passes Shiphay Bridge on the morning of Saturday 20 June 1959 with the 8am Kingswear - Paddington, train reporting number 029, formed of 10 British Railways Mk1 carriages. Entering service in November 1939, Brocket Hall was withdrawn from Oxford shed (81F) in January 1964. Peter Gray PG1883 Opposite Bottom: Recently repainted, but still carrying the large version of the early British Railways totem, Small Prairie No 5503 of Taunton shed (83B) stands at Torquay at 8.35am on 10 August 1957. It is a Saturday in the height of the summer, and the up platform is crowded with returning holidaymakers dressed in the style of the period, accompanied by their suitcases, waiting for the train that will take them home. Having entered service in May 1927, No 5503 would be withdrawn from Taunton 34 years later, on 30 May 1961. Peter Gray PG1155 Below: Churchward Mogul No 6385 of 1921 is seen climbing away from Goodrington at 5.30pm on Saturday 25 August 1956 with the 8.6am Sheffield - Kingswear. Due to a lack of capacity at Swindon works, 35 members of Class 4300 were built by Robert Stephenson and Company between April 1921 and January 1922, with parts for a further 15 being supplied to Swindon by Robert Stephenson. The respectable load behind the coupling drawbar will challenge the 35-year-old Mogul on the climb up to Churston, which starts from Goodrington at 1 in 71 before steepening to 1 in 60 for the final stretch to the summit of the line at Churston. Peter Gray PG0933

Devon Transition from Steam

The Western Region Main Line Opposite Top: Carrying mixed traffic lined black livery, No 4955 Plaspower Hall, allocated to Exeter shed, bustles its sevencoach train past Britannia Crossing beside the River Dart on Sunday 19 May 1957, a few minutes after departing Kingswear. Ahead lies the challenging climb at 1 in 66 through the woods to Greenway Tunnel, a gentler 1 in 100 through the tunnel, followed by a short distance at 1 in 75, then easing off before reaching Churston, junction for the Brixham branch. The first coach in the train is a post-war Hawksworth corridor third, whilst the third vehicle is a brake third from the 9ft 7in wide ‘Centenary stock’ built for the relaunched ‘Cornish Riviera Limited’ in 1935. Having entered service in August 1929, No 4955 would achieve a working life of 34 years before being withdrawn from Pontypool Road shed on 21 October 1963. Peter Gray PG1038 Opposite Bottom: The down ‘Cornish Riviera Express’ behind ‘King’ class No 6003 King George IV is seen departing Newton Abbot at 2.15pm on Saturday 18 February 1956. No 6003 is still running with a single chimney; it would not be fitted with a double blastpipe and chimney until July 1958, fewer than four years before it was withdrawn, in June 1962. The newlybuilt No 6003 was involved in an incident at Midgham on 10 August 1927, when its bogie derailed at speed, leading to the redesign of bogie springing arrangements for the ‘Kings’. Peter Gray PG0751 Below: Photographed from Langford’s Bridge at 7.15pm on the evening of Thursday 30 May 1957, ‘Castle’ class No 4082 Windsor Castle pulls away from Aller Junction and starts the climb to Dainton with the 3.30pm Paddington - Penzance. No 4082 is in fact not quite what it seems, having originally entered service on 2 July 1948 as No 7013 Bristol Castle. The original No 4082 Windsor Castle was for many years the GWR’s designated Royal engine, but unfortunately, when King George VI died suddenly in February 1952, No 4082 was in Swindon works. To maintain the tradition of Windsor Castle operating Royal duties, No 4082 exchanged its name and number with No 7013 Bristol Castle, with the new Windsor Castle hauling the funeral train. The two locomotives would retain their exchanged identities until withdrawal. Peter Gray PG1047

Devon Transition from Steam

The Western Region Main Line Opposite Top: The lineside woods at Dainton echo to the bark of ‘Hall’ class No 4936 Kinlet Hall of Laira shed at the head of a down freight, blasting its way up the incline near Stoneycombe Quarry on the afternoon of Saturday 23 April 1955. Out of sight around the curve is the banking locomotive, ‘5101’ class No 4179. No 4936 was transferred from Laira to Newton Abbot in December 1958, before moving to Cardiff Canton in May 1962. It would be withdrawn from Cardiff East Dock shed on 15 January 1964, after a working life of nearly 35 years. Peter Gray PG0538 Opposite Bottom: ‘County’ class No 1004 County of Somerset of Penzance shed (83G) is seen at Dainton East on the evening of Friday 31 August 1962 with the 5.40pm Goodrington - Plymouth. No 1004, which had entered service in October 1945, has just three weeks left in traffic, as it will be withdrawn on 21 September 1962, after a working life of slightly less than 17 years, its fate sealed by the continuing deliveries of diesel-hydraulics to eliminate steam on the West of England main line. Peter Gray PG3034 Below: With water vapour escaping from the injector overflow, Laira shed’s No 6008 King James II forges its way up the final yards to Dainton summit at 11.50am on Saturday 29 October 1955 at the head of the 5.30am Paddington - Penzance, with the distinctive train reporting number 100. No 6008 would not acquire a double chimney until December 1958, and would be withdrawn from service at Wolverhampton, Stafford Road shed, as one of the first ‘Kings’ to be condemned, in June 1962. By the end of the year the entire class would be gone, their fate sealed by the arrival of the 2,700hp ‘Western’ class dieselhydraulics. Peter Gray PG0720

Devon Transition from Steam

The Western Region Main Line Opposite Top: In an example of the inter-regional locomotive workings to maintain route knowledge, which operated on the South Devon main line, ‘Battle of Britain’ No 34069 Hawkinge passes the goods sidings at Dainton summit with the six-coach 1.55pm Penzance - Newton Abbot at 6.45pm on the evening of Thursday 7 August 1958. No 34069 was the penultimate Bulleid Pacific to be built by the Southern Railway before Nationalisation, entering traffic in October 1947 as 21C169. After operating in the south-east of England based at Ramsgate shed and then Stewarts Lane, No 34069 was transferred to Exmouth Junction in early 1954, from where it would be withdrawn in November 1963. Peter Gray PG1481 Opposite Bottom: With steam shut off, Churchward ‘2800’ class No 2879 of Swindon shed, fitted with inside steam pipes, emerges from the 291yd Dainton tunnel at 11.30am on Saturday 11 March 1961 with a down express freight. No 2879 entered service in March 1919, and would have a long and useful working life of more than 45 years, with withdrawal not coming until August 1964. The summit at Dainton is located at the western end of the tunnel. No 2879 is passing over the turnout which gave access to Dainton sidings, where banking locomotives would be stabled awaiting a path back down the bank. Peter Gray PG2482 Below: Nos 7812 Erlestoke Manor and 7006 Lydford Castle, both allocated to Laira, climb away from Totnes on the afternoon of Sunday 9 August 1959 with the 10.40am Paddington - Penzance. Immediately on departing from Totnes at milepost 223, the crews faced a demanding 4¼-mile climb, with gradients varying between 1 in 45 and 1 in 90, passing Tigley signal box near milepost 225½, followed by Rattery signal box near milepost 227¼. After reaching Rattery summit the train will cross the six-arch Rattery viaduct, before plunging into the 867yd twin-bore Marley tunnel. Peter Gray PG2064

Devon Transition from Steam

The Western Region Main Line Opposite Top: Carrying express goods headlamps, Stanier ‘8F’ No 48436 of Bristol, St Philip’s Marsh shed (82B) restarts a lengthy freight train, consisting mainly of empty cattle wagons, from Brent at 3.55pm on Saturday 26 March 1960. The transport of cattle by rail declined rapidly in the 1960s, and the final cattle train in Britain would run in 1975. Despite the Great Western having its own excellent heavy freight locomotives in the form of the ‘2800’ and ‘2884’ classes, as well as the nine members of the ‘4700’ class, the Stanier ‘8Fs’ were frequent visitors to the South Devon main line in British Railways days. No 48436 was one of 80 members of the class to be built by the GWR at Swindon in 1943-45 (LMS Nos 8400 - 8479), all of which initially went on loan to the GWR, and had entered traffic as No 8436 in April 1944. Peter Gray PG2233 Opposite Bottom: Brent station was the junction for the 16-mile branch to Kingsbridge. On Sunday 20 May 1956, ‘Manor’ class No 7820 Dinmore Manor departs with an up service, whilst ‘4575’ class No 5533 waits with the branch train. Dinmore Manor was the first of the British Railways-built batch of 10 additional ‘Manors’, which entered service in November and December 1950. It was withdrawn from Shrewsbury shed in November 1965, moving in May 1966 to Woodham’s scrapyard at Barry, from where it would subsequently be bought for preservation. Brent station would close on 5 October 1964, just over a year after the closure of the Kingsbridge branch. Peter Gray PG0810 Below: The furthest west of the three South Devon banks was Hemerdon, which was encountered by eastbound trains. ‘4500’ class No 4524 of Laira heads a loaded ballast train at Hemerdon on Sunday 3 July 1955, attacking the two-mile climb at 1 in 42 with the assistance of ‘3150’ class No 3186, another Laira-based locomotive. The two Prairies had had been built just over a year apart in the first decade of the century, and both would be withdrawn before the end of the 1950s. No 4524 had left Swindon as No 2185 in March 1909, and would be withdrawn from Bristol Bath Road just under three years later, on 17 June 1958. No 3186 had entered traffic in January 1908, and would be withdrawn from Laira on 3 June 1957. R.C. Riley RCR6215

Chapter 2: The Southern Region Main Line The Southern main line from Salisbury to Exeter entered Devon from the southern edge of Somerset to the east of Axminster, junction for the Lyme Regis branch. On its journey to Exeter it also passed through the junctions for the Seaton and Sidmouth branches.

passing beneath a succession of road over-bridges on the approach to the station. Immediately on departing Exeter Central, trains pass beneath Queen Street bridge and begin the descent to St David’s station, with sidings fanning out in the confined space on either side of the line until the 1960s, before plunging into the 184yd St David’s tunnel. On leaving the tunnel the line crosses over Bonhay Road, and passengers are presented with a view across the Exe flood plain and the western end of St David’s station.

Just as the Western Region main line had Wellington Bank on the border from Somerset into Devon, the Southern had the 1 in 80 Honiton Bank, which posed a stiff challenge to westbound trains between Seaton Junction and the 1,345-yard (1,230 m) Honiton tunnel, being especially demanding for trains required to stop at Seaton Junction, at the start of the climb. From the tunnel the line dropped to Honiton before continuing at 1 in 100 to Sidmouth Junction, from where it continued to Whimple and Broad Clyst, before reaching the outskirts of Exeter at Pinhoe. On the run in to Exeter, trains passed the extensive facilities of Exmouth Junction shed and Exmouth Junction goods yard. Before reaching Central station, the line runs through the 263yd Black Boy tunnel, then

Beyond Exeter the main line to Plymouth skirted the northern edge of Dartmoor, passing Okehampton, followed by Meldon Quarry, then dropping down to Tavistock before following the eastern side of the River Tamar to St Budeaux, Devonport and Plymouth. Along the course of the Exeter - Plymouth route, the digits of the ‘Withered Arm’ branched off the Plymouth line, heading to Barnstaple and North Devon, and towards Halwill Junction for the Bude branch and the North Cornwall line.

Above: Two veteran locomotives are seen at Axminster on Thursday 26 July 1956, with Exmouth Junction (72A) Adams ‘0415’ class 4-4-2T No 30582 in the up platform and Urie ‘H15’ class 4-6-0 No 30333 of Salisbury (72B) on a down service. No 30582 entered traffic in 1885 as No 125, and was one of the three Class 0415 locomotives retained until 1961 to operate the Axminster - Lyme Regis branch. No 30333 had been rebuilt between August and December 1924 from Drummond ‘F13’ class 4-6-0 No 333, which had left Eastleigh works in October 1905, and is seen running with an inside-frame bogie ‘watercart’ tender. Following a total working life in its two forms of more than half a century, it would not be withdrawn until October 1958. David Anderson DA24820 Opposite Top: ‘Battle of Britain’ Pacific No 34051 Winston Churchill of Salisbury shed heads a down stopping service at Axminster towards the end of steam operations on the Waterloo - Exeter main line. The train consists of three-coach Bulleid set No 776, dating from January 1947. A single-car diesel multiple-unit can just be seen in the Lyme Regis bay, indicating that the photograph dates from 1964. No 34051 was built at Brighton Works in 1946, at a cost of £20,220, and entered traffic on 30 December of that year as Southern Railway No 21C151. It is carrying a 70E smokebox shed plate for Salisbury shed, which code replaced the previous 72B in 1962. During its last year in service, No 34051 would be used to haul the special train operated on the occasion of Sir Winston Churchill’s state funeral on 30 January 1965, and after withdrawal in September of the same year would be set aside for preservation as part of the National Collection. David Anderson DA25401 Opposite Bottom: ‘West Country’ Pacific No 34027 Taw Valley nears Honiton tunnel on Saturday 23 June 1956 with the heavily loaded 1pm Waterloo - Plymouth, including through coaches for Ilfracombe and Torrington. Taw Valley entered service in April 1946 as No 21C127 under Bulleid’s idiosyncratic numbering system, and would be an Exmouth Junction locomotive from February 1948 until it was reallocated to Bricklayers Arms shed (73B) after being rebuilt at Eastleigh works between 6 August and 13 September 1957. Peter Gray PG0854

Devon Transition Andrew Fox from Steam

Devon Transition from Steam

Exmouth Junction-based Drummond ‘M7’ No 30025 is seen with a mixed formation of Maunsell and Bulleid stock at Honiton on Tuesday 7 June 1955. The ‘M7’ tanks were successful and popular locomotives, and No 30025 had a working life of some 65 years, entering traffic in February 1899 and finally being withdrawn from Salisbury shed in May 1964 as one of the last members of the class in service. David Anderson DA24793

Salisbury-based ‘S15’ class No 30828 is seen at Seaton Junction with a short up goods train in the mid-1950s. Seaton Junction station, as rebuilt and expanded in 1927, was of a considerable size for such a rural location, particularly since its purpose for passengers was primarily as an interchange point between the main line and the branch, but the station had an importance greater than its location might suggest. The transport of milk by rail was a valuable source of revenue to the railways at this time, with significant traffic being generated by the Express Dairies plant at Seaton Junction, and there was often a large number of milk tank wagons stabled in the sidings. No 30828 had entered service in July 1927, and would be withdrawn from Salisbury shed at the start of January 1964. David Anderson DA24879

Devon Transition Andrew Fox from Steam

On the occasion of a two-day Royal visit to the West Country, Maunsell ‘N’ class locomotives Nos 31830 and 31845 approach Cowley Bridge Junction on Wednesday 9 May 1956 with the Royal train, which they have hauled from Launceston, where the Royal party had arrived by road. The train had previously been worked from Plymouth Millbay to Launceston via Meldon Junction as empty stock, hauled by another pair of Maunsell ‘Ns’, Nos 31835 and 31844. On arrival at Cowley Bridge Junction the train will reverse, with the two Moguls being replaced for the return journey to Paddington by ‘Castles’ Nos 7024 Powis Castle and 5044 Earl of Dunraven, which had worked the train down from London at the start of the tour. Peter Gray PG0787

Maunsell ‘N’ No 31836 of Exmouth Junction shed approaches Newton St Cyres, between Cowley Bridge Junction and Crediton, with a mixed goods train on the morning of Friday 23 August 1963. The very dirty and uncared-for appearance of the locomotive is sadly typical of the period for Exmouth Junction’s ‘Ns’, whose elimination would begin in the last months of 1963. No 31836 would be one of the earliest casualties, being condemned on 28 December 1963, together with Nos 31839 and 31844. The withdrawals would continue remorselessly over subsequent months, and by October 1964 the dependable Maunsell Moguls would have worked on Devon’s lines for the last time. Peter Gray PG3384

Devon Transition from Steam

Above: In August 1955, Drummond ‘M7’ class No 30255 is seen at Barnstaple Junction shunting four ex-Great Western coaches, led by a two-coach bow-ended ‘B-set’, formed of coaches Nos W 6986 W and W 6987 W. The B-sets were introduced from 1924 by the Bristol Division of the GWR for use on branch lines and suburban services, and consisted of a pair of non-corridor brake composites, with one first class compartment per coach, coupled with the brake sections at the outer ends of the set. Nos W 6986 W and W 6987 W, built to diagram E140, entered traffic in September 1930 and were taken out of service in June 1960. Built at Nine Elms as LSWR No 255 in 1897, No 30255 was allocated to Barnstaple Junction from May 1951 until withdrawal in September 1960. R.E. Vincent 73/B/3/3 Opposite Top: Unrebuilt ‘West Country’ No 34096 Trevone leaves Barnstaple Junction with an Exeter-bound service on Wednesday 1 June 1960. Transferred to Exmouth Junction in January 1958, No 34096 is running with an unmodified tender, which retains the high side raves. The ‘West Country’ would be rebuilt at Eastleigh between February and April 1961, remaining allocated to Exmouth Junction in rebuilt form, but now confined west of Exeter to the Plymouth main line. Sadly, the rebuilt locomotive would survive in service for just 3½ years, being withdrawn in September 1964, hardly justifying the cost of the rebuild, and fewer than 15 years after it first entered service, in November 1949. James Harrold JH1426 Opposite Bottom: With the rugged northern outskirts of Dartmoor as a backdrop, Standard ‘4MT’ tank No 80064 is scarcely challenged by its two-coach train at the head of the 11.10am Okehampton - Exeter Central, a couple of minutes after leaving Okehampton on Tuesday 4 August 1964. The formation consists of set No 27, one of the Maunsell ‘P’ sets, formed of a corridor brake second and a corridor brake composite, which were for many years an everyday part of the scene west of Exeter. It is the last summer of steam in Devon, and this is the face of the Southern line beyond Exeter shortly before dieselisation; the ‘T9s’ are now just a distant memory, and the last of Exmouth Junction’s ‘N’ class Moguls and Bulleid Light Pacifics have just a few weeks left. Peter Gray PG3830

The Devon Southern Transition Region from Main Steam Line

Devon Transition from Steam

On Thursday 2 June 1960, the coaches of a service from Padstow, which had arrived behind ‘N’ class No 31839, are drawn back out of the up platform at Okehampton by ‘T9’ class No 30338. They will be added to the rear of the up Plymouth service when it reaches Okehampton. The practice of merging sections of trains from different parts of the ‘Withered Arm’ network took place at several locations on the network in Devon, giving the convenience of through services from the west to Exeter and onwards to Waterloo, but at the cost of added operational complication and prolonged journey times. No 30338 had moved to Exmouth Junction a year previously, and would remain based there until being condemned in April 1961, just three months before the final ‘Greyhounds’ were withdrawn, at the end of July 1961. James Harrold JH1465

With a good number of passengers and a trolley well loaded with parcels waiting on the adjacent platform, Adams ‘O2’ class 0-4-4T No 30236 of Plymouth Friary shed is seen in the early 1950s at Bere Alston, junction for the branch to Calstock and Callington across the Tamar in Cornwall. No 30236 had entered traffic as the last of 60 members of Class O2 in March 1895, and would end its days working from Wadebridge shed, where it would be withdrawn in January 1960. R.E. Vincent 73/A/5/6

The Southern Region Main Line On the ‘Withered Arm’ lines west of Exeter it was not unusual for unrebuilt Bulleid Light Pacifics to be seen at the head of short trains which were far beneath their haulage capacity. Exmouth Junction-based No 34060 25 Squadron is seen in the 1950s with a train consisting of a Maunsell two-coach set at Bere Ferrers station, with its distinctive footbridge. No 34060 was rebuilt at Eastleigh in October - November 1960, and two years later it would be transferred to Nine Elms (70A) in November 1963, following 12 years at Exmouth Junction. R.E. Vincent 73/B/3/3

Chapter 3: The First Closures

Following Nationalisation on 1 January 1948, it was inevitable that measures would be taken to consolidate and rationalise the railways of Devon, where duplication existed. As an early manifestation of this, the former Great Western station at Launceston was closed to passengers on 30 June 1952, and henceforth passenger trains used the former Southern station. Whilst the widespread closures of Britain’s railways occurred during the 1960s, following the publication of The Reshaping of British Railways (the ‘Beeching Report’) in 1963, it is not always appreciated that some Western Region branch lines in Devon had already closed in the 1950s and early 1960s. Several well-known lines would succumb several years before Richard Beeching became Chairman of the British Transport Commission on 1 June 1961, and subsequently Chairman of the newly established British Railways Board from 1 January 1963, and well before the publication of his infamous report. The Western Region The Yealmpton branch The Yealmpton branch to the east of Plymouth, which diverged from the Southern’s Turnchapel branch at Plymstock, first lost its

passenger service (from Millbay) as early as 1930, but services were reinstated during World War 2, running from Friary station, closing to passengers again in October 1947. Freight services, however, continued until February 1960. The Princetown branch The first significant casualty was the 10¼-mile Princetown branch, which left the Tavistock line from a sharply curved platform at Yelverton in a southerly direction, and curved sharply east on a steeply rising gradient. There was no run-round loop on the Princetown side of the station, but immediately at the platform end there was a spur siding which led back to a 23ft 6in turntable. Normal operation was that an arriving train (from Princetown) would unload and then be propelled empty up the gradient past the siding connection. The engine would then move into the spur, and controlled by the guard - the coaches would descend by gravity into the platform. The route of the Princetown branch was steep, twisting and exposed to the wild Dartmoor weather, with a ruling gradient of 1 in 40, rising almost continuously to Princetown, at 1,430ft the highest railway station in England. A difficult line to operate, and generating only limited volumes of traffic, the Princetown branch closed to all traffic on 3 March 1956.

Closed as early as March 1956, the 10¼-mile Princetown branch left the Tavistock line from a sharply curved platform at Yelverton. Laira’s ‘4400’ class No 4410 waits with a train for Princetown on Tuesday 5 July 1955. The unusual and distinctive building on the platform between the line for Plymouth services and the Princetown line is visible in the centre of the picture, with the 23ft 6in turntable to the left. No 4410 was the final member of Class 4400 to be built, entering traffic as No 3110 in June 1906, and assuming its new identity in December 1912. It was one of the last three examples in service, together with Nos 4405 and 4406, all three being withdrawn on 12 September 1955. Similar in design to the much more numerous ‘4500’ class, the ‘4400s’ differed in having driving wheels with a 6in smaller diameter, suiting them to the demanding gradients of the Princetown branch. R.C. Riley RCR6253

The Teign Valley line In addition to the coastal line via Dawlish and Teignmouth, there was a second, much less prestigious route - the Teign Valley line - between Exeter and Newton Abbot. Very much a secondary route, the Teign Valley line diverged from the main line at City Basin junction, west of Exeter St Thomas station, and joined the Moretonhampstead branch in a bay platform at Heathfield, north of Newton Abbot. It featured significant gradients, with several miles at 1 in 58 north of Longdown, and a lengthy climb to the south of Longdown, including a long stretch at 1 in 64. Motive power in British Railways days consisted of the typical Western Region

classes for secondary and minor routes: ‘1400’ class 0-4-2Ts, ‘5700’ class Panniers and Prairies. Traffic levels were never high, and they decreased in the 1950s. The growth of road traffic, together with the fact that some of the stations on the line were some distance from the villages that they were intended to serve, led to passenger services ending as early as 9 June 1958. Consequently, the line never saw the use of diesel multiple-units. Although freight services continued, the Christow Exeter section was closed in 1961, as a result of flood damage, and declining goods traffic led to the line closing completely in 1967.

Top: Four months before the closure of the Teign Valley line, the 4.35pm departure from Exeter St David’s, hauled by ‘4575’ class Small Prairie No 5536 of Exeter shed, gets away from Exeter St Thomas, with its impressive overall roof, on Saturday 8 February 1958. The train will shortly diverge from the main line on reaching the junction for the Teign Valley branch at Exeter City Basin. No 5536 entered service in July 1928, and would be withdrawn from Swindon shed on 13 December 1960. Peter Gray PG1262 Bottom: A picturesque view of No 5536 departing Dunsford halt on Saturday 1 March 1958 with the 10.43am Heathfield Exeter. In the early years following Nationalisation, British Railways painted the Small Prairies either in mixed traffic lined black livery, or even just in the plain black livery assigned to freight locomotives, but in 1957 they started to appear in the more flattering lined green passenger livery. No 5536 looks very smart in its recently acquired lined green livery with the early British Railways totem. Opened in January 1928, Dunsford halt had the dubious distinction of being located almost two miles away from the village whose name it carried. Peter Gray PG1281

Devon Transition from Steam

The First Closures Opposite Top: The next stop southbound after Dunsford was the crossing point at Christow. In a perfect image of a former Great Western branch line in the 1950s, ‘1400’ class No 1469 waits at Christow at 6.55pm on Wednesday 5 August 1953 with the 6.20pm Heathfield - Exeter as ‘5700’ class No 7716 arrives with the 6.05pm from Exeter. The Exeter - Heathfield train is formed of veteran auto-coaches Nos 148 and 215, both former steam railmotors. The industrial buildings in the background were used for loading mineral traffic into railway wagons. Until 1950 an aerial ropeway had connected a quarry situated to the north-west with the facilities at Christow, whilst until 1953 the output of the Bridford Barytes mine north of Christow was brought to the station by lorry. Peter Gray PG0340 Opposite Bottom: On Saturday 7 July 1956, ‘5400’ class Pannier No 5412 of Exeter shed heads the 10.50am Teign Valley service, consisting of a single veteran auto-coach, at Bovey Lane crossing, Heathfield. Dating from May 1932, No 5412 would be withdrawn from Exeter shed in April 1962 as one of the last survivors of the ‘5400’ series, most of which were condemned in the late 1950s, with the last few examples succumbing in 1963. Passenger services on the Teign Valley line would end less than two years later, on 7 June 1958. Peter Gray PG0859

The Ashburton branch Another early casualty was the Totnes - Ashburton branch. Although the line sometimes featured goods trains of respectable size, including cattle traffic, passenger levels in British Railways days were not high, and the Ashburton branch closed to passengers on 3 November 1958, and to goods on 10 September 1962, with the final goods train running on Friday 7 September. Operated mostly

by ‘1400’ class 0-4-2Ts and by ‘4400’ (until withdrawal of the last examples in 1955) and ‘4500’ Small Prairies, there was at least one visit by a 204hp diesel shunter near the end of goods services. Although subsequently preserved as the Dart Valley Railway, the Buckfastleigh - Ashburton section, with its attractive terminus train shed, would sadly be lost to improvements to the main A38 road.

No 1427 stands at Totnes with the Ashburton branch train at 10.25am on Saturday 11 October 1958. The single coach, W 6276 W, is a Hawksworth non-corridor brake composite built to diagram E167; a total of 32 examples of this diagram were built between 1952 and 1954. It was not just many of the locomotives built by British Railways that had short lives; made redundant by the closure of branch lines and the widespread introduction of diesel multiple-units, all diagram E167 carriages were withdrawn by December 1963, with the majority having working lives of less than 10 years. W 6276 W was no exception, entering traffic in September 1954 and being taken out of service in December 1962. The story of the 36 corresponding non-corridor composites of diagram E166 (built in 1952/53) matched that of the brake composites; once again, all were taken out of service by December 1963. Peter Gray PG1664

Devon Transition from Steam

Two weeks later No 1427 is seen again, leaving Ashburton with the 4.15pm to Totnes on Saturday 25 October 1958. The Ashburton branch would close to passengers just over a week later, on 3 November 1958, but would remain open for goods services until 10 September 1962. The line was the subject of a preservation project, re-opening in April 1969 as the Dart Valley Railway, but sadly the section between Buckfastleigh and Ashburton would close again in 1971, being lost to the rebuilding of the main A38 Exeter - Plymouth road, with part of the trackbed being utilised for the new dual carriageway. Built in November 1933, No 1427 would be withdrawn in June 1960. Peter Gray PG1686

Just over a month before the complete closure of the Ashburton branch, an excursion organised by the Buckfastleigh Combined Sunday Schools ran between Ashburton and Teignmouth on Wednesday 1 August 1962. From Ashburton to Totnes the eight-coach train was hauled by ‘4500’ class Nos 4574 and 4567, with ‘Castle’ No 5003 Lulworth Castle taking charge between Totnes and Teignmouth. The two Small Prairies are seen at Totnes in the morning, waiting to collect the empty stock for the excursion. No 4567 would be withdrawn from Laira the following month, in September 1962, but No 4574 would survive a few months longer, being taken out of service at Exmouth Junction shed in March 1963. Peter Gray PG2993

The First Closures The Moretonhampstead line The 12¼-mile branch from Newton Abbot to Moretonhampstead was not an especially busy line, serving few major centres of population. Traffic declined from the 1930s, and by 1957 there was already talk of closure. The last passenger service ran on 28 February 1959, although freight operations continued for a

further five years. The line closed on 6 April 1964, with demolition at the Moretonhampstead end starting in April 1965. A last special passenger train ran as far as Bovey Tracey on 5 July 1970, and by September 1970 the tracks had been removed north of Heathfield station, the former junction for the Teign Valley line, with freight continuing as far as Heathfield.

Its train consisting of a single Hawksworth auto-coach, ‘1400’ class No 1466 of Newton Abbot shed has reached the terminus at Moretonhampstead, with its overall roof, on the bright and sunny Saturday 3 January 1959. No 1466 had entered service in February 1936 as Great Western Railway No 4866, being renumbered as No 1466 in November 1946. It had worked its last train on the Ashburton branch two months earlier, on 1 November 1958, and would operate on the Moretonhampstead line for the last time on 28 February 1959. Following the closure of the South Devon branch lines, No 1466 would be transferred in April 1961 to Exeter, where it operated on the Exe Valley, Culm Valley and Tiverton branches. With the closure of the Exe Valley line in October 1963, No 1466 would be transferred to Taunton, where it would be withdrawn on 28 December 1963, with a total recorded mileage of 728,230. Moves to preserve a ‘1400’ class tank led in 1962 to the formation of the 48xx Preservation Society, which in June 1963 would become the Great Western Society. After consideration of a shortlist of potential candidates, No 1466 was purchased for £750 including delivery, and it reached Totnes Quay from Taunton on 18 March 1964. It was first steamed under Great Western Society ownership the following month. No 1466 subsequently moved to Buckfastleigh in January 1966, before it was hauled in steam by No 6998 Burton Agnes Hall, together with three coaches (Churchward ‘Dreadnought’ all third No W 3299, Collett all third No W 5952 W and Hawksworth auto-trailer No W 231 W), to the new Great Western Society centre at Didcot in December 1967. Peter Gray PG1714

Devon Transition from Steam

Above: Having arrived with the 2.15pm from Newton Abbot, smartly turned out ‘5101’ class No 4117 of Newton Abbot shed takes water at Moretonhampstead on Saturday 28 February 1959, the final day of passenger services on the branch. No 4117 had entered traffic in November 1936, and would survive for another 2½ years, being withdrawn from Taunton shed on 25 September 1961. Peter Gray PG1767 Opposite Top: A busy scene at Heathfield on Saturday 7 July 1956. In the foreground, BR Standard Class 3MT No 82001 of Newton Abbot shed is at the head of the 10.15am from Moretonhampstead, going forward as the 10.42am from Heathfield. In the right-hand background ‘5400’ class Pannier No 5412 with a vintage Great Western auto-coach, converted from a steam railmotor in the 1930s, forms the 10.50 departure Teign Valley service. In the distance the 10.32am Newton Abbot Moretonhampstead, the 10.43am departure from Heathfield, formed of two much more modern auto coaches, has arrived at the down platform behind ‘1400’ class No 1427 of Tiverton Junction shed. Photographer Peter Gray records that the Moretonhampstead train is running several minutes late, and the train for Newton Abbot must wait for the signalman to walk the length of the up platform with the token for the Heathfield - Newton Abbot section. Peter Gray PG0858 Opposite Bottom: ‘5101’ class Large Prairie No 5183 of Newton Abbot shed pulls away from Bovey station on Thursday 26 February 1959 with the 10.15am from Moretonhampstead, the 10.32am departure from Bovey, due to arrive at Newton Abbot at 10.50am. The last passenger train on the Moretonhampstead line would run two days later on Saturday 28 February 1959, closure occurring before dieselisation could take place. Built in March 1931, No 5183 ended its days at Wolverhampton, Stafford Road shed, being withdrawn on 21 May 1962. Peter Gray PG1748

Devon Transition from Steam

Devon Transition from Steam The Tavistock and Launceston line - a dramatic end The former Great Western line to Launceston left the Plymouth - Totnes main line at Tavistock Junction, then headed north from Marsh Mills, skirting the western edge of Dartmoor, to Bickleigh, Yelverton and Tavistock, from where it ran close to the Southern Region’s Plymouth - Okehampton - Exeter line past Brentor to Lydford. From there it headed west through Lifton, crossing the border into Cornwall just before reaching Launceston, where the station adjoined the Southern’s station on the North Cornwall line, which would become the joint station for both lines from July 1952.

Grenofen tunnel, between Tavistock and Yelverton, to the south, it was unable either to continue or return. The crew kept No 5568 in steam until the water ran out, being unable to replenish it as the supply at the station had frozen. In the other direction, the 7.10pm Tavistock - Plymouth, hauled by No 6400, was stranded overnight at Bickleigh. What should have been the last trains in each direction, the 8.40pm Plymouth - Launceston and the 8.35pm Launceston Plymouth, were both cancelled. Goods traffic would continue to serve the Ambrosia dairy at Lifton, with trains reaching Lifton via the LSWR line as far as Lydford. In September 1964 the Lydford - Lifton section was closed, and thereafter Lifton was served by a trip working from Launceston. Services were finally withdrawn on 28 February 1966. At the southern end, a new east to north connection was laid at Tavistock Junction, to allow trains of china clay to shunt from Tavistock Junction yard to the china clay works at Marsh Mills.

The last passenger trains from Launceston to Plymouth via Tavistock were due to run on 29 December 1962, with closure taking effect from the following Monday, 31 December. In the event, heavy snowfalls put an end to the planned events to mark the closure of the line. The 6.20pm train from Plymouth, hauled by ‘4575’ class No 5568, did not reach Tavistock until 12.25am, and due to the line being blocked by snowdrifts at Mary Tavy to the north, and at

‘4575’ class No 5572 of Laira stands at Marsh Mills on Tuesday 29 August 1961 with a train formed of a single auto-coach. One of the last batch of Small Prairies to be built, No 5572 left Swindon works in February 1929, and after spending several years in South Wales was transferred to Laira in February 1958. After a six month sojourn at St Blazey, it returned to Laira in April 1961. This would be its last change of shed before withdrawal the following year, on 3 April 1962, subsequently being sent to Woodham Bros scrapyard at Barry. It was acquired by the Great Western Society in August 1971, with restoration commencing at its Taunton depot, before it was moved to Didcot in 1977. R.C. Riley RCR16229

Devon Transition from Steam

Carrying a wreath on its smokebox door, ‘6400’ class Pannier No 6430 is seen at Marsh Mills with the 2.10pm Plymouth - Tavistock auto train on Saturday 29 December 1962. This was due to be the last day of passenger services from Plymouth to Launceston via Tavistock, with the official closure taking effect on Monday 31 December. In the event, however, further heavy snowfalls intervened, with the heavily delayed 6.20pm train from Plymouth, hauled by ‘4575’ class No 5568, reaching Tavistock after midnight, and the 7.10pm Tavistock - Plymouth being stranded at Bickleigh overnight. Built in March 1937, No 6430 would survive until October 1964, when it was withdrawn from Yeovil shed. Peter Gray PG3096 The 6.20pm Plymouth - Launceston passes through the rolling Devon countryside near Bickleigh on Saturday 24 June 1961, hauled by ‘5700’ class Pannier No 3686. The first coach is a former LMS composite, followed by a former GWR Collett composite and a Hawksworth brake third. A wartime product of Swindon works, No 3686 entered traffic on 27 December 1940, and would be retired a few months short of its quarter century on 21 July 1965. Peter Gray PG2569

On Saturday 4 August 1962, ‘4500’ class No 4574 departs Shaugh Bridge Platform with the 10.25am departure from Plymouth. Shaugh Bridge Platform halt was a small platform with a pagoda shelter, situated in a remote location north of Bickleigh, a long distance from any significant centre of population, but popular with ramblers and day trippers. No 4574 entered service in November 1924, and was the final member of Class 4500 to be built with the smaller flat-topped side tanks. All further examples from No 4575 onwards had increased capacity sloping-topped tanks. No 4574 would be withdrawn from Laira on 1 March 1963, seven months after this view. Peter Gray PG2998

Passing the connection to the Princetown branch, ‘4575’ class No 5531 Devon Transition from Steam enters Yelverton station, 10¼ miles from Plymouth, with a Plymouthbound train in June 1955. It has just left the 641yd Yelverton tunnel, situated at the summit of the Tavistock line. ‘1400’ class No 1434 waits at the northbound platform, its train consisting of vintage auto-coach No W 51 W. One of a batch of four 70ft auto-coaches which entered traffic in May 1907, it would enjoy a very respectable 50-year working life; finally being taken out of service almost two and a half years after this view, in November 1957. No W 49 W, the last of the group of four to remain in use, did not succumb until February 1960. R.E. Vincent RV141B

The First Closures

‘4575’ class No 5541 of Laira stands at Tavistock South with a train for Plymouth on Tuesday 2 May 1961. No 5541 entered traffic in August 1928, and was taken out of service 10 July 1962, a little less than six months before the Plymouth Tavistock - Launceston line closed. After many years based at Machynlleth, No 5541 had moved to Laira in January 1960 and was a regular on the Launceston line. Services on the line remained steam-hauled until the end, and were never turned over to diesel multiple-units. Following withdrawal, No 5541 would be another locomotive to find its way to Woodham’s scrapyard at Barry, from where it would be purchased for preservation in 1972. R.C. Riley RCR15715

Station Closures A number of stations on the South Devon main line would lose their passenger services several years before the ‘Beeching Report’ saw the light of day. Notable early casualties were several stations between Brent and Plymouth. Wrangaton, Bittaford, Ivybridge, Cornwood and Plympton all closed to passengers from 2 March 1959, although Wrangaton, Ivybridge and Plympton would retain goods services into the 1960s. To the east of Exeter, Stoke Canon would close on 13 June 1960.

The Southern Lines The Turnchapel branch Although the Southern lines generally escaped major closures in the 1950s, the branch from Plymouth Friary station to Turnchapel was an early casualty. Already in 1947, the Western Morning News newspaper had highlighted the decline in use of the line, and questioned its future. Competition from bus services, and the growth in private car ownership, led to a severe slump in passenger numbers, and services were withdrawn on 10 September 1951, although goods services would continue until 30 October 1961.

In an understandable piece of rationalisation, Barnstaple Victoria Road, the terminus of the former GWR line from Taunton, closed to passenger traffic in June 1960, with trains subsequently running through to Barnstaple Junction, the former Southern Railway station.

To enable services to be centralised on North Road station, Plymouth Friary closed to passengers in September 1958, although it continued in use as a goods depot.

Devon Transition from Steam

North of Tavistock, the Great Western branch to Launceston crossed the Southern’s Plymouth - Okehampton main line, and for several miles as far as Lydford the two lines ran very closely to each other. Laira-based ‘4575’ class No 5544 makes good progress with the 10.40am Plymouth - Launceston, passing Brentor station on the Southern’s Plymouth - Okehampton line at 11.45am on Saturday 23 September 1961. The substantial station building is just out of view on the left-hand side of the image. No 5544 would be withdrawn a year later on 21 September 1962. Peter Gray PG2757

An idyllic scene at Lydford on 23 June 1962, with ‘4500’ class Small Prairie No 4555 hauling the Saturdays only 10.25am Plymouth - Launceston. The first coach is a Hawksworth brake third of diagram D133, dating from September 1950. At 650ft above sea level, Lydford was situated at the summit of the line between Tavistock and Launceston. No 4555 had recently been transferred from St Blazey shed to Laira, where it would remain until being withdrawn on 2 December 1963. Unlike so many of its classmates, the scrapyard did not await No 4555, which was purchased for preservation for £750 and repainted in Great Western livery. On 21 May 1969, No 4555 would haul the official re-opening train on the Dart Valley Railway. Peter Gray PG2976

Chapter 4: Motive Power Changes

The immediate post-Nationalisation period and the early 1950s were characterised by a continuation of the status quo, with further deliveries of existing Great Western and Southern designs, and with developments of existing classes to improve their performance. The Western Region was still building its trusty ‘Castles’ and ‘Modified Halls’, and 1950 saw an additional batch of 10 ‘Manors’ emerge from Swindon works. Existing designs, in the form of the ‘Kings’ and some of the ‘Castles’, were rejuvenated through receiving double blastpipes and enhanced superheating, whilst the ‘Counties’ finally had a successful double blastpipe and chimney, and the underperforming ‘Manors’ were transformed by an improved blastpipe and revised firegrate. Something a little different arrived in Devon with the first examples of the Hawksworth ‘9400’ class Panniers, when No 9433 was allocated new to Laira in December 1950, followed by Nos 9439 going to Exeter and 9440 to Newton Abbot in February 1951.

lines in Devon. In March 1953 an Ivatt ‘2MT’ was tried successfully on the Halwill Junction - Torrington line, and in mid-1953 No 41298 was transferred to Barnstaple Junction, to be followed by further examples over subsequent years. By 1957 the Ivatt ‘2MT’ tanks would replace the ‘E1/R’ 0-6-2Ts, which had held sway on the line for the last 25 years. In early 1953 No 41345 moved from Exmouth Junction to Plymouth Friary, to be followed by three further examples, which would displace ‘O2’ tanks and the two PDSWJR 0-6-2Ts from the Bere Alston - Callington branch. The numbers of ‘2MT’ tanks at all three of the Southern Region’s Devon sheds increased steadily over the next few years, and by the end of 1962, there were no fewer than 15 of the class at Exmouth Junction, eight at Barnstaple Junction and four at Friary. In February 1956 the first rebuilt ‘Merchant Navy’ would emerge from Eastleigh works, followed by the end of 1959 by the remainder of the class. 60 of the 110 Light Pacifics were rebuilt at Eastleigh along the same lines as the ‘Merchant Navies’ between 1957 and 1961, the first to be rebuilt, No 34005 Barnstaple, appearing in its revised form in June 1957. In Devon, the ‘Merchant Navies’ in both original and rebuilt forms were normally confined to the Exeter Waterloo main line. The rebuilt Light Pacifics, unlike the unrebuilt version, were excluded west of Exeter from all routes except the Plymouth line, and were only allowed beyond Okehampton once strengthening work had been completed on the wrought iron truss girder-construction Meldon viaduct in 1960.

The Southern, meanwhile, received its last ‘Merchant Navy’ in April 1949, and rapidly expanded its fleet of Bulleid Light Pacifics, the 110th and last of which did not emerge until January 1951. In the south-west their arrival saw a reduction in older classes such as the ‘T9s’, and displaced the ‘N’ and ‘U’ classes from the heaviest trains. In July 1952 the first three Ivatt ‘2MT’ 2-6-2Ts were transferred to Exmouth Junction. Nos 41313-15 were immediately put to work on duties which had previously been the preserve of ‘M7’ tanks. The ‘2MT’ tanks proved a success, and increasingly took over workings previously operated by older Southern tank classes, soon becoming a regular feature on the majority of the former Southern

The impressive lines of the rebuilt ‘Merchant Navy’ Pacifics are shown to good effect by this view of No 35004 Cunard White Star of Salisbury shed awaiting departure from Seaton Junction with an up express in the early 1960s. Entering traffic as Southern Railway No 21C4 in October 1941, the ‘Merchant Navy’ was rebuilt in July 1958, and would be withdrawn from Bournemouth shed in October 1965. David Anderson DA25461

Devon Transition from Steam The delivery of new locomotives led to the disappearance of older classes, such as the former Great Western outside-frame 4-4-0 ‘Bulldogs’ and ‘Dukedogs’, which had been used for double-heading trains over the South Devon banks, as well as the early Pannier tanks and older Prairies. On the Southern Region, inroads were made into the ranks of ‘M7’, ‘O2’ and ‘G6’ tanks, and use of the venerable Adams ‘0395’ class 0-6-0s in Devon ended in 1954.

Members of the ‘4MT’ 4-6-0 75000 class were allocated to the Western Region from new on their introduction in 1951. Three years later, Nos 75025 - 75029 arrived new at Laira in April 1954, whilst the final 10 members of the class, Nos 75070 - 75079, were delivered new to Exmouth Junction in 1955/56. However, they failed to establish themselves at either shed, and by June 1956 they had all moved on. They would reappear at Exmouth Junction towards the end of steam.

Similarly, veteran carriage types were increasingly displaced by modern rolling stock, including large numbers of British Railways Mk1 coaches and even British Railways-built auto-coaches. This was largely a continuation of the long-standing process of evolution and development in motive power and rolling stock, and although of interest to railway enthusiasts, will have been less evident and certainly of less interest to the general public.

The 82000 class ‘3MT’ 2-6-2Ts received a mixed reception in Devon. Nos 82001, 82002, 82004, 82005, 82006, 82009, 82031 and 82032 were transferred to Newton Abbot in 1955, with 82033, 82034 and 82038 being delivered new from Swindon works, but they were not greatly loved, being regarded as inferior to the GWR Prairies, and all had gone by the end of the following year. Nos 82010 82013 and 82017 - 82025 were delivered new to Exmouth Junction in 1952. They would be better received on the Southern Region, and most would spend the next 10 years at the shed.

The Standard Classes The 1950s saw a refreshed face to the motive power of many of Devon’s lines, with the arrival of two further British Railways Standard classes, which gradually replaced former Great Western and Southern types.

Standard ‘3MT’ No 82022 was delivered new to Exmouth Junction in October 1954, and the still relatively new locomotive, looking very smart in lined black mixed traffic livery, is seen at Exmouth on Wednesday 25 July 1956, awaiting departure with a service for Exeter Central. After spending nearly eight years at Exmouth Junction, No 82022 would be transferred in September 1962 to Eastleigh, where it would be withdrawn from service three years later. David Anderson DA21640

Two further BR Standard classes would be allocated to Exmouth Junction in the final years of steam operations, with a dozen of the 80000 class ‘4MT’ 2-6-4Ts arriving in 1962, whilst the first Standard Class 5 4-6-0s arrived at Exmouth Junction as late as September and October 1963 in the form of Nos 73030, 73044, 73161, 73162 and 73166. The Standard 5s were used on the main line east of Exeter and the Exeter - Plymouth via Okehampton route, but they arrived too late to make much of a mark before the final run-down of

steam, and were all gone by the end of 1964. The ‘9F’ 2-10-0s soon made themselves at home on the Western Region main line and the Paignton branch in the 1950s, proving their value on summer passenger services as much as on freight. Two examples, Nos 92208 and 92209 of the final series of the class, built at Swindon for the Western Region, were briefly allocated to Laira on delivery, but their stay there was short-lived.

Motive Power Changes

The final period of steam operation on the Southern lines in the south-west was characterised by the relatively short-lived use of British Railways Standard classes in place of the established Southern types, including a dozen ‘4MT’ 2-6-4Ts, which were transferred to Exmouth Junction in the summer of 1962. With steam to spare, No 80064 nears Honiton tunnel with an up goods train in July 1963. With the end of steam on the former Southern lines in Devon and Cornwall, after three years at Exmouth Junction No 80064 moved to Bristol Barrow Road in May 1965, but would spend only a short time there before being withdrawn on 25 August 1965. David Anderson DA21600 Following the elimination of steam on Western Region lines, the final months of steam in Devon would increasingly witness the disappearance of familiar Southern classes, with the final duties from Exmouth Junction being operated by Ivatt ‘2MT’ tanks, Standard classes and even, with the former Southern lines now under Western control, by a number of former Great Western tanks.

‘Western’ class would enable steam to be fully displaced from the Western main line, whilst the less powerful ‘Warships’ were increasingly relegated to a secondary role. In time the ‘Westerns’ would be the last diesel-hydraulic class in service, being based in their last years at Laira depot. In the first years of dieselisation there was an especially interesting period of transition in Devon, during which diesel and steam classes not only worked side by side, but for a while the two motive power types were also to be seen double-heading heavier trains over the South Devon banks, with all of the main line diesel-hydraulics combining with the various ex-Great Western 4-6-0 classes. In theory the steam locomotive was supposed to be coupled inside the diesel, to reduce the risk of the latter ingesting harmful elements of the steam locomotive’s exhaust when passing through tunnels, but in practice this was often not the case.

Dieselisation Of greater significance than the delivery of new steam classes was the coming of dieselisation, which would transform the face of railway operations, displacing steam traction in less than eight years. The first diesels to make their presence felt in the south-west were the five 2,000hp North British D600 diesel-hydraulics, which entered service on main line services from Paddington from January 1958, allocated initially to Old Oak Common shed, and later to Laira. D600 Active, the Western Region’s first Type 4 diesel-hydraulic, entered traffic on 24 January 1958, but all five examples of the type would be withdrawn from Laira on 31 December 1967, as a small and non-standard class, after working lives of less than 10 years. The D600s were followed from January 1959 by the first batch of single-engine North British D6300 class Type 2 locomotives (Nos D6300-05) followed from October 1959 by the main batch (Nos D6306-57).

For shunting duties, steam locomotives were displaced by a combination of both 204hp diesel-mechanical and 350hp dieselelectric shunters. In time the Western’s diesel-hydraulic classes would increasingly be displaced by diesel-electric types, and would lead lives shorter than those of many of the steam locomotives which they themselves had replaced.

Major progress came with the arrival in late 1958 of the first three Swindon-built D800 ‘Warships’, with delivery of the main production run of 35 examples from March 1959, joined from July 1960 by 33 very similar locomotives from North British. The ‘Warships’ were put to work initially on Western Region main line express services, and with the end of steam on the former Southern lines, they would find a new role on Exeter - Waterloo trains, also being used on the former Southern line to Plymouth until the end of through services. Other classes made their presence felt during the 1960s, including the Type 3 Beyer Peacock D7000 ‘Hymeks’, which featured in particular on the line to Ilfracombe. The arrival from early 1962 of the more powerful Swindon and Crewe works-built 2,700hp D1000

On local services, steam power would be displaced by diesel multiple-units built by the Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Company and the Gloucester Railway Carriage & Wagon Co Ltd, together with cross-country multiple-units built at Swindon works. Remaining locomotive-hauled trains on secondary routes, especially on the former Southern Railway lines, were largely operated by North British Type 2 diesels, relegated from main line duties. The diesel multiple-units mostly, but not invariably, ran as three-car sets, and were supplemented on more lightly used services, such as several of the Devon branches, by single-car units from the Gloucester Railway Carriage & Wagon Co Ltd and the Pressed Steel Company Ltd.

Devon Transition from Steam

Above: Only a few months old, having entered service on 31 January 1960, but already rather work-stained, ‘9F’ No 92218, of Bristol St Philip’s Marsh shed (82B), pulls out of Torquay station at 3.15pm on Saturday 3 September 1960 with the nine-coach 9.5am Swansea - Kingswear. In the centre road is ‘6100’ class No 6146, recently reallocated to Exeter shed. No 92218 was one of the final batch of three ‘9Fs’ to be built at Swindon in 1960 for the Western Region. It would survive to be one of the last members of the class in service, being withdrawn from Speke Junction shed in May 1968. Peter Gray PG2432 Opposite Top: The classic location of the four-track section of line approaching Aller Junction is the setting for this view of ‘King’ class No 6000 King George V and Type 4 diesel-hydraulic No D601 Ark Royal double-heading train No 133, the 10.35am Paddington - Penzance at 2.40pm on Saturday 23 August 1958. D601 was the second of a series of five A1A-A1A diesel-hydraulics equipped with two MAN L12V18/21A engines, each set to produce 1,000hp at 1,445rpm. Delivered five months earlier, following a brief period based at Swindon it was allocated to Laira. No 6000 entered service in June 1927, and was fitted with a double chimney in December 1956. It would remain in service until December 1962, allocated for the last 10 years of its life to Old Oak Common shed. D601 in contrast, having entered service on 28 March 1958, would succumb less than 10 years later to the desire of British Railways to divest itself of various non-standard diesel classes, and was withdrawn at Laira in August 1967. Peter Gray PG1516 Opposite Bottom: ‘Warship’ No D808 Centaur of Laira depot heads the down ‘Cornish Riviera’ at Dainton East on Sunday 21 February 1960, with three British Railways Mk1 coaches at the head of the formation. The ‘Warship’ is just over six months old, having been new to traffic on 8 July 1959, and has yet to be fitted with four-character headcode panels. Instead it carries the traditional three character train reporting number together with headcode disks. Withdrawal from Newton Abbot depot would come on 3 October 1971, and Centaur would be cut up at Swindon works the following February. Peter Gray PG2207

Devon Motive Transition Power Changes from Steam

Devon Devon Transition Transition from from Steam Steam

Devon Motive Transition Power Changes from Steam

Opposite: The new generation of traction, in the form of ‘Warship’ class diesel-hydraulic No D804 Avenger, passes Tigley signal box on Rattery bank with the 11am Paddington - Penzance, train reporting number 429, at 4.15pm on Sunday 30 August 1959. Avenger had entered service four months earlier, on 23 April. It would survive until 3 October 1971 - a black day for the ‘Warships’, on which no fewer than 11 of the Swindon-built locomotives and 16 of the North British examples would be condemned. Tigley box was opened on 1 May 1908 and closed on 28 June 1964. Peter Gray PG2090 Above: At 2.35pm on Saturday 8 September 1962, North British Type 2 No D6328 pilots ‘Castle’ No 4037 The South Wales Borderers near Ivybridge with a 12-coach up Swansea service. The North British Type 2 had been delivered nearly two years previously, in June 1960, and is still in as-built condition, in plain green livery and without the later fitted headcode boxes. Withdrawal for No D6328 would come in July 1971 after a working life of 11 years. No 4037 had originally been built as ‘Star’ class No 4037 Queen Phillipa, being rebuilt as a ‘Castle’ in June 1926, but not renamed until 1937. For the last two months of its life it was allocated to Exeter shed, from where it would be withdrawn on 17 September 1962, just nine days after working the train illustrated. It would be outlived by D6328 by fewer than nine years. Peter Gray PG3049

Devon Transition from Steam

Above: The changeover period of the early 1960s is encapsulated in this view of ‘County’ class No 1019 County of Merioneth and Type 4 ‘Western’ diesel-hydraulic No D1003 Western Pioneer with the 12.30pm Manchester - Plymouth (headcode 1V95) on Friday 8 June 1962. The two locomotives, coincidentally both numbered in the 1000 and D1000 series, are making a determined approach to the challenge represented by Dainton Bank. Nos 1019 and D1003, both products of Swindon works, are at very different points in their lives. Western Pioneer is almost brand new, having entered service just eight weeks earlier on 14 April 1962, and her green livery still looks very smart. In contrast, County of Merioneth, which entered traffic on 2 April 1946, is enjoying its last summer, and will be withdrawn eight months later, on 11 February 1963. Peter Gray PG2963s Opposite Top: North British Type 2 No D6307 and Swindon-built ‘Warship’ No D811 Daring provide more than adequate motive power for an up milk train consisting of six 6-wheel tanks and a bogie van passing Tavistock Junction yard on Saturday 8 July 1961. The North British Type 2 is displaying the headcode for fitted parcels, fruit, livestock, milk and other perishable goods, using the headcode disks with which it was equipped before later being fitted with two headcode boxes mounted high on the nose ends. R.C. Riley RCR16041 Opposite Bottom: North British Type 2 No D6334 and ‘Castle’ class No 5090 Neath Abbey pass Laira Junction with a down express on Wednesday 30 August 1961. The lines on the right-hand side of the picture lead via Mount Gould Junction and Friary Junction towards Friary station (closed to passengers in September 1958), Cattedown, Plymstock and Turnchapel. In addition to being equipped with four-character headcode boxes, D6334 carries the two headlamps for an express passenger train. No 5090 was rebuilt in April 1939 from the ‘Star’ class locomotive which carried the same name. It would be withdrawn in May 1962 from Old Oak Common. No D6334 had entered service in December 1960, and would be withdrawn in October 1971, after a working life of less than 11 years. R.C. Riley RCR16249

Motive Power Changes

The section of line between Teignmouth and Newton sees the arrival of the new generation of local passenger train. DevonAbbot Transition from Steam Shining in its smart green livery, complete with ’speed whiskers’, a Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Works three-car diesel multiple-unit heads towards Newton Abbot at 6.24pm on the evening of Friday 8 July 1960 with an Exeter - Newton Abbot service. The leading car is Driving Motor Brake Second No W51308, followed by Trailer Composite No W59475 and Driving Motor Second No W51323, both Driving Motor cars being fitted with two Leyland (BUT) engines. The set had been delivered new to Laira just a few weeks earlier in May 1960. Fifteen multiple-units ordered for use on the Western Region were introduced from 1960, built by BRC&W to the same design as units produced by British Railways Derby Works. Based at Laira, members of the type would serve Devon and Cornwall for over 30 years. Peter Gray PG2358

In an atmospheric view at Newton Abbot station on the evening of Sunday 30 December 1962, a three-car Gloucester Railway Carriage & Wagon Co diesel multiple-unit in early green livery with ‘speed whiskers’ has arrived at platform 3. A thin layer of snow has covered the deserted platforms. 52 Peter Gray PG3098

Chapter 5: Sheds Old and New

In early British Railways days there were several large locomotive sheds in Devon, and a number of sub-sheds. Within 20 years only two true locomotive depots would remain, and one large but basic stabling point, to meet the requirements of a much reduced and dieselised system.

Although it may seem surprising today, until dieselisation Newton Abbot was classified as a District Running & Maintenance Headquarters, with a District Headquarter depot’s workshop facilities. Therefore its code was 83A, whereas Laira was only 83D - being classified as a depot within the Newton Abbot district. At the time of dieselisation, although Laira would become the primary locomotive depot for Devon and Cornwall, Newton Abbot would also have appeared a natural location for conversion to a diesel depot. The repair shops closed in 1960, and the shed closed to steam in April 1962, being replaced by a four-road diesel depot, featuring servicing pits and cab level access platforms, with facilities to work on eight locomotives at the same time. Also, a servicing and fuelling point was built beside the old steam shed, with diesel multiple-units being serviced in another open-ended shed. The new diesel depot would be short-lived, continuing as a fully functional depot only until the end of the ‘Warship’ and North British Type 2 diesel-hydraulics, after which the diesel fleet for the south-west was centred on Laira, although the locomotive and coach servicing and fuelling facility would remain in use for several years longer.

Newton Abbot (83A) Situated opposite the station, beyond sidings used for carriage stabling and cleaning, Newton Abbot shed was a standard GWR six-road structure, and was the Great Western’s principal shed for the region, complete with a heavy engineering repair shop capable of maintaining and repairing all types of locomotive. Adjacent to the workshop was a carriage and wagon works. The last British Railways steam engine to be overhauled in the workshops was ‘4500’ class No 4566, which was outshopped from Newton Abbot on 15 July 1960.

No 5097 Sarum Castle of Shrewsbury shed (84G) is seen at Newton Abbot shed on Wednesday 3 July 1957. No 5097 is carrying reporting number 208 for the 9.15am Liverpool - Plymouth service. No 5097 was the last of the ‘Castle’ class to be built before World War 2, entering traffic on 5 July 1939. A gap of nearly seven years would follow before the next example, No 5098 Clifford Castle, assumed its duties on 16 May 1946. R.C. Riley RCR10967

Devon Transition from Steam

Seen in another view on 3 July 1957, well turned-out ‘5101’ class No 4109 stands at its home shed of Newton Abbot, where it has been allocated since October 1955. No 4109 would be transferred from Newton Abbot to Kidderminster the following year, subsequently being withdrawn from Gloucester Horton Road shed on 20 April 1964. Newton Abbot’s Large Prairies were used on a range of local services, including the Moretonhampstead branch, and banking duties on Dainton Bank. R.C. Riley RCR10960

‘Hall’ class No 4944 Middleton Hall of Exeter shed stands at rest outside Newton Abbot shed on Saturday 15 July 1961. No 4944 has little more than a year left in service, as it would be withdrawn from Southall shed on 21 September 1962, having entered traffic 33 years earlier in July 1929. Also visible are work-stained ‘6100’ class Large Prairie No 6166 of Newton Abbot, and an equally grimy ‘County’. On the left-hand side of the picture, work is underway on building the new diesel depot. R.C. Riley RCR16113

Exeter St David’s (83C) Situated between the station avoiding lines and the River Exe, Exeter St David’s shed had a straight four-road running shed, and until the end of the 1950s was an important location for the Western Region lines in East Devon. It was home to a number of ‘Castles’, together with a range of other classes, including Moguls, Prairies and Panniers.

David’s shed closed in October 1963, but for some time afterwards was used to store withdrawn locomotives from the former Southern Region’s Exmouth Junction shed, which was responsible for the remaining steam turns in the Exeter area. Following dieselisation, what was left of the former Exeter shed, with just the incomplete side walls remaining, and the adjacent sidings, was used as a locomotive and multiple-unit stabling point, and for several years it remained a location where significant numbers of locomotives could be found standing between duties.

With the arrival of the diesel era, all locomotives would be based at the new diesel depots at Newton Abbot and Laira. Exeter St

A busy scene, facing north, at Exeter St David’s shed (83C) on Wednesday 8 June 1955, includes ‘4300’ class No 5362 and ‘9400’ class Hawksworth Pannier No 9439, both at their home shed. No 5362 had entered service in February 1919, and had been transferred from Newton Abbot to Exeter in January 1955. It would move on from Exeter to Cardiff Canton at the end of the summer, and would be withdrawn from Shrewsbury shed three years later in July 1958. Built by Robert Stephenson & Hawthorn Ltd, No 9439 had been delivered new to Exeter in February 1951, where it would be withdrawn on 15 June 1959 after a working life of just eight years and three months. David Anderson DA24488

‘Grange’ No 6813 Eastbury Grange of Newport, Ebbw Junction shed simmers at Exeter St David’s shed on the evening of Saturday 15 July 1961. The long shadow in front of the ‘Grange’ is cast by the shed’s coaling stage; hidden by No 6813’s tender is the 1 in 37 incline to Central station. Prior to its move to Ebbw Junction, No 6813 had been an Exeter locomotive for most of the summer of 1960. It would remain in service until the last days of Western Region steam, being withdrawn from Worcester shed in September 1965. R.C. Riley RCR16118

Devon Transition from Steam Laira (83D) Laira shed consisted of a roundhouse and a four-road straight shed. It had an extensive allocation, ranging from small locomotives including ‘1361’ class 0-6-0STs for shunting duties in the docks, ‘1400’ class 0-4-2Ts as well as the omnipresent Panniers and Prairies, up to a range of the former Great Western 4-6-0 classes, including ‘Kings’ for express services on the main line east of Plymouth, together with a small number of ‘2800’ class 2-8-0s for freight duties. In 1959 the allocation consisted of a total of 81 locomotives.

The nearby Laira goods yard closed in 1958 to make room for carriage sidings and the construction of a diesel depot to service the new generation of Western Region motive power in the form of diesel-hydraulic main line classes, as well as 204hp and 350hp diesel shunters, which was fully opened on 13 March 1962, although parts of it had been in use since 1960. From 1963 the shed code for Laira changed to 84A, which would become familiar to enthusiasts in the diesel age. Laira steam shed closed in April 1964, with dismantling starting in December 1966.

Above: Looking smart in clean lined green British Railways livery, No 6400 stands in front of the coaling stage and water tower at Laira, its home shed, on Wednesday 30 August 1961. The ’6400’ Panniers were a familiar feature of the railway scene in the Plymouth area in the 1950s and 1960s, principally on auto-train workings, but withdrawals had begun in 1958, including Laira’s No 6407, with Nos 6402, 6414 and 6420 succumbing the following year. No 6406 was withdrawn in 1960 and No 6413 in 1961, displaced by the arrival of diesel multiple-units at Plymouth. No 6438 made its way to Laira in May 1962 and was withdrawn six months later on 13 November, whilst No 6421 arrived as late as November 1962, but was condemned just weeks later on 7 January 1963. No 6400 itself would move from Laira to Exmouth Junction in 1963, and then to Yeovil Town, where it would be withdrawn in April 1964. R.C. Riley RCR16243 Opposite Top: Small Prairie No 4561 and ‘Castle’ No 4087 Cardigan Castle are seen at the coaling stage and water tower at Laira on Saturday 27 January 1962. A Laira locomotive for many years, Cardigan Castle was fitted with a double chimney and four-row superheater in January - February 1958, but with the coming of the diesels it would be placed in store at Laira on 13 August 1962. It would be reinstated to service at Bristol, St Philip’s Marsh in April the following year for a last summer in traffic, and finally withdrawn in October 1963. No 4561 has just over three months left in service, being withdrawn from Laira on 7 May 1962. Peter Gray PG2802 Opposite Bottom: In a classic view from the steam to diesel transition period, North British Type 2 Nos D6308 and D6323 bask in the sunshine outside the steam shed at Laira on Sunday 25 September 1960. Both locomotives are just a few months old, having entered service on 7 January and 25 April 1960 respectively, both being delivered new to Laira, and still look quite smart. In common with their classmates, they were destined to have wastefully short lives, D6308 being withdrawn on 11 September 1971, and D6323 a few months earlier on 22 May 1971, with both ending their careers back at Laira. R.C. Riley RCR15427

Sheds Old and New

Devon Transition from Steam

Sheds Old and New Sub-sheds All of the following were small, single-road sheds, responsible for servicing the locomotives of the branches concerned. Most closed with the closure or dieselisation of the lines which they served.

Exmouth Junction (72A) The heart of steam operations on the former Southern lines in the West Country, Exmouth Junction shed was located beside the main line east of Exeter Central, and boasted an extensive allocation of locomotives from smaller tank classes to Bulleid Pacifics.

Ashburton was a sub-shed of Newton Abbot. It closed in 1958.

An enlarged locomotive shed of concrete construction had been built in the late 1920s, the main structure spanning no fewer than 13 tracks - 12 in the running shed and one in the repair shop on the north side of the shed. There was a large mechanical coaling tower with a capacity of 300 tons, also built in concrete, and a new 70ft turntable had been installed in 1947. It was the primary locomotive servicing and repair centre in the south-west for the Southern Railway and subsequently the Southern Region of British Railways, and until 1960 it typically had an allocation of more than 120 engines, belonging to a wide range of classes. More than 400 staff were based at the depot, including 240 locomotive crew.

Kingsbridge was also a sub-shed of Newton Abbot. It closed in 1961. Moretonhampstead was a sub-shed of Newton Abbot. It had closed in November 1947, with the locomotive for the first train in the morning from Moretonhampstead subsequently being stabled overnight at Newton Abbot, but remained in use for servicing locomotives until the end of regular services. Princetown was a sub-shed of Laira. It closed in 1956. Tiverton Junction was a sub-shed of Exeter until 1963, then Newton Abbot. It closed in 1964.

Under the British Railways shed code system, Exmouth Junction was given the code 72A, but in 1963 it was transferred to the Western Region and the code was changed to 83D, which had formerly been assigned to Laira. Exmouth Junction formally closed to steam on 1 June 1965, and staff were transferred elsewhere, although for a while diesel locomotives and multiple-units continued to be stabled there, until final closure on 6 March 1967.

Opposite Top: The new reinforced concrete diesel depot at Laira is seen under construction on 9 July 1961 on the site of the former Laira yard. In the foreground, on the eastern side of the site, the least complete part of the depot is a three-road servicing shed, with roads 7 - 9. The scene is dominated by the central element - the heavy maintenance shed - with roads 5 and 6. On the western side of the site is a second servicing and maintenance shed with roads 1 - 4. R.C. Riley RCR16051 Opposite Bottom: This view inside the pristine new diesel shed at Laira on 27 August 1961 illustrates how the design of the building facilitated access to diesel locomotives at different levels. Visible in the background is a three-car Birmingham RC&W diesel multiple-unit, delivered new to Laira in May 1960. R.C. Riley RCR16169 Below: Exmouth Junction (72A), the principal shed for the Southern lines in the south-west, was situated on the north side of the main line at Exeter, at the point where the Exmouth branch diverged to the south-east. Unrebuilt Bulleid ‘Battle of Britain’ Pacifics Nos 34061 73 Squadron and 34060 25 Squadron stand outside their home shed on Tuesday 7 June 1955, alongside ‘T9’ No 30717, also allocated to 72A. No 34061 remained in original unrebuilt condition until withdrawal from Eastleigh shed in August 1964. No 34060, in contrast, would be rebuilt at Eastleigh works in November 1960, and withdrawn from Eastleigh shed at the end of Southern Region steam in July 1967. The ‘T9’, built by Dübs & Co in 1899, would survive to be one of the last examples of this long-lived class, being condemned from Eastleigh in July 1961. David Anderson DA25423

Devon Transition from Steam

Sheds Old and New Opposite Top: At its home of Exmouth Junction, ‘M7’ 0-4-4T No 30024, dating from 1899, receives attention outside the running shed on 7 June 1955. The ‘M7’ class was Dugald Drummond’s first design for the LSWR following his appointment as Locomotive Superintendent in 1895. Like the famous ‘T9’ class, another Drummond design, the ‘M7’ tanks were highly successful locomotives, which survived in service until the early 1960s, featuring in the West Country until their eventual displacement by Ivatt ‘2MT’ and British Railways Standard ‘3MT’ tanks. David Anderson DA24791 Opposite Bottom: Carrying the prominent headboard of the ‘Atlantic Coast Express’, rebuilt ‘Merchant Navy’ No 35023 Holland-Afrika Line, which had been rebuilt at Eastleigh just a few months earlier, in February 1957, stands at Exmouth Junction on Friday 5 July 1957. No 35023 had entered traffic at Exmouth Junction in November 1948, and would be withdrawn from Nine Elms shed in 1967, shortly before the end of Southern Region steam. In the 1950s the ‘ACE’ was still a prestigious and very busy service, with progressive accelerations culminating in a reduction of the Waterloo - Exeter Central time to just 2hrs 56mins in 1961, but this was to be its Indian summer, and the ’ACE’ would run for the last time in September 1964, at the end of the Summer timetable. R.C. Riley RCR10991 Plymouth Friary (72D) Friary was a rather austere straight three-road shed. Its allocation consisted largely of tank locomotives, used mostly on local services in the Plymouth area, including the various branches and local freights, services to Tavistock and the Bere Alston - Callington branch, together with the sub-shed at Callington. In December 1953 the shed’s allocation consisted of six ‘M7’ 0-4-4Ts, four ‘O2’ 0-4-4Ts, four ‘B4’ 0-4-0Ts, two E1/R 0-6-2Ts, former Plymouth, Devonport & South Western Junction Railway Hawthorn Leslie 0-6-2Ts Nos 30757 and 30758, ‘West Country’ Pacifics Nos 34035 Shaftesbury, 34036 Westward Ho, 34037 Clovelly and 34038 Lynton, and Ivatt ‘2MT’ No 41315, the first of the class to arrive at Friary.

In September 1957 Friary shed took delivery of new 204hp Drewry 0-6-0 diesel-mechanical shunters Nos 11225, 11227, 11228 and 11229, later renumbered as D2225, D2227, D2228 and D2229, and following the arrival of the diesel shunters the last ‘B4’ tanks had left Friary by the autumn of 1958. The four ‘West Countries’, Nos 34035, 34036, 34037 and 34038, moved to Exmouth Junction in January 1958. The following month Friary shed was transferred to the Western Region, when the code was changed to 83H, as a sub-shed of Laira. Friary shed was closed with effect from 5 May 1963, with the last four locomotives (Ivatt ‘2MTs’ Nos 41302, 41315, 41316 and 41317) moving to Laira.

Above: ‘B4’ class 0-4-0T No 30088, which entered traffic as LSWR No 88 in October 1892, is seen at rest at its home shed of Plymouth Friary on Thursday 4 July 1957, together with ‘O2’ class 0-4-4T No 30193. Only 11 of the ‘B4s’ survived long enough to carry British Railways numbers, six of which - Nos 30083, 30084, 30088, 30089, 30094 and 30102 - spent periods of time at Friary shed. No 30088 would leave Friary for Eastleigh shed in the autumn of 1958, and was withdrawn the following July. Friary shed would close on 5 May 1963. R.C. Riley RCR109

Barnstaple Junction (72E) Barnstaple Junction shed was a two-road wooden structure, which had a small number of locomotives to operate the Southern Region lines in North Devon. In 1959 Barnstaple Junction had an allocation of 12 locomotives, consisting of seven ‘M7’ 0-4-4Ts and five Ivatt ‘2MT’ 2-6-2Ts.

With the transfer of the former Southern lines in the south-west to the Western Region, in 1963 Barnstaple Junction’s code changed to 83F. In its final years, the shed became increasingly derelict, before closing in September 1964.

A view of Barnstaple shed on Wednesday 1 June 1960 shows Ivatt ‘2MT’ 2-6-2T No 41313 and ‘West Country’ Pacific No 34038 Lynton awaiting their next turns of duty; at the time, both locomotives were based in Devon. No 41313 had been delivered new to Exmouth Junction in May 1952, but moved away from Devon early in 1955. At the start of 1960 it returned to the West Country, and was based at Barnstaple Junction for the next three years. It was withdrawn from Eastleigh shed in October 1965. No 34038 was based at Exmouth Junction from the start of 1958 until November 1960, when it was transferred to Brighton. The end of steam in the south-west would lead to the closure of Barnstaple Junction shed in September 1964. James Harrold JH1427 Sub-sheds All of the following were single-road sheds, responsible for servicing the locomotives of the branches concerned. Most closed with the closure or dieselisation of the lines that they served. Not located in Devon, but at the end of a branch which largely was, Lyme Regis shed was a sub-shed of Exmouth Junction. It closed in November 1963. Seaton and Exmouth sheds were also sub-sheds of Exmouth Junction, which both closed in November 1963.

A long, single-road shed, Okehampton was a sub-shed of Exmouth Junction. It closed in January 1965. Also a sub-shed of Exmouth Junction, Bude was another shed which did not lie in Devon, but was at the end of a branch which ran for a significant distance in Devon. It closed in September 1963. Torrington was a sub-shed of Barnstaple Junction. It closed in November 1959. A straight-through shed, leading to the turntable, Ilfracombe was a sub-shed of Barnstaple Junction. It closed in 1964.

Maunsell ‘N’ class No 31842 stands on the turntable at Okehampton shed on Saturday 4 June 1960. No 31842 has so far spent its entire working life as a Devon-based engine, moving repeatedly between Exmouth Junction and Barnstaple Junction sheds. It was rebuilt with new frames between October and December 1957 - identifiable from the prominent curved frame front ends, also receiving a BR standard chimney. Moving from Exmouth Junction to Guildford in July 1964, with the decline of steam in Devon, It would finally be withdrawn on 5 September 1965. James Harrold JH1550

Chapter 6: Operational Challenges and the Decline of Steam at Exeter

In the 1950s, Exeter was still a location of tremendous variety, as a consequence of being a location where the former Southern and Great Western lines came together. As is well known, a peculiarity of Exeter, which applied also to the lines at Plymouth between North Road and St Budeaux, was that Southern and Western trains to and from London ran in opposite directions between St David’s and Cowley Bridge Junction.

One of the notable and defining features of railway operations at Exeter until the end of steam operations was the famous 1 in 37 incline between St David’s and Central stations, which required the services of banking locomotives to assist the heavier trains between the city’s two principal stations. For many years this duty was the preserve of members of the 10-strong 0-6-2T ‘E1/R’ class dating from the 1920s, which were also to be found in North Devon, especially on the Barnstaple - Torrington - Halwill Junction line.

The ‘E1/R’ 0-6-2Ts, rebuilt between 1927 and 1929 from Stroudley’s ‘E1’ class 0-6-0Ts with extended frames, tanks and bunkers, and the addition of a trailing radial axle, were a feature of the former Southern Railway lines in Devon and North Cornwall, with several examples being employed for many years banking trains up the 1 in 37 incline between St David’s and Central stations. Exmouth Junction-based No 32124 stands at Exeter Central on Monday 23 July 1956. The ‘E1/R’ tanks were useful locomotives, which put in three decades of service, but all 10 examples were withdrawn by the end of 1959, with No 32124 being condemned in January 1959. David Anderson DA25328

To avoid the risk of up trains coming to a stop on the incline between St David’s and Central, and then facing the difficulty of having to restart from a stand on the gradient, the signalman at Exeter West box was not permitted to clear his starting signal until he had obtained ‘Line Clear’ from the signalman at Exeter Central ‘B’ box. The latter, in turn, was not allowed to give that permission without first getting ‘Line Clear’ from his colleague at ‘A’ box. Once the starting signal at St David’s station was ‘pulled off’, the driver of an up train about to ascend to Central would know that he had a clear route at least as far as the crossover on the up lines at the midway point of Central station.

almost immediately on departing from St David’s, but also because of the number of movements between the two stations, with the need for banking locomotives to return to St David’s, and locomotives running to and from Exmouth Junction. In addition, the 1½ mile section of line between St David’s and Cowley Bridge Junction, where the Western and Southern Region trains shared the same tracks, was a serious bottleneck. As a result, doubleheading and even triple-heading of trains on the bank in both directions, and between Exeter and Yeoford, was not uncommon in the 1950s. In particular, the summer Saturdays 11.39am Exeter Central - Ilfracombe and the 11.35am Plymouth Friary - Waterloo were frequently headed by two or even three locomotives between Exeter Central and Yeoford, in order to avoid separate light engine movements due to unbalanced workings.

The bank between St David’s and Central stations posed a significant operational challenge, not just because of its 1 in 37 gradient, with trains leaving St David’s encountering the incline

Devon Transition from Steam Following a brief visit by No 30956 in the summer of 1955, two members of Maunsell’s distinctive 0-8-0T ‘Z’ class, Nos 30950 and 30956, arrived at Exmouth Junction in April 1956, and trials on the bank took place that month. It appears, however, that the Western Region was reluctant to agree to their use on these duties, and it would not be until 1959 that the class finally entered service on the bank. In the interim, the two Exmouth Junction ‘Zs’ were employed with shunting and trip freight duties, and the ageing and increasingly tired ‘E1/R’ tanks continued on the bank, supported by ‘M7’ tanks. By June 1959, the other six members of the ‘Z’ class had followed to Exmouth Junction, and all eight of the unusual 0-8-0Ts would end their days there, being withdrawn between October and December 1962. The ‘Z’ class would in turn be replaced at Exeter by the big

three-cylinder ‘W’ class 2-6-4Ts. No 31924 arrived at Exmouth Junction on 24 September 1962, and underwent clearance trials in early October, after which Nos 31911, 31912, 31914, 31915 and 31916 followed in November. Nos 31913 and 31917 also moved to Exmouth Junction in late 1962, but were judged to be surplus to requirements, and returned east in January 1963. With the end of steam looming, the residence of the ’W’ class at Exeter was of short duration, with all of them being transferred away or withdrawn by the end of September 1963, within a year of the arrival of No 31924. Thereafter a variety of locomotives were used to assist trains up the bank to Central station, including Ivatt ‘2MT’ tanks, Standard ‘3MT’ and ‘4MT’ tanks, ‘N’ class Moguls and ‘5700’ class Panniers.

Above: The ‘E1/R’ class 0-6-2Ts were displaced on banking duties at Exeter by Maunsell’s three-cylinder 0-8-0T ‘Z’ class, which had been introduced in 1929 for heavy shunting duties. On Friday 3 June 1960, No 30950, the first member of the class, stands on the short spur opposite Exeter Middle signal box, where banking engines waited for their next ascent of the intimidating 1 in 37 incline from St David’s to Central. No 30950, which had been one of the first two examples to arrive at Exmouth Junction in 1956, would be condemned in October 1962, and by the end of that year all eight members of the class would have been withdrawn, replaced on banking duties by the ’W’ class 2-6-4Ts. James Harrold JH1530 Opposite Top: Representing three generations of LSWR / Southern Railway / British Railways motive power, Drummond ‘700’ class No 30317 of Exmouth Junction, Maunsell ‘U’ class No 31610 of Basingstoke shed (70D) and ‘Battle of Britain’ No 34060 25 Squadron stand at platform 3 at Exeter St David’s station at 2.15pm on Saturday 9 August 1958, waiting to ascend the bank to Central with the 11.35am Plymouth Friary - Waterloo, formed of four Maunsell coaches, a load which would scarcely justify their combined power. Train engine is the Bulleid Pacific, with the two pilot locomotives having been added at Yeoford to avoid light engine movements. No 31610 previously worked from Ilfracombe to Barnstaple Junction with the 8.25am Ilfracombe - Manchester, then hauling the 10.37am Barnstaple Junction - Yeoford, where it was joined by the ‘Black Motor’, which had worked the morning goods to Lapford. All three will come off the train at Exeter Central, and run light to Exmouth Junction shed. Another Bulleid Pacific will back onto the train at Exeter Central, together with the restaurant car, and the train will go forward at 2.30pm. Through coaches from Sidmouth will be added to the train at Sidmouth Junction, making it up to its full load. Peter Gray PG1488

Devon Transition from Steam

Above: Commendably clean Maunsell ‘N’ class No 31839 and contrastingly grubby ‘T9’ No 30712 leave platform 4 at Exeter St David’s on Saturday 8 February 1958 with the 3.48pm Exeter Central - Okehampton train, consisting of Maunsell twocoach set No 24, formed of Corridor Brake Third No S 2832 S, dating from December 1935, and Corridor Brake Composite No S 6602 S, dating from March 1930. For many years the ‘N’ and ‘T9’ classes were integral elements of the operation of the Southern lines west of Exeter. No 31839, a long-standing Exmouth Junction resident, would remain in traffic until December 1963. By contrast, No 30712, which had been based at Exmouth Junction since February 1951, would be less fortunate, being withdrawn nine months after this view, on 29 November 1958. Peter Gray PG1261

Devon Transition from Steam

Passing the distinctive form of Exeter Middle box, ‘Castle’ class No 5005 Manorbier Castle of Newton Abbot shed passes over Red Cow crossing at the east end of Exeter St David’s, running on the down through line with the heavily loaded 8.17am Carmarthen - Penzance on Saturday 3 August 1957. In the headshunt, Class E1/R No 32124 waits for the next train requiring banking assistance up the 1 in 37 to Exeter Central. No 5005, which had entered service in June 1927, and was still giving good service after 30 years, would survive for a further two years and six months, being withdrawn on 29 February 1960. Peter Gray PG1141

‘4300’ class No 6371 stands at platform 4 at Exeter St David’s on a damp Saturday 20 December 1958 with the 1pm Saturdays only Exeter - Kingswear, formed of seven coaches. No 6371 was the second of the 35 members of Class 4300 which were built by Robert Stephenson (Nos 6370-99 and 7300-04). It would spend just a matter of weeks as an Exeter locomotive between November 1958 and January 1959 before the call of the Dyfi (Dovey) estuary would take it back to its former home at Machynlleth shed (89C), where it would be withdrawn less than two years later, on 21 September 1960. Peter Gray PG1704

Devon Transition Andrew Fox from Steam

The distinctive lines of the ‘T9’ 4-4-0s were a familiar presence on the former Southern lines in Devon and Cornwall until their final disappearance at the start of the 1960s. No 30711 is seen light engine at Exeter Central on Monday 23 July 1956 with the impressive background of the Victorian-era Exeter prison, built in 1853 and situated on New North Road, which crosses the east end of the station on the bridge visible behind the ‘T9’. Built by Dübs & Co of Glasgow, No 30711 had entered service in June 1899 as LSWR No 711, and put in a working life of just over 60 years. In early 1951 it moved to Exmouth Junction shed, where it would see out its final years, being withdrawn in August 1959. David Anderson DA24869

Exmouth Junction ‘M7’ No 30023 stands on the down centre line at Exeter Central with two box vans and a brake van at 9.25am on the damp and misty Saturday 9 March 1957. Built at Nine Elms works, the ‘M7’ entered traffic in January 1899 as LSWR No 23, and like most members of the class it enjoyed a long life, being withdrawn from Barnstaple Junction shed in October 1961. The two central lines enabled goods trains to stay clear of the platforms when passing through the station, but were used in particular for the re-marshalling of trains that took place at Central station, with coaches being added to up trains or detached from down services, and locomotives being exchanged. This applied especially to up services, for which purpose a crossover connection with the through line was situated part-way along the lengthy up platform, which could also be used to release banking locomotives from the platform line. In the down direction there were carriage sidings immediately beyond the station, which could be used to add and release locomotives. The up through line also helped to provide the necessary clear run for goods trains ascending the bank from St David’s. Towering above the station, which lies below the level of the surrounding roads, is the north-western side of Northernhay Gardens, the oldest public open space in England. Peter Gray PG0971

Devon Transition from Steam The Exeter Floods of 1960 In the autumn of 1960, exceptional flooding was experienced in the area around Exeter, which had a severe impact on railway operations. The floods began in dramatic style on 30 September, when floodwaters caused a 35ft bridge between Crediton and Newton St Cyres to collapse. It was two days until railway engineers could inspect the bridge, but even then, they were prevented from reaching the site with cranes and equipment, as the line had been cut on both sides of the bridge. At roughly the same time the ballast of the Western Region down main line was washed away between Exeter and Exminster. Further major disruption occurred when a landslide on Honiton bank blocked the Southern main line east of Exeter, whilst the Western Region main line and the Culm Valley line were both rendered impassable by flood water from the River Culm. Two days later, the Exmouth branch was closed due to concerns about the state of a bridge, and for several days further downpours led to flooding and landslips at several points on the North Devon line. Flooding would also affect the Torrington - Halwill line and the Seaton branch. On Saturday 8 October, high seas would wash away the ballast at several points between Dawlish and Teignmouth.

was the 9am Waterloo - Ilfracombe. Northbound Western Region main line trains were turned back at St David’s, and southbound services at Stoke Canon, soon changed to Cullompton when the situation at Hele and Bradninch worsened, with up Southern services terminating at Crediton. The disruption to rail services was considerable, with severe congestion at both St David’s and Central. Diesels were removed from northbound trains at Newton Abbot because of concerns about their ability to cope with the floods. During the afternoon of 27 October, the situation at Exeter deteriorated rapidly, with 700 cubic metres of water per second rushing down the Exe, overflowing its banks. On the eastern side of the river, flooding of the aptly named Riverside yard, west of St David’s station, spread to the station itself, reaching almost to platform level. It was the area to the west of the river, however, which bore the worst of the inundation, with an extensive area of the Exwick and St Thomas areas of the city being devastated by a torrent of mud, silt and boulders, and floods reaching a depth of roughly 6ft (2m). No fewer than 2,500 houses, factories, churches and public houses were inundated, and enormous damage was done to the low-lying western areas.

The heavy rainfall continued, and in late October, Exeter would suffer its worst flooding for 60 years. During the month of October, Exeter had more than 15in (380mm) of rain - half the average annual figure. On Wednesday 26 October, almost 2½in (60mm) of rain fell over the catchment area of the River Exe, causing the river to rise dramatically. On the night of Wednesday 26 October the Western Region main line would be under water at Hele and Bradninch, and the nearby Exe Valley line was also flooded. By midday on Thursday 27 October, the vital operational centre at Cowley Bridge Junction was impassable, with fast-moving flood waters inundating the running lines, and washing away the ballast. Near Stoke Canon the river waters had abandoned their usual course, and were flowing down the railway, and it was necessary to divert Western Region trains over the Southern Region main line from Exeter, running via Salisbury and Westbury or Basingstoke and Reading. The last train to pass Cowley Bridge Junction on the 27th

By Friday 28 October, services had been reinstated through Cowley Bridge Junction, with single-line working on the Western Region down main, whilst re-ballasting was in progress on the up line, but the next day a culvert collapsed between Burlescombe and Sampford Peverell, putting the down main out of action. Thereafter the situation would gradually improve, but flooding and resulting disruption to rail services would return to the Exeter area over the first weekend in December, with the Western Region main line and Cowley Bridge Junction once more impassable, and St David’s station put temporarily out of action, resulting in down trains on the Southern line terminating at Exeter Central. This is a very brief and simplified account of the events in October and December 1960, and it is clear that Devon’s railwaymen displayed remarkable stoicism and improvisation to operate and reinstate services during these extreme conditions.

Below: Passing the flooded low-lying fields of the Exe floodplain and leaving Exeter behind, ‘Castle’ class No 4037 The South Wales Borderers of Newton Abbot shed heads west at Countess Weir on the afternoon of Saturday 22 October 1960 with a 10-coach service from Swansea. As described in the text, the flooding visible is just a foretaste of what will afflict the Exeter area in the next few days. No 4037 had entered service as early as December 1910, as a member of Churchward’s innovative four-cylinder ‘Star’ class, named Queen Philippa, allocated originally to Laira. After being rebuilt as a ‘Castle’, it re-entered service in July 1926, being renamed as The South Wales Borderers in April 1937. It would run as a ‘Castle’ for some 32 years until eventual withdrawal from Exeter shed on 17 September 1962. Peter Gray PG2460

Operational Challenges and the Decline of Steam at Exeter The Decline of Steam at Exmouth Junction With the last members of the ‘T9’ class at Exmouth Junction having been withdrawn in July 1961, amongst the last pre-Grouping Southern classes in the West Country, together with the ‘O2’ and ‘M7’ tanks, were members of Drummond’s 0-6-0 ‘700’ class, known as ‘Black Motors’. Exmouth Junction’s last three examples, Nos 30689, 30697 and 30700, were officially withdrawn in November 1962. After being made redundant from their traditional freight turns, they were retained for snowplough duties, and although in theory no longer in service, the severe winter of 1962-63 - the ‘Big Freeze’ - meant that they would be called on one last time in January 1963 before going for scrap.

34024 was transferred to Bournemouth, 34058 moved to Eastleigh and 34060 to Nine Elms, with four examples, Nos 34032, 34036, 34056 and 34108, departing for Salisbury, whilst Nos 34011 and 34069 were condemned. Although Exmouth Junction did gain Nos 34054 and 34061, this left a net reduction of seven Light Pacifics in the month. This was just a precursor to what would come the following year, which would see a relentless reduction in steam operations at ‘the Junction’, with heavy repairs to steam locomotives ending in May 1964. At the start of 1964, Exmouth Junction still had an allocation of seven ‘Merchant Navy’ Pacifics, for express services to Waterloo, but on 23 February, Nos 35022 and 35026 were transferred to Nine Elms, followed on 14 June by No 35003. On 6 September, Exmouth Junction would lose its last four examples, with Nos 35010 and 35013 being transferred to Bournemouth, and Nos 35009 and 35025 being withdrawn.

At the start of 1963, the penultimate full year of steam operations, there were still 125 locomotives allocated to Exmouth Junction. The majority of these were members of familiar Southern classes, including ‘M7s’, ‘N’ class Moguls, ‘S15’ class 4-6-0s and Bulleid Pacifics, but there were now no fewer than 15 Ivatt ‘2MT’ tanks and a dozen Standard ‘4MT’ tanks, which had first arrived at the shed the previous year.

1964, the last full year of steam, would also see the shed lose all its remaining ‘West Country’ and ‘Battle of Britain’ Light Pacifics. On 8 April Nos 34065 and 34075 were withdrawn. On 14 June Nos 34061, 34072 and 34081 were transferred to Eastleigh. On 13 July Nos 34062 and 34083 were condemned, followed on 10 August by No 34070. The final axe would fall with the end of the summer timetable. On 6 September, Nos 34015 and 34066 were transferred to Salisbury, with seven examples, Nos 34002, 34023, 34033, 34076, 34079, 34084 and 34086, moving to Eastleigh on the same date. The remaining Light Pacifics were less fortunate, with Nos 34020, 34030, 34054, 34078, 34080, 34106, 34107 and 34109 all being withdrawn on 7 September. For the first time since their introduction, there were no longer any Bulleid Pacifics allocated to Exmouth Junction, and its importance was in terminal decline.

Farewell to the Bulleids The run-down and elimination of steam at Exmouth Junction proceeded rapidly. As late as January 1963, Exmouth Junction was home to no fewer than 37 Bulleid Light Pacifics and seven ‘Merchant Navies’, but in less than two years they would all be gone. The first signs of a reduction in Exmouth Junction’s role as a major steam shed came in the first half of 1963, when ‘Battle of Britain’ No 34074 was withdrawn on 15 May, followed by No 34035 on 8 June. A few months later came the first significant losses. In November No

Above: No 80036 of Exmouth Junction departs Lympstone with the five-coach 6.10pm from Exmouth, formed of British Railways Mk1 non-corridor suburban coaches, on Saturday 7 July 1963. No 80036 was another of the Standard ‘4MT’ tanks to arrive at Exmouth Junction in May and June 1962, making the long migration from Ashford, Kent (73F). Also operating on Exmouth services that day were fellow ‘4MT’ tanks Nos 80038 and 80064, as well as Ivatt ‘2MT’ tank No 41306, reflecting the relatively brief transformation of steam motive power on the Exmouth branch from the long-established Southern classes to their more modern successors, prior to the end of steam. Peter Gray PG3290

Devon Transition from Steam The End of the ‘N’ Class If any class was as closely associated with the former Southern lines in the West Country as the Bulleid Light Pacifics, it was surely Richard Maunsell’s ‘N’ class 2-6-0s. Following their arrival in 1924 they were part of the scene at Exmouth Junction for the next 40 years, but the period between September 1963 and September 1964 would witness the elimination of the ranks of ‘N’ class Moguls at the shed.

the shed’s ‘N’ class locomotives were steadily taken out of service, or in one case transferred away, until the final dozen examples were condemned just over a year later, in September 1964. Although the last examples of the ‘N’ class at Exmouth Junction were officially withdrawn in September 1964, the month of October would in fact see a handful of workings by some of the examples still present at Exeter, whose services could not quite be dispensed with. This would not last long, and in the space of just over a year from the first withdrawals, the trusty Maunsell Moguls, once the backbone of operations west of Exeter, had gone.

In January 1963, Exmouth Junction had a total of 24 ‘N’ class Moguls, which were used over the former Southern network in Devon and Cornwall as far as the western-most finger-tip of the ‘Withered Arm’ at Padstow. Their disappearance would be as precipitous as that of the Bulleid Pacifics. From 7 September 1963

By late 1964, the roads at Exmouth Junction were increasingly filled with out of use locomotives, destined in most cases not to run again.

Above: Standard ‘4MT’ No 80064 catches the evening sun as it runs beside the Exe estuary near Lympstone in another view on 7 July 1963 with the 6.12pm Exeter Central - Exmouth service. The Western Region main line runs along the opposite side of the estuary, passing the grounds of Powderham Castle. With the end of steam at Exeter, No 80064 would move from Exmouth Junction to Bristol Barrow Road (82E) in May 1965, and would be withdrawn three months later, on 25 August. Subsequently it found its way to Barry scrapyard, from where it would be rescued for preservation in 1973, initially at the Dart Valley Railway (later to become the South Devon Railway). Peter Gray PG3291 Opposite Bottom: Just three months before the end of steam at Exeter, Standard ‘3MT’ No 82030 moves away on the down through line at St David’s on Saturday 13 March 1965 with a lengthy mixed freight heading up the bank to Central, assisted in the rear by ‘5700’ class No 4694 and Ivatt ‘2MT’ No 41206. All three were amongst Exmouth Junction’s last working steam locomotives. By now the former Southern classes have all gone from ‘the Junction’, now classified 83D, leaving former Great Western and LMS tank classes and British Railways Standard types to see out the last few weeks. Peter Gray PG4029

Operational Challenges and the Decline of Steam at Exeter The Twilight of Steam In the final days of steam, especially following the Southern Region lines in the West Country being transferred to the Western Region in 1963, the previous distinction between the Western and Southern Region operations at Exeter was largely eliminated. The Western Region shed at Exeter St David’s closed in April 1964, and subsequently a number of former Great Western classes could be seen working from Exmouth Junction. This included a trio of ‘5700’ class Panniers, Nos 4655, 4666 and 4694, which all moved to Exmouth Junction from Wadebridge in early 1963. The trio were put to good use around the Exeter area on shunting and local freight duties as well as banking trains from St David’s to Central. With the end of steam operations at Exeter all three would be condemned on 16 June 1965, as the last three former GWR locomotives in regular use in Devon. At about the same time, a fourth ‘5700’ class Pannier, No 9647, was transferred from Exmouth Junction to Templecombe. The three ‘6400’ class Panniers, Nos 6400, 6412 and 6430, which had briefly featured on the Seaton branch following the end of the ‘M7’ tanks, had all departed Exmouth Junction for Yeovil town shed in November 1963 when the Seaton branch had gone over to diesel multiple-unit operation.

Amongst the other last ex-GWR locomotives to be based at Exmouth Junction were Collett ‘1400’ class 0-4-2Ts Nos 1442 and 1450, which were both withdrawn on 7 May 1965 as the last two examples of their type, and ‘2251’ class 0-6-0s Nos 2214 and 3205. Also resident at Exmouth Junction in the final weeks of steam operations in May / June 1965 were Ivatt ‘2MT’ tanks Nos 41206, 41216 and 41291, Standard ‘4MT’ 4-6-0s Nos 75005, 75008 and 75025, Standard ‘4MT’ 2-6-4Ts Nos 80037, 80041 and 80064 and Standard ‘3MT’ 2-6-2Ts Nos 82030, 82039, 82040 and 82042. This list reveals just how much the profile of the greatly diminished steam fleet had changed in its last few months since the previous domination by former LSWR and Southern Railway classes. By the last few weeks of steam there were no regular main line turns for steam, just shunting, trip works and banking duties. Exmouth Junction formally closed to steam on 1 June 1965 and staff were transferred elsewhere, although for a while diesel locomotives (mainly North British Type 2s and ‘Warships’) and diesel multipleunits continued to be stabled there, until closure on 6 March 1967.

Chapter 7: Transformation at Plymouth

Plymouth, the county’s largest city, is a key point on the former Great Western Railway main line to Penzance, and a major railway centre. Until the 1960s it was the end of the Southern main line from Exeter, and the site of various branch lines serving the quays and wharfs around Plymouth Sound, with its two freshwater inlets: the River Tamar with Devonport Dockyard, the largest naval dockyard in western Europe, and the River Plym, with Cattewater harbour, and Millbay docks lying between the two. Following Nationalisation it was inevitable that British Railways would seek to rationalise the railway network around Plymouth, where there was considerable duplication of lines and stations. The Western and Southern Regions had separate principal stations at North Road and Friary, with the latter having the operational disadvantage of being a terminus. To the west of North Road station, the Western Region line to Cornwall and the Southern Region line to Tavistock ran in close proximity to one another, with each having a station or halt for Devonport, Ford and St Budeaux, and a process of closures began in the 1950s.

goods trains, which would continue until 30 June 1971. Friary station closed to passengers from Monday 15 September 1958, with Friary Junction signal box following 12 days later, after which Friary became the city’s main goods depot, allowing the space at Millbay to be used for carriage storage. General goods traffic ceased from 5 May 1963, but a freight concentration depot was subsequently built on the site in 1966. The suffix ‘King’s Road’ was added to the Southern Region’s Devonport station after Nationalisation to distinguish it from the Western Region’s Devonport Albert Road station. Devonport King’s Road would close to passengers from Monday 7 September 1964, together with the former Southern route from Devonport Junction through Ford to St Budeaux Junction, with the remaining trains being diverted over the Western Region route to St Budeaux. A connection between the Great Western and Southern lines had been installed east of St Budeaux station in March 1941, to offer alternative routes between Plymouth and St Budeaux should either line be closed due to bombing. Following the closure of the Southern line via Devonport King’s Road, all trains used the former Great Western route and the wartime connection to reach St Budeaux. The former King’s Road station would remain open for goods traffic until January 1971, being accessed via Devonport Junction.

Millbay station had been closed to passengers in April 1941 after the nearby goods depot had been destroyed in the bombing of Plymouth, with the former passenger station subsequently being used only for goods traffic and for carriage stabling. All traffic ceased from 14 December 1969, except for access to the docks for

The first of the 80 Collett ‘Granges’, No 6800 Arlington Grange of Penzance shed (83G), crosses the causeway beside the River Plym on the approaches to Laira with a down mixed goods train in the 1950s. The ‘6800’ Grange class was fitted, like the ‘Hall’ class, with the GWR standard No 1 boiler, but had 5ft 8in driving wheels, as opposed to the 6ft diameter wheels of the ‘Halls’, and was well suited to the Great Western’s lines in the south-west, where they put in many years of valuable work. No 6800 entered traffic on 27 August 1936 and was withdrawn from Newport, Ebbw Junction almost 28 years later, on 15 June 1964. R.E. Vincent RV598A

Transformation at Plymouth

Appropriately named Rebuilt ‘West Country’ Pacific No 34024 Tamar Valley of Exmouth Junction shed passes Devonport King’s Road with an up goods train, including a mixture of vans and Conflat wagons, on Monday 28 August 1961. It is just six months since Tamar Valley re-entered traffic in its rebuilt form, the transformed locomotive having left Eastleigh works in February 1961. King’s Road station would close to passengers three years later on 7 September 1964, and to all traffic on 4 January 1971. Having spent nearly all its life at Exmouth Junction, No 34024 would migrate east to Bournemouth in November 1963, and would be withdrawn at the end of Southern steam in July 1967. R.C. Riley RCR16201

A fine interior view of Laira Junction signal box on Sunday 27 August 1961. Laira Junction box was one of the most important operational centres on the railway system in the Plymouth area, controlling access to the locomotive shed, the yard and carriage sidings, and to the Sutton Harbour, Cattewater, Yealmpton and Turnchapel branches. The box was manned continuously, as were the adjacent Tavistock Junction and Lipson Junction boxes. It would close with effect from 10 November 1973. R.C. Riley RCR16183

Devon Transition from Steam

Transformation at Plymouth Opposite Top: In a classic 1950s view, full of period interest, the first of the ‘County’ class, No 1000 County of Middlesex, passes Laira Junction signal box with train 273, which denoted a Penzance - Crewe service Mondays - Fridays, and a Newquay - Manchester service on Saturdays. In the background the smoke and steam betray the location of Laira shed. In the foreground the train is about to pass over the tracks of the 4ft 6in gauge Lee Moor Tramway, with planks between the rails because the trains here were drawn by horses. No 1000 is passing coach W 3975 W, a Churchward Toplight 56ft gangwayed third of 1919, which would be taken out of service in November 1958. To the right of the picture a fine set of vintage Great Western 70ft auto-trailers is stabled, closest to the camera being W 94 W of 1913, which would be taken out of service in October 1957. R.E. Vincent RV601C Opposite Bottom: The same view a few years later illustrates the transition period between the steam and diesel eras; ‘Warship’ No D824 Highflyer passes Laira Junction with an up express on Wednesday 30 August 1961. The ‘Warship’ had entered service a year earlier on 27 July 1960, and in common with its classmates would have a sadly short life, but survived to be one of the last examples in traffic, being withdrawn on 3 December 1972. In the background, a mixture of ‘Warships’ and North British Type 2s stand cheek by jowl with steam locomotives in the depot sidings. The auto-coaches have gone, victims of the introduction of diesel multiple-units for local passenger services, and the Lee Moor Tramway crossing has been partly dismantled, having been used for the last time almost exactly a year earlier, on 26 August 1960. R.C. Riley RCR16241 Below: Since its opening in 1859, the dramatic rail link 100ft above the Tamar between Devon and Cornwall has been Brunel’s remarkable Royal Albert Bridge. In the 1950s an auto-train for Saltash, formed of two pairs of Great Western autocoaches with a ‘6400’ class Pannier in the centre, is about to depart Devon for Cornwall as it moves at reduced speed onto the 2,187ft-long bridge, Grade 1 listed since 1952. In 1959 the access platforms added in 1921, which partially obscured the lettering on the end of the bridge, would temporarily be removed and the structure floodlit to celebrate its centenary. R.E. Vincent REV 65A-4-4

Devon Transition from Steam A rebuilt Station and modernised Signalling Plans had existed since the 1930s to modernise the rather rundown and uninspiring North Road station, and some work did take place before World War 2, with significant reconstruction of the tracks being completed before the war. Work began in 1938, which involved rebuilding Houndiscombe Road bridge at the east end of the station, and there were changes to both signal boxes, with North Road West box being moved and North Road East box rebuilt.

station goods yard, pending the completion of new facilities at the rebuilt North Road station. The new Plymouth power signal box would be built on the site of the former parcels office. From September 1958, North Road station became simply ‘Plymouth’ after the closure of Friary station, although it was some time until the station nameboards were changed. Six years after work had restarted in earnest, the new station with its large office block, ‘Intercity House’, was formally opened by Dr Richard Beeching, Chairman of the British Transport Commission, in March 1962. The station now had seven through platforms, although two of these would be converted to bay platforms in 1974.

Proposals to redevelop North Road station would be revived in the 1950s, and a plan for the reconstruction and modernisation of the station was approved in principle by the British Transport Commission at the start of February 1956. The plan for the station was closely linked to the reconstruction of Plymouth’s city centre, and the city architect, H.J.W. Stirling, was consulted in its development. The dominant, central feature of the development was an eight-storey office block for the District Manager and his staff, on the ground floor of which would be a new booking office, enquiry offices, a modern parcels depot, and a left luggage hall. In June 1957 the old parcels office was closed, and the District Engineer’s depot, located immediately outside the main entrance to the station, was transferred on a temporary basis to the former Devonport

The new power signal box, located at the west end of the station, was commissioned in November 1960, together with the Plymouth area colour light signalling scheme. It replaced six traditional signal boxes: North Road East and West boxes, Lipson Junction, Cornwall Junction, Devonport Junction and Devonport Albert Road. The signal boxes adjacent to the area covered by the power box were initially at Laira Junction in the east and Keyham in the west, being extended further west to St Germans box in July 1973.

‘6400’ class No 6420 stands at Plymouth North Road at 5.35pm on Sunday 31 August 1958 with a local service consisting of Collett bow-ended auto trailers Nos W 164 W and W 163 W, built to diagram A27, and dating from December 1928. W 164 W survived in traffic until April 1960, and W 163 W until January 1961, both being made redundant by the arrival of the Birmingham RC&W diesel multiple-units. No 6420 entered service in August 1935, allocated to Laira shed, from where it would be withdrawn 24 years later in November 1959. Peter Gray PG1539

Devon Transition from Steam

Above: ‘Castle’ No 5069 Isambard Kingdom Brunel departs Plymouth westbound on the morning of Sunday 28 November 1959 with the 5.30am Paddington - Penzance, formed largely of British Railways Mk 1 carriages. On the right-hand side of the picture, the protracted rebuilding of North Road station is in progress. No 5069 entered traffic in June 1938, and was fitted with a double chimney and four-row superheater by British Railways 20 years later, in November 1958. It spent the last years of its life based at Laira, where it had arrived in June 1954, and would finally be condemned in February 1962, its end brought about by the coming of the diesel-hydraulics. Peter Gray PG2193 Below: In another classic image of the period of transition from steam to diesel traction, North British Type 2 No D6336 and ‘Castle’ class No 5070 Sir Daniel Gooch are seen at Mutley, between Laira and Plymouth station, on Saturday 8 July 1961. D6336 had entered service just five days earlier, reflected in its ‘as new’ condition; withdrawal would come just 10 years and six months later, on 1 January 1972. Like classmate No 5069, Sir Daniel Gooch had entered service in June 1938, 23 years earlier, and would be withdrawn from Old Oak Common shed in March 1964, less than eight years before No D6336. R.C. Riley RCR16032

Devon Transition from Steam

A pair of Victorian-era locomotives is seen in the environs of a 1960s-period station building. ‘M7’ class 0-4-4Ts Nos 30036 and 30034 are seen at Plymouth station on Saturday 17 June 1961, with steam to spare, at the head of the 12.18pm to Tavistock North. Interestingly, at a time when many Maunsell and Bulleid coaches are still in use, the vehicles visible are all from the new generation of BR Mk 1 carriages, formed in traditional Southern Region style as a numbered set. In the background the new British Railways office block, ‘Intercity House’, is under construction, whilst the adjacent platform has already been modernised. Nos 30036 and 30034 date from May and April 1898 respectively. Both locomotives would leave Friary in July 1962, with No 30036 moving to Eastleigh, and being withdrawn from Bournemouth shed in January 1964, whilst No 30034 would move to Nine Elms for a short stay, and ultimately be withdrawn from Salisbury in February 1963. Peter Gray PG2563

An image of transition at Plymouth. The replacement for the traditional Great Western auto-trains, a service formed of recently introduced Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Works diesel multiple-units, led by a two-car set, enters North Road station from the west on Friday 23 September 1960, passing North Road West signal box. Plymouth’s traditional signal boxes and Great Western semaphore signals would survive for just two months longer, being replaced on 26 November 1960 by the commissioning of the new Plymouth panel box and multiple-aspect signals. R.C. Riley RCR15368

Having crossed the distinctive form of Weston Mill viaduct, a two-car Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Company diesel multiple-unit passes St Budeaux Junction on Wednesday 3 May 1961, heading for Saltash. The BRC&W units had been introduced the previous year. In the background can be seen the former Southern line. A connection between the Southern and Great Western lines was installed here in March 1941 to give the option of alternative routes between Plymouth and St Budeaux should either line be closed due to bombing. On the right-hand side is the connection to the Ministry of Defence’s Bull Point branch. R.C. Riley RCR15723

Transformation at Plymouth

Laira The goods yard at Tavistock Junction was expanded in the 1950s, enabling Laira yard to be closed at the end of 1958. At Laira the down marshalling yard was converted into eight carriage sidings in April 1961, and the site of the up marshalling yard was used for the new Laira diesel depot, which was brought into use on 13 March 1962. The introduction of diesel multiple-units on the Saltash local service left the former auto-coach carriage sidings redundant. They were taken out of use with effect from Sunday 8 December 1963 and removed entirely in July 1964. As a result, the double junction to the goods lines could also be removed, which enabled trains to pass through Laira Junction without disruptive point-work. The old Laira shed was closed as from Sunday 13 June 1965, and dismantling started in December 1966, with the site being made into sidings for the Civil Engineer’s department. A Collision of Old and New In December 1959, Plymouth was the scene of an accident, which fortunately resulted in no serious injuries and caused only limited

damage, but did result in the withdrawal of one of the locomotives involved, and is of interest in that it involved one of the still relatively new D600 series North British ‘Warships’. On 15 December, the overnight sleeper service left Paddington at 10.30pm, hauled by No D602 Bulldog, which had entered service in November of the previous year. In the early hours of Wednesday 16 December, D602 came off the train at Plymouth, and was replaced by No 5028 Llantilio Castle for the final leg of the journey to Penzance. A fault prevented D602 being driven from the rear cab, so it proceeded ahead of the sleeper in order to turn on the triangle at Millbay before going to Laira shed. Unfortunately, it came to a stand, undetected, on the diamond crossing at West Junction, between Plymouth station and Devonport, blocking the down main line, where Llantilio Castle collided with Bulldog, resulting in damage to the front end of both locomotives. Whilst D602 would be repaired at Swindon, and re-entered traffic in January 1960, the unfortunate ‘Castle’ was condemned.

North British A1A-A1A ‘Warship’ No D602 Bulldog departs Plymouth with an up express on Tuesday 29 August 1961. The train consists mainly of Mk 1 coaches, but the second vehicle appears to be a Collett bow-ended Restaurant Third saloon. Bulldog was the offending locomotive involved in the collision with No 5028 Llantilio Castle at West Junction in the early hours of 16 December 1959. The modernisation of the former Plymouth North Road is nearing completion, and on the lefthand edge of the image the nearly-complete Intercity House office block, still surrounded by scaffolding, rises above the new Plymouth station. Prominent in this view are the multiple-aspect signals, commissioned nine months earlier in November 1960 with the Plymouth re-signalling scheme. R.C. Riley RCR16203

A fortunate Survivor One notable locomotive which became the last steam engine at Laira was ‘1361’ class 0-6-0ST No 1363, one of a class of just five examples, which were built by the Great Western Railway in 1910 as an updated version of a Cornwall Mineral Railways design of 1874, for use on dock lines with tight curves, and the last saddle tank class to be built at Swindon. No 1363 spent much of its working life at Plymouth, largely being used on the Sutton Harbour branch and in Millbay docks, being fitted with full vacuum brake and steam heating equipment to haul the ocean liner expresses from the quayside. Its survival appears to have involved an element of skulduggery, in that it was due to go for scrap when the last remaining withdrawn locomotives were removed from Laira, but

No 1363 was saved through devious means by some of the Laira railwaymen, who were keen to avoid it being scrapped, and it remained in a corner of the roundhouse after the other condemned steam locomotives had been hauled away. Eventually No 1363 was acquired by a group of Great Western Society members, who presented it to the society, becoming just the second item of rolling stock owned by the GWS, shortly after the acquisition of ‘1400’ class No 1466. It was kept at first at the short-lived GWS site at Totnes, where it was restored to working order, before moving in May 1969 to the GWS depot at Bodmin. On the closure of the Bodmin depot it was relocated to Didcot Railway Centre.

Doing the sort of work for which it had been built 45 years earlier, ‘1361’ class 0-6-0ST No 1363 is seen with shunter’s truck W 41750 in the docks on Monday 11 July 1955. The third of a class of just five locomotives, No 1363 entered traffic in June 1910. During British Railways days it was allocated to Plymouth Laira and Millbay sheds. With its remaining duties being taken over by D2000 series 204hp diesel-mechanical shunters, No 1363 was finally withdrawn on 20 November 1962. Fortunately it was preserved by the Great Western Society, initially being kept at the early GWS centre at Totnes. R.C. Riley RCR6416

Chapter 8: The Closure Wave of the 1960s

The Western Region As previously described, a significant proportion of the former Great Western branch lines and secondary routes in Devon was closed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, but in the face of steadily mounting losses, the pressure for further closures was irresistible. When the infamous ‘Beeching Report’ was published on 27 March 1963, the fate of most of Devon’s branch lines and secondary routes was sealed. The closures would continue during the 1960s, with the former Great Western network in the county being reduced by the end of the decade to the South Devon main line to Plymouth, together with the offshoot to Paignton and Kingswear and a few short goods-only branches.

The Brixham branch The branch to Brixham from Churston, on the Paignton - Kingswear line, was just two miles in length, and was quite simple in operation, having just the essential necessary signalling at Churston, and operating on the ‘one engine in steam’ principle. In British Railways days it was operated by ‘1400’ class 0-4-2Ts, although the final trains were worked by single-car diesel multiple-units. The line closed on 13 May 1963.

‘1400’ class No 1439, in plain black livery, stands in the bay platform at Churston at 5.18pm on Easter Monday, 2 April 1956, with the Brixham branch train, consisting of a British Railways-era auto-coach and a box van. The two-mile line between Churston and Brixham would close a little over seven years later on 13 May 1963. No 1439’s demise would come much sooner, the Newton Abbot-based locomotive being taken out of service on 19 August 1957. Peter Gray PG0775 The Kingsbridge branch From a junction at Brent, a 12-mile branch line ran to a terminus at Kingsbridge, with intermediate stops at Avonwick, Gara Bridge and Loddiswell. The route featured significant gradients of 1 in 50 and 1 in 60, with up trains facing a challenging eight-mile climb to the junction at Brent. The major engineering feature on the line was the 625yd Sorely tunnel, where the summit of the line was located. For a number of years in the 1950s and early 1960s, Kingsbridge enjoyed through coaches to and from Paddington on

summer Saturdays; these services loading to six coaches. Until the decline in goods services in the final years of operations, there was a busy goods yard at Kingsbridge. Regular motive power in the post-war period consisted of ‘4500’ and ‘4575’ class Small Prairies. The branch was dieselised in September 1961 using single-car Gloucester RC&W diesel multiple-units, operating in pairs at busier times. Closure came just two years later, with goods services ending on 9 September 1963, and the last passenger trains running on 14 September.

Devon Transition from Steam

The Closure Wave of the 1960s Opposite Top: Small Prairie No 5525, recently transferred to Newton Abbot shed, runs round its train at Kingsbridge on Saturday 26 August 1961. Steam traction on the Kingsbridge branch would end the following month, and No 5525 would survive just over a year longer, being withdrawn from Newton Abbot on 17 September 1962. Facilities at Kingsbridge included the corrugated iron carriage shed seen on the left of the picture. The coach standing beyond the protection of the shed is No W 6210 W, a Collett bow-ended composite built in December 1930 to diagram E143, which would be taken out of service in November 1961, just three months after being photographed, as the first of the type to be condemned. Despite dieselisation, the Kingsbridge branch was considered not to be economically viable, and would close in September 1963. R.C. Riley RCR16167 Opposite Bottom: Nearing its destination at Brent, Small Prairie No 4561 scampers up Avonwick bank on Thursday 8 June 1961 with the 5.40pm Kingsbridge - Brent. The single passenger coach is supplemented by two Southern Railway type long wheelbase parcels vans, marshalled next to the locomotive to facilitate their transfer to the rear of an up main line passenger train at Brent. No 4561 entered traffic in October 1924 and after moving to Devon in 1930 it would spend the next 32 years working on the lines of Devon and Cornwall. After many years in Cornwall it moved to Newton Abbot in November 1958, appearing regularly on the Kingsbridge branch. In June 1961, No 4561 was transferred to Laira to see out its days, being taken out of service in May 1962. In September of that year it moved to Woodham’s scrapyard at Barry, to await its eventual preservation. Peter Gray PG2557 The Culm Valley line The 7½-mile branch from Tiverton Junction to Hemyock was built to light railway standards, with lightly engineered track and numerous sharp curves. As a result, it was limited in the speed of trains and in the types of locomotive and rolling stock that it could accommodate. Notably this led to specific carriages being dedicated to the line, including a pair of former Barry Railway coaches, which were the last gas-lit coaches on British Railways. Problems with the supply of gas led to these being replaced in 1962 by two former LNER coaches. Motive power in steam days consisted of ‘1400’ class 0-4-2Ts, replaced when steam ended by Swindon-built 204hp diesel

shunters, and by North British Type 2 B-Bs following strengthening of the track. Passenger traffic was very limited, due in part to the slow speed of the trains, but the line carried significant milk traffic from the dairy at Hemyock, together with grain traffic from Uffculme. The branch saw its last regular passenger train on 7 September 1963, but would remain open for milk trains from Hemyock for a further 12 years, finally closing in October 1975, its fate sealed by the closure of the milk factory, which received its oil supplies by rail until the end.

Below: Former Barry Railway coach No W 268 W is seen in the sidings at Tiverton Junction on Friday 3 June 1960. Two of these coaches were used on the Hemyock branch from 1950, replacing two veteran coaches, being selected because their short wheelbase was ideal for the sharp curves on the branch. The short journey and the slow speed on the line were inadequate to recharge the batteries on the coaches, so the ex-Barry Railway coaches were converted from electric to gas lighting, and would be the last gas-lit coaching vehicles in use on British Railways. The two former Barry railway coaches would themselves be replaced in 1962 by 1951-built ex-Eastern Region 52ft 4in coaches Nos E 87245 E and E 87270 E, just a year before the end of passenger services. James Harrold JH1527

Devon Transition from Steam

The Closure Wave of the 1960s The Exe Valley line Exe Valley line services connected Exeter with Tiverton, joining the Taunton - Barnstaple line further north at Morebath Junction, from where trains continued to Dulverton (in Somerset). At its southern end the line diverged from the Exeter - Taunton main line at Stoke Canon.

Operated in British Railways days mainly by ‘1400’ class 0-4-2Ts and ‘5700’ class Panniers, the line saw diesel services very briefly in its final days, but its fate was already sealed, and it closed to passenger traffic on 7 October 1963. Goods traffic to the mill at Thorverton, situated on a spur from the station, continued for a further seven months until 4 May 1964.

Opposite Top: Carrying lined green livery, but missing its smokebox numberplate, ‘1400’ class 0-4-2T No 1421 arrives at Hemyock, terminus of the Culm Valley line, in the winter sunshine of Saturday 3 November 1962 with the 1.42pm from Tiverton Junction, consisting of coach E 87245 E. No 1421 entered traffic on 7 November 1933 as No 4821, being renumbered as 1421 in October 1946. Recently transferred from Reading shed, it will spend one year based at Exeter until moving again to Gloucester for a brief period, before being withdrawn on 28 December 1963. The last passenger train on the Culm Valley line ran on 7 September 1963. General goods services continued for a further 20 months, operated by a 204hp shunter or North British Type 2, but these also ended on 6 September 1965. However, milk trains would continue to serve the dairy at Hemyock until 31 October 1975. Peter Gray PG3080 Opposite Bottom: In a wintry scene at Tiverton on Saturday 2 February 1963, No 1421 waits on the left with the shuttle service for Tiverton Junction, whilst classmate No 1450 lurks in the background with an Exe Valley line service. The line connecting Tiverton station with Tiverton Junction was just four miles long. The generously proportioned station at Tiverton was opened in 1884/85 to serve the new lines south from Morebath Junction on the Taunton - Barnstaple line and the Exe Valley railway from the junction at Stoke Cannon, north of Exeter, replacing the original Tiverton station, built as the terminus of the Bristol & Exeter Railway’s branch from Tiverton Junction. Following the closure of the Exe Valley line in October 1963, the Tiverton to Tiverton Junction section closed to passengers one year later, with goods services ending in June 1967. Peter Gray PG3105 Below: Cadeleigh station was the second stop south of Tiverton on the Exe Valley line, following West Exe halt. In a tranquil summer evening scene, ‘5700’ class 0-6-0PT No 7761 sets off from Cadeleigh at 5.40pm with the 5.22pm departure from Tiverton on Wednesday 8 July 1959. Large numbers of the ‘5700’ class were built for the Great Western by several private contractors, and No 7761 carries the diamond-shaped works plate of the North British Locomotive Co on its front splasher. An Exeter locomotive since 1942, No 7761 would be withdrawn on 23 January 1961. Peter Gray PG1955

Devon Transition from Steam

The Closure Wave of the 1960s Opposite Top: A fine panned view shows ‘5700’ class Pannier No 4673 near Cadeleigh on the Exe Valley line with a single British Railways era auto-coach forming the 5.15pm from Dulverton on Saturday 14 September 1963. Passenger services on the line would end three weeks later, on 7 October 1963. No 4673, allocated at the time to Exeter shed, had entered service in March 1944, a product of Swindon works. It would leave Devon in November 1963, and be withdrawn from Templecombe shed in June 1965. Peter Gray PG3554 Opposite Bottom: On Saturday 8 June 1963, ‘5700’ class No 3659 departs Thorverton station, eight miles south of Tiverton and just under three miles north of the junction with the main line at Stoke Canon, with the 3.20pm Bampton - Exeter, formed of two auto-coaches. There is a line of nine open wagons in the goods yard, but it is likely that the elderly, wooden-bodied wagons are no longer in use but instead are awaiting scrapping. In the background a siding curves round to Thorverton mill, with six grain hoppers standing inside the gate. After nearly 13 years as a Newton Abbot locomotive, from April 1949 until March 1962, No 3659 spent 18 months based at Exeter before moving to Bristol, Barrow Road shed in September 1963. Although passenger services on the Exe Valley line would end on 7 October 1963, goods trains continued to run to Thorverton until 4 May 1964. Peter Gray PG3258 Below: In the last year of services on the Exe Valley line, northbound and southbound auto-trains hauled and propelled by ‘1400’ class 0-4-2Ts Nos 1450 and 1451 of Exeter shed cross at Thorverton on Easter Saturday, 13 April 1963. No 1451 is coupled to W 244 W, one of a batch of 10 Hawksworth-design auto-trailers built as late as 1954 to diagram A43. Whilst No 1451 would be withdrawn from Gloucester Horton Road shed in July 1964, No 1450 would survive at Exmouth Junction until May 1965, and would be saved for preservation at the Dart Valley Railway. Peter Gray PG3129

Devon Transition from Steam

Above: In another view from the last year of passenger services, No 1450 is seen at Bampton, 3½ miles from Dulverton, on Saturday 16 March 1963 with the 2.8pm departure from Exeter. Two passengers make their way towards the train, but the station appears otherwise almost deserted, with the sidings in the goods yard beyond the station largely empty. Peter Gray PG3119 Below: As would be the case for a number of Devon’s branch lines, the period of diesel operation on the Exe Valley line was brief. On Saturday 5 October 1963, the final day of passenger services, a North British Type 2 diesel-hydraulic, believed to be No D6348, pauses at Bampton with the 2.8pm from Exeter St David’s. Leslie Sandler LS806

The Devon Closure Transition Wave from of theSteam 1960s

Above: The Taunton - Barnstaple line saw through trains to and from Ilfracombe on summer Saturdays, worked through to the Southern line by ‘4300’ class 2-6-0s. Taunton-allocated No 6340 departs Bishop’s Nympton and Molland with the fourcoach 10.10am Ilfracombe - Cardiff on Saturday 7 July 1962. No 6340 would be withdrawn just six days later, on what would be an unlucky Friday 13th. The Taunton - Barnstaple line would close four and a quarter years later on 3 October 1966. Peter Gray PG2986 Below: Although other classes did make appearances, passenger services on the Taunton - Barnstaple line in British Railways days were largely the preserve of the Churchward ‘4300’ class. A visibly run-down No 7306 departs South Molton at 5.50pm on Saturday 25 July 1964 with the 4.3pm Taunton - Barnstaple. The Severn Tunnel Junction-allocated Mogul, which has lost both its cabside and smokebox numberplates, would be placed in store the following month and withdrawn on 1 September. Together with Dulverton (junction station for the line south to Tiverton) and Wiveliscombe, in Somerset, South Molton was one of the line’s principal intermediate stations, serving a busy market town. Peter Gray PG3807

Devon Transition from Steam The Devon and Somerset line Although it started in Somerset, the Taunton - Barnstaple line ran for most of its length in Devon, serving few major centres of population along its 44¾ mile length, but meeting the northern end of the Exe Valley line at Morebath Junction, east of Dulverton, end point of the Exe Valley services. At its western end, the Devon and Somerset line terminated at a station which was known in Great Western days simply as Barnstaple, but which gained the suffix ‘Victoria Road’ in 1949 to distinguish it from the two former Southern Railway stations, Barnstaple Junction and Barnstaple Town. Victoria Road station closed to passengers on 12 June 1960, after which date trains ran directly to Barnstaple Junction via the connecting spur.

steam era would not last long, as the line closed on 3 October 1966, although Victoria Road station would remain open for freight traffic, served from Barnstaple Junction, until 30 May 1970. Station Closures Although other stations slated for closure following the Beeching plan, such as Exeter St Thomas and Starcross, fortunately survived, a number of stations on the former Great Western main line were to have their services withdrawn, with Exminster, situated between Exeter and Starcross, closing in March 1964. Just as had happened to the east of Plymouth in 1959, five years later there was a cull of the smaller stations to the east of Exeter. Between the Devon border at Whiteball and Exeter St David’s, the intermediate stations of Burlescombe, Sampford Peverell, Cullompton, Hele and Bradninch and Silverton all closed to passengers in October 1964. In South Devon, Brent also succumbed in October 1964, as did Kingskerswell, between Aller Junction and Torre on the Paignton and Kingswear line.

In British Railways days the line was operated mainly by ‘4300’ class 2-6-0s, supported by ‘2251’ class 0-6-0s and the usual Panniers and Small Prairies, as well as visiting ‘N’ class Moguls, together with BR Standard ‘3MT’ 2-6-2Ts towards the end of steam. It survived long enough to be dieselised in September 1964, with several types of diesel multiple-unit, and North British Type 2 diesels, but the post-

Eight miles from Exeter St David’s, the deserted Hele and Bradninch station reverberates as Laira-allocated ‘King’ class No 6021 King Richard II charges past with the nine-coach 6.25am Penzance - Paddington (train reporting number 608) on Monday 5 August 1957. Hele and Bradninch was one of no fewer than five stations in Devon between Exeter and Wellington to lose its passenger services on 5 October 1964 - together with Silverton, Cullompton, Sampford Peverell and Burlescombe - but it would remain open for goods until 17 May 1965. A siding serving the adjacent Hele paper mill would continue in use until the 1980s. Peter Gray PG1146

The Closure Wave of the 1960s Paignton - Kingswear Although located in a prime holiday area, by the 1960s loadings on the Paignton - Kingswear section were limited, outside of the summer season, by the relatively small populations served, and little was done by British Railways to promote the scenic attractions of the line. From April 1966, it mostly operated as a shuttle service between Paignton and Kingswear, and Sunday services were withdrawn from 24 September 1967. A formal proposal was made to the Ministry of Transport in 1968 to close the line from Paignton to Kingswear, but at first this was not carried out. Happily, the line was sold in December 1972 to the Dart Valley Railway Company, which at the time operated the heritage line of that name on the remaining section of the Ashburton branch, based at Buckfastleigh. A winter service was operated from 1 January 1973, partially for the benefit of children attending Churston Grammar School, but from the end of the summer it became a purely seasonal operation.

and with one exception, all of the East Devon branch lines were closed between 1965 and 1967. Although the Exmouth branch was slated for closure, thankfully it was spared, to continue as a valuable alternative to road travel for travellers to Exeter and beyond. West of Exeter, the network of lines which constituted the former Southern Railway’s ‘Withered Arm’ would be decimated. Torrington - Halwill Junction At Halwill Junction the line from Torrington had its own short platform and run-round loop, so that operations on this section were effectively kept separate from the North Cornwall and Bude lines. In British Railways days, the line south of Torrington became the fiefdom of the Ivatt ‘2MT’ 2-6-2Ts which arrived in the West Country to replace older Southern classes, including the ‘E1/R’ 0-6-2Ts which had formerly predominated on the line. For a brief period passenger services were operated by diesel multiple-units, but this would not last long.

The Southern lines If the former Southern lines had escaped significant closures in the 1950s, the cuts post-1963 would be severe, with even the main line east of Exeter not being immune. Under the prevailing philosophy of rationalisation and the desire to eliminate duplication, the view was that there was no call for two main lines from London to Exeter, and the Southern route was downgraded to a secondary line west of Salisbury, with extensive singling of this once prestigious route,

Serving a sparsely populated area and subject to a low speed limit, with the growth of road transport in the 1950s and 1960s the fate of the former North Devon & Cornwall Junction Light Railway line north of Halwill Junction was inevitable. Passenger services between Halwill and Torrington ended on 27 February 1965, but the northern part as far south as Meeth would continue to carry ball clay until August 1982.

Ivatt ‘2MT’ No 41308 leaves Torrington with the short 12.10pm goods train for Halwill Junction on Wednesday 1 June 1960. No 41308 had been delivered new to Faversham shed in April 1952, but with steam being displaced from the south-east of England by the Kent Coast electrification scheme and the introduction of the BRCW Type 3 diesels, it had moved west to Exmouth Junction in early 1960. Despite having reached its new shed several months earlier, it still carries a Faversham (73E) shed plate on the smokebox door. Surviving nearly until the end of West Country steam, No 41308 would be condemned at Exmouth Junction on 6 February 1965, after a working life of just 12 years and 10 months. James Harrold JH1421

Devon Transition from Steam

Above: A few minutes before departure time, Ivatt ‘2MT’ No 41249 of Barnstaple Junction shed stands at the ND&CJLR line’s platform at Halwill Junction on Saturday 22 August 1964 with the 6.30pm for Torrington, formed of the usual Bulleid brake composite. As can be seen, the Torrington platform line was a simple dead end; after arrival, trains had to reverse out of the platform to reach the run-round loop. Visible in the background are No 31859 with the 5.51pm Okehampton - Padstow and No 80039 in the bay platform with the two-coach 6.25pm for Bude. It is hard to believe that all of this would be gone a little over two years later. The Torrington branch would close to passengers just over six months later on 1 March 1965, and the Bude and Padstow lines would succumb on 3 October 1966, bringing the end for this formerly important railway junction. Peter Gray PG3878 Barnstaple - Torrington Passenger services between Barnstaple, Bideford and Torrington would outlast those south to Halwill Junction only by a few months, ending on 4 October 1965, but the line would remain in use for china clay traffic from the ball clay pits near Meeth and Marland, together with milk from Torrington. In steam days the line saw ’M7’ tanks, ‘N’ class Moguls, Ivatt ‘2MT’ tanks and even Bulleid Light Pacifics. Following dieselisation the ubiquitous North British Type 2s took over, together briefly with diesel multiple-units on passenger services. The Lyme Regis branch The branch line from Axminster to Lyme Regis was famous as the home of the three surviving examples of the 4-4-2T Adams ‘0415’ class, dating from 1885, which had been retained because of their suitability for the sharply curved line, with summer Saturday through services requiring two of the ‘Radial tanks’ double-headed.

In 1959 some of the sharpest curves were eased, and the following year Ivatt 2-6-2T No 41297 was tried on 18 September 1960, and showed itself capable of negotiating the curves. Classmate No 41308 visited on 13 November 1960 and was tested successfully with increasing loads up to six coaches, which obviated the requirement to double-head the heaviest trains, and Ivatt ‘2MT’ tanks replaced the ‘Radial tanks’ from 1961. Single-car diesel multiple-units took over in November 1963, bringing an end to regular steam operation, but in February 1965 reliability problems with the multiple-units led to a brief return of steam, with services operated by an Ivatt ‘2MT’ together with a Hawksworth auto-trailer, or on at least one occasion with a BR Mk1 brake end coach. Services soon reverted to the single-car multiple-units, but as elsewhere these would not be the line’s salvation. Freight services were withdrawn on 3 February 1964, and closure to passenger services took effect on 29 November 1965.

Opposite Top: The elegant lines of the Victorian era ‘0415’ class are apparent in this view of Nos 30582 and 30583 with a return summer Saturday Lyme Regis - Axminster working at Combpyne, the only intermediate station on the Lyme Regis branch, on 10 September 1960. This would be the final train on the line to be operated by a pair of the Adams ‘Radial tanks’, as the summer timetable ended the following day, and following initial trials with Ivatt ‘2MT’ 2-6-2T No 41297 on 18 September, and loaded trials with classmate No 41308 on 13 November, members of the class would take over duties from the venerable ‘Radial tanks’. The Ivatt ‘2MT’ tanks were powerful enough to dispense with the need for double-heading the heavier trains. James Harrold JH1853 Opposite Bottom: Regular steam operation on the Lyme Regis branch ceased in November 1963, when diesel multipleunits took over, but in February 1965 a shortage of serviceable multiple-units led to a brief return of steam, with services operated by an Ivatt ‘2MT’, usually with a Hawksworth auto-trailer. Exmouth Junction-based No 41216 crosses Cannington viaduct, shortly before crossing from Devon into Dorset, with a Lyme Regis service on Saturday 27 February 1965. The following month, single-car diesel multiple-units resumed operations until closure of the line on 29 November. No 41216 would be withdrawn from Templecombe shed just over a year later, on 12 March 1966. Peter Gray PG4025

The Devon Closure Transition Andrew WaveFox from of theSteam 1960s

Devon Transition from Steam

The Seaton branch Just 4¼ miles long, with two intermediate stops at Colyton and Colyford, the Seaton branch connected the seaside resort of Seaton with the main line at Seaton Junction, between Axminster and Honiton. As late as the 1950s the branch was popular with holidaymakers, but passenger numbers then declined steeply, and through workings to and from the branch ceased from 1962. For many years the regular motive power consisted of Drummond ‘M7’ tanks, although through summer services often saw larger types, including Maunsell ‘N’ and ‘U’ class Moguls. From May 1963, passenger services were taken over by ‘6400’ class Panniers, operating with a pair of Hawksworth auto-coaches, with Ivatt ‘2MT’

tanks also making appearances, but from 4 November 1963 the branch went over to diesel multiple-units. Just as on the Lyme Regis branch, reliability issues with the multiple-units led to steam traction returning briefly between February and March 1965, in the final months of steam operations in Devon, using ‘1400’ class 0-4-2Ts, with both Nos 1442 and 1450 featuring, together with a British Railways era auto-trailer. The shed at Seaton had closed in 1963 with the intended end of steam operations, so during the short-lived return of steam the ‘1400’ in use was based at Exmouth Junction. Passenger numbers continued to decline, and closure finally came on 7 March 1966.

Above: As on several of Devon’s branch lines, the diesel era would be short-lived. Not long before closure of the Lyme Regis branch, Gloucester RC&W single-car unit No W55011 stands in the Lyme Regis bay at Axminster. Introduced in 1958, 20 of these driving motor brake second vehicles were built, numbered 55000 - 55019. They were fitted with two 150hp BUT (AEC) engines. David Anderson DA20325 Opposite Top: The Seaton branch was the last of the East Devon branches to be worked regularly by the venerable ‘M7s’. Push-pull fitted No 30045 of Exmouth Junction shed has arrived at Seaton Junction with the branch train from Seaton on Tuesday 31 July 1956. Built at the LSWR’s Nine Elms works in May 1905 as No 45, the ‘M7’ would remain in service until December 1962, when it would be withdrawn from Exmouth Junction after a working life of 57 years. Following the disappearance of the ‘M7s’ there was a brief period after the line came under the auspices of the Western Region when services were operated by ‘6400’ class Panniers, but diesel multiple-units would take over from November 1963. David Anderson DA24797 Opposite Bottom: The diesel era has arrived on the Seaton branch, and a Gloucester RC&W single-car diesel multipleunit disgorges its impressive load of returning holiday-makers at Seaton Junction. Sadly, with the growth of road travel, the volumes of passengers rarely reached these levels in the latter years of the line, and the Seaton branch would close on 7 March 1966. David Anderson DA20337 The Sidmouth branch From Sidmouth Junction a branch ran nearly 8½ miles to Sidmouth, with an intermediate station with a passing loop at Ottery St Mary. At Tipton St John, five miles from Sidmouth Junction, a line diverged to Budleigh Salterton and Exmouth. Until the late 1950s, the regular motive power consisted of Drummond ‘M7s’, which would be displaced by Ivatt ‘2MT’ and Standard ‘3MT’ and ‘4MT’ tanks, but even Bulleid Light Pacifics appeared on excursions. In common

with the Lyme Regis and Seaton branches, most services were taken over by diesel multiple-units from 4 November 1963. Through coaches were discontinued the following year, except on summer Saturdays, with the final summer Saturday through services being hauled by North British Type 2 diesels. Just three years and four months after the introduction of diesel multiple-units, the lines to Sidmouth and from Tipton St John to Exmouth closed to passenger traffic on 6 March 1967, and to freight two months later on 8 May.

The Closure Wave of the 1960s

Devon Transition from Steam

Ivatt ‘2MT’ No 41307 and Standard ‘4MT’ No 80042, both allocated to Exmouth Junction, are seen departing Sidmouth Junction with the 11.45am Waterloo - Sidmouth and Exmouth at 3.26pm on Saturday 10 August 1963. The train had reached Sidmouth Junction behind rebuilt ‘West Country’ No 34009 Lyme Regis of Nine Elms shed (70A). The two tank locomotives had arrived at Sidmouth Junction separately with through coaches in the opposite direction, originating from Exmouth and Sidmouth. Both classes were transferred to Exmouth Junction to replace familiar ex-Southern Railway types; No 41307 arriving from Three Bridges in 1955, and No 80042 being one of no fewer than 12 Standard ‘4MT’ tanks which moved west to Exmouth Junction in May and June 1962. Peter Gray PG3361

Another of Exmouth Junction’s Standard ‘4MT’ tanks, No 80036, stands at Sidmouth Junction with the 10.55am to Sidmouth on the rainy Saturday 2 November 1963, whilst in the background the 10.30am Exeter Central - Waterloo departs behind rebuilt ‘West Country’ No 34024 Tamar Valley of Exmouth Junction. No 80036, which had entered traffic in May 1952, had just one year left in traffic, as it would be withdrawn from Exmouth Junction in November 1964. Peter Gray PG3561

Devon Transition Andrew Fox from Steam

Standard ‘3MT’ tank No 82035 and Standard ‘4MT’ tank No 80038 enter Budleigh Salterton with the 9am Waterloo Exmouth on Saturday 15 August 1964. Both locomotives reflect the declining cleaning standards of the period. The end of steam operations is near, with diesel multiple-units having been introduced on the Exmouth services in July 1963, and neither locomotive would remain much longer at Exmouth Junction shed. No 82035 would move to Yeovil Town with the end of the summer timetable in September, whilst No 80038 would be withdrawn on 7 September. The Tipton St John - Budleigh Salterton - Exmouth section would close to all traffic on 6 March 1967, the same date on which passenger services were withdrawn from the Sidmouth branch. Although proposed for closure under the Beeching plan, the Exeter - Exmouth branch would survive, but summer Saturdays through services to Waterloo would not. Peter Gray PG3857 Okehampton - Halwill Junction and Launceston Diverging from the Okehampton - Plymouth main line at Meldon Junction, the North Cornwall line to Launceston, Wadebridge and Padstow, formerly the furthest outpost of the Southern Railway and

of the famous ‘Atlantic Coast Express’, closed in October 1966, leaving a large, if sparsely populated area of North-west Devon and North Cornwall without railway services.

‘N’ class No 31839 stands at Halwill Junction on Thursday 2 June 1960 at the head of the three-coach 12.58pm from Padstow, formed of a Bulleid brake end coach and a Maunsell two-coach set. On arrival at Okehampton, the coaches will be shunted into the yard to await the other portion of the train from Plymouth, before the combined service continues to Exeter. No 31839 spent almost its entire life based at the Devon sheds of Exmouth Junction and Barnstaple, finally being allocated to Exmouth Junction from March 1944 until its withdrawal in December 1963. James Harrold JH1464

Devon Transition from Steam

Above: Four years later, in the dying days of the Maunsell Moguls in the West Country, No 31845 heads a mixed eastbound freight at Halwill Junction at 6.5pm on Saturday 22 August 1964. In the far distance, Ivatt ‘2MT’ No 41249 is arriving with the single-coach train from Torrington. By now the ‘N’ carries an 83D shed code plate, representing the Western Region code for Exmouth Junction, which had come into effect the previous year, and is carrying two lamps to denote the headcode, instead of the previously customary Southern reporting disks. No 31845 was another member of the class to receive replacement frames, which were fitted in February - March 1960, and was one of the last examples of the class at Exmouth Junction, being condemned on 7 September 1964, just 16 days after this view. Peter Gray PG3877 Opposite Top: An evocative image, full of period detail, at Halwill Junction on Tuesday 4 August 1964, in the last summer of steam operations, with the 5.51pm Okehampton - Padstow train being shunted. The train locomotive, just visible in the distance, is ‘U’ class Mogul No 31802 of Yeovil Town shed, which had been fitted with new frames between November 1958 and January 1959. The ‘U’ class were relatively rare visitors this far west in British Railways days, and No 31802 would be withdrawn just five weeks later, on 7 September 1964. The leading coach of the formation is Bulleid brake composite No S 6727 S, a loose coach not part of a fixed set, built in 1948 to diagram 2406. Despite serving no significant centres of population, Halwill Junction had been an important location, where the branches to Torrington and Bude diverged from the line from Okehampton to Launceston, Wadebridge and Padstow, leading to sporadic busy periods when connecting services met at this isolated station. Peter Gray PG3845 Opposite Bottom: In another view from the last summer of steam on the former Southern Railway lines west of Exeter, Maunsell ‘N’ class No 31846 arrives at Halwill Junction on Saturday 22 August 1964 with the 8.30am from Padstow - the up ‘Atlantic Coast Express’, consisting of Bulleid ‘L’ set No 838, introduced in June 1950 as a five-coach set, but running here as a three-coach set. It is passing Standard ‘4MT’ tank No 80039 with the 9.30am from Bude, formed of Bulleid three-coach ‘L’ set No 781, dating from March 1947, which will be attached to the rear of the train from Padstow. The summer timetable would end two weeks later on 6 September, and No 31846 would be withdrawn the following day, after a productive working life of four months short of 40 years. The reason for the line of cattle wagons in the adjacent siding is the presence at Halwill Junction of an abattoir served by the railway. Peter Gray PG3865

Devon Transition from Steam

Above: In the final months of steam on the ‘Withered Arm’, Exmouth Junction-allocated BR Standard Class 4MT 4-6-0 No 75025 stands at Halwill Junction with a down service on Saturday 2 January 1965, as Standard ‘4MT’ tank No 80039 arrives with an up service. No 75025 had entered traffic on 29 April 1954, being sent new to Laira. After migrating around several Western Region sheds, finding its way as far as Machynlleth, it moved to Exmouth Junction in the Spring of 1964, but a little over a year later it would be on its way again to Worcester, its last shed. Closure of the line north to Torrington, on 1 March 1965, was followed by the lines to Bude and Padstow on 3 October 1966, and less than two years after this scene of activity, the last trains would have left Halwill Junction. Peter Gray PG4016 Halwill Junction - Bude Although ending in Cornwall, the Bude branch ran for most of its length in Devon. The last ‘Atlantic Coast Express’, by now restricted to summer Saturdays only, ran on 5 September 1964. Whilst the 1965 Western Region timetable included a summer Saturday service to and from London Paddington, this ran for the last time on 4 September 1965, and the line closed, on 1 October 1966.

was reduced to a single track in September 1970, and the junction at Bere Alston was altered to allow the guard to operate the points. Barnstaple - Ilfracombe At the north-west end of Barnstaple Junction station the lines divided, the Bideford line curving round to the left, whilst the Ilfracombe line crossed the Taw estuary on a sweeping girder viaduct subject to a 15mph speed restriction, before reaching Barnstaple Town station. The line was difficult to operate, with the climb from Braunton to Mortehoe in the ‘down’ direction exceeded in the ‘up’ direction by the 1 in 36 gradient from Ilfracombe to Mortehoe, which was one of the steepest sections of double track railway in the country, and probably the fiercest climb from any terminus station, just exceeding the incline on the connection between Exeter St David’s and Central stations.

Okehampton - Bere Alston West of Okehampton were the extensive sidings of Meldon Quarry, where for many years there was a dedicated shunting locomotive. In the 1950s this was Adams ‘G6’ class 0-6-0T No DS3152, replaced in July 1960 by classmate No DS682, which itself was replaced in December 1962 by considerably more exotic and more modern power in the form of ‘USA tank’ No DS234, formerly No 30062, which would be the last main line steam locomotive in regular use west of Exeter.

In British Railways days, motive power on the line consisted primarily of Bulleid Light Pacifics and the trusty Maunsell ‘N’ class, supported by ‘M7’ tanks, with former Great Western ‘4300’ Moguls on through services from the Taunton - Barnstaple line. Towards the end of steam operations, the ‘M7s’ were displaced, as elsewhere, by Ivatt ‘2MT’ tanks. Following dieselisation in September 1964 the regular motive power consisted of the usual diesel-hydraulic classes: North British Type 2s and ‘Warship’ Type 4s, together with ‘Hymek’ Type 3s and diesel multiple-units.

Two miles west of Okehampton the line crossed the spindly 151fthigh Meldon viaduct, consisting of six 90ft truss spans supported on five trestles, and subject to a 20mph speed restriction. Although it had been strengthened in 1960 to permit the rebuilt Bulleid Light Pacifics to use the line, concerns about the condition of the up side of the structure led to it being singled in April 1966, with all trains thereafter using the former down side. Just beyond the viaduct came Meldon Junction, where the line for Halwill Junction turned off to the right, with the main Plymouth line taking the left-hand route. Services between Exeter and Plymouth via Okehampton were withdrawn from 6 May 1968, and the 20-mile section between Meldon Quarry and Bere Alston via Tavistock North was lifted. Between Okehampton and Meldon Quarry the line continued in use for ballast traffic. A local service was retained between Plymouth and Gunnislake, on the remaining section of the Callington branch in Cornwall, reversing at Bere Alston. Although this section had also been threatened with closure, it was retained due to the poor standards of local roads. The line from Plymouth

Transferred to the Western Region, the Ilfracombe line was subject to progressive ‘rationalisation’, and presented an increasingly unloved and run-down appearance. Freight services were withdrawn from 7 September 1964, the line was singled with effect from November 1967, and the final train ran on 3 October 1970. Attempts to preserve the line came to nothing, with the scheme being abandoned in 1974, after which the remaining rails were lifted. The final nail in the coffin came in 1978, when the curving viaduct over the Taw between Barnstaple Junction and Barnstaple Town stations was demolished.

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Devon Transition from Steam

‘N’ class Mogul No 31835, seen shunting the extensive sidings at Ilfracombe at 2pm on Thursday 23 August 1956, spent nearly all its life based at Exmouth Junction, its home from October 1932 until its withdrawal on 7 September 1964 as one of the last dozen members of the class to be allocated to ‘the Junction’. It was one of 28 ‘N’ class and 22 ‘U’ class Moguls to receive new frames (either full frames or in some instances just the front half) as a life-extension measure between 1955 and 1961, with this work being carried out on No 31835 in April to May 1957. The sidings at Ilfracombe had been expanded in the late 1920s to provide increased accommodation for the carriages of the summer services. Peter Gray PG0929

On summer Saturdays, several Taunton - Barnstaple Junction services were extended through to Ilfracombe. ‘Battle of Britain’ No 34079 141 Squadron assists former GWR ‘4300’ class 2-6-0 No 6346 on the climb to Mortehoe on Saturday 27 July 1963 with the 5.57pm Ilfracombe - Taunton. Earlier in the day No 6346 had worked the 8.50am Taunton - Ilfracombe and the 12.45pm Ilfracombe - Taunton, returning from Taunton with a Wolverhampton - Ilfracombe service. No 34079 was allocated to Exmouth Junction from February 1958 until September 1964, when the run-down of steam in the West Country led to it moving to Eastleigh shed. Despite its disreputable appearance, No 6346 would remain in traffic for more than a year longer, before being withdrawn on 7 September 1964. Peter Gray PG3327

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Devon Transition from Steam ‘Battle of Britain’ Pacific No 34072 257 Squadron of Exmouth Junction shed forges its way up Mortehoe bank with the Ilfracombe portion of the up ‘Atlantic Coast Express’, the 10.30am departure from Ilfracombe, on Saturday 1 September 1962, just over a week before the end of the summer timetable. No 34072 had entered traffic in April 1948, and was transferred to Exmouth Junction in early 1958, moving in June 1964 to Eastleigh shed, where it would be withdrawn from service in October of the same year. It would reach Woodham’s scrapyard at Barry in March 1965, where it would remain for nearly 20 years until being rescued for preservation in November 1984. Peter Gray PG3035 Below: A few moments later the rear of the train passes the photographer, with ’N’ class Mogul No 31818 providing valuable assistance. The final coach of the train is Bulleid brake third No S 4338 S, which had entered traffic in June 1947 and would be taken out of service in November 1966. No 31818 spent nearly all its working life in the south-east of England, mainly in Kent and Surrey, first reaching the south-west in February 1962, when it was transferred to Exmouth Junction. It would be withdrawn in September of the following year with the start of the cull of the shed’s fleet of Maunsell Moguls. Peter Gray PG3036

Exeter - Okehampton Having clung to life after the closures of the 1960s, services between Exeter and Okehampton on the former Exeter - Plymouth line, operated in the final years by diesel multiple-units, were withdrawn on 5 June 1972. The main line east of Exeter The closure of the Seaton and Sidmouth branch lines, and the rundown of the former Southern main line, led to the demise of several intermediate stations east of Exeter.

Broad Clyst station closed to passengers in March 1966, with goods traffic having ended the previous year. Seaton Junction closed to passengers in March 1966, largely losing its raison d’être with the demise of the branch to Seaton, and being otherwise of limited significance, as it was situated just three miles west of Axminster. The goods yard closed a few weeks later, on 18 April, but facilities were maintained for the Express Dairies plant situated adjacent to the station. Sidmouth Junction station closed with the end of the Sidmouth branch in March 1967, but it would re-open as Feniton in May 1971.

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Chapter 9: Farewell Specials

The final years of steam operations witnessed a variety of special trains, sometimes bidding farewell to steam, sometimes marking the end of lines slated for closure; in some instances both. An overview of many of the most significant examples follows, focussing on those which were primarily concerned with lines in Devon or having their destinations in Devon. They read like an elegy to the many lines which were closed during the 1950s and 1960s, a period when so much of Devon’s railway network was to disappear. On 11 April 1959, the Railway Enthusiasts’ Club’s ‘Devon Rambler’, formed of a recently introduced Gloucester RC&W Cross-Country three-car diesel multiple-unit, still in immaculate condition, ran from Exeter St David’s via Okehampton to Lydford, then following the former Great Western line via Tavistock South, Yelverton and Marsh Mills to Tavistock Junction. Its route next took it via Laira Junction, Mount Gould Junction and Friary Junction to the approaches to Friary station, then via Friary Junction and Cattewater Junction to Plymstock and Yealmpton. It returned to Plymstock, following the Turnchapel line as far as Turnchapel tunnel, before retracing its tracks to Plymstock and to Friary station approaches. Next it ran to North Road station, continuing to Devonport King’s Road and

St Budeaux Victoria Road, then to St Budeaux Ferry Road and via Cornwall Junction to Millbay, returning to North Road station before taking the South Devon main line back to Exeter St David’s. On 2 May 1959 the Railway Correspondence and Travel Society (RCTS) organised the ‘Brunel Centenarian’ to celebrate the centenary of the opening of the Royal Albert Bridge at Saltash. Hauled from Paddington to Saltash by ‘Castle’ No 7001 Sir James Milne, fittingly the train returned to Paddington behind immaculate Laira ‘Castle’ No 5069 Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Of particular interest were the associated local special workings in the Plymouth area, with Laira-based ‘6400’ class No 6420 and four auto-coaches running from Saltash to St Budeaux, Devonport, Millbay, Friary and Plymstock. Exmouth Junction ‘O2’ class No 30182 ran with ex-LSWR gated push-pull set No 373 from Plymstock to Turnchapel and return, before No 6420 and its auto coaches resumed, running from Plymstock to Yealmpton and return, then continuing once again to Friary station, before completing the tour of Plymouth’s local lines by running via Mount Gould Junction and Laira Junction to North Road station, where passengers rejoined the main train for the return to Paddington.

Above: A fine portrait of ‘O2’ class No 30182 at Plymstock on Saturday 2 May 1959, with a special train from Plymstock to Turnchapel and return, operated in connection with the RCTS ‘Brunel Centenarian’ railtour. The train consists of two-coach LSWR push-pull ‘gated’ set No 373, formed of coaches S 738 S, a vestibule third, and S 2622 S, a vestibule brake third. Both carriages date from June 1914, and would be taken out of traffic in October 1960 as the last examples of their types. The appearance of both coaches has changed through steel sheet being fitted where previously they had panelled wooden sides. Plymstock station was located at the junction between the Turnchapel branch, on which the special train is standing, and the Yealmpton branch in the background. Although it had been transferred from Yeovil to Exmouth Junction the previous autumn, No 30182 is still carrying a Yeovil Town (72C) shed plate. It would be withdrawn from service eight months later, at the start of January 1960. Peter Gray PG1786 On 27 February 1960 the ‘Last train to Yealmpton’ ran from Plymouth Friary via Plymstock to Yealmpton, and return. Organised by the Plymouth Railway Circle, the train consisted of Small Prairie No 4549, hauling nine brake vans. The passenger service between Yealmpton and Plymouth Millbay had been withdrawn as early

as July 1930, in the face of road competition, but was reinstated between 1941 and 1947, now running to Friary station. Goods services continued more than 12 years longer until complete closure on 29 February 1960.

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‘4500’ class No 4549 stands at Yealmpton, 6½ miles from Plymstock, on Sunday 21 February 1960, with the Plymouth Railway Circle’s ‘Last train to Yealmpton’ brake van special. The first 50 examples of the ‘4500’ class were originally fitted with inside steam pipes, but many later received outside pipes. No 4549 was one of the last of the type to retain the original form. A Laira locomotive at the time of this working, it would subsequently spend time at both Penzance and Truro sheds before being withdrawn on 12 December 1961. Peter Gray PG2212 On 6 June 1960 the Moretonhampstead branch was visited by the ‘Heart of Devon Rambler’, more than a year after the end of regular passenger services. Promoted by the South Devon Railway

Society, which had been formed with a view to preserving the Moretonhampstead branch, and hauled by ‘5101’ class No 4174, the six-coach train ran from Paignton to Moretonhampstead and return.

More than a year after the end of regular passenger services, the Moretonhampstead branch was visited on Monday 6 June 1960 by the ‘Heart of Devon Rambler’ - an excursion organised by the South Devon Railway Society. Consisting of six coaches, the train ran from Paignton via Newton Abbot to Moretonhampstead and return, hauled throughout by ‘5101’ class No 4174. The train is seen between Pullabrook and Lustleigh. Peter Gray PG2339

On 4 March 1961 the remaining freight-only southern section of the Teign Valley line was traversed by a brake van special promoted by the South Devon Railway Society, which operated from Newton Abbot to Trusham and return. Severe flooding of the River Teign during the winter of 1960 and in March 1961 had washed away the trackbed beyond Trusham, which had not been reinstated. This train also was hauled by No 4174, and consisted of eight brake vans. On 3 June 1961 the Plymouth Railway Circle ran a further brake van special, the ‘Docks Railtour’, which seems to have made up for in interest what it lacked in speed and distance elapsed. With

long-standing Plymouth resident and denizen of Millbay docks ‘1361’ class 0-6-0ST No 1363 hauling six British Railways standard 20 ton brake vans, it started from Friary station, reversing at Mount Gould Junction to run the short distance to Sutton Harbour. Next it continued to Plymouth station, and on to Millbay Docks. No 1363 was assisted by Swindon-built 204hp diesel shunter No D2128 to return round the Inner Basin from West Wharf to East Wharf, after which it concluded the day’s activities by retracing its earlier steps to Plymouth station, ending the tour back at Friary station, having taken almost three hours to cover just 11 miles.

The Plymouth Railway Circle’s ‘Docks Railtour’ brake van special, hauled by 0-6-0ST No 1363, heads towards West Wharf, passing the end of the graving dock (dry dock) of Willoughby’s ship repair yard at Millbay on the afternoon of Saturday 3 June 1961. The tour started and finished at Friary station, visiting the Sutton Harbour branch before touring Millbay docks - No 1363’s stamping ground for many years. Peter Gray PG2551

The ‘Last Train to Turnchapel’, on 30 September 1961, was a further Plymouth Railway Circle brake van special. It ran from Plymouth Friary via Plymstock to Turnchapel and return, hauled by Drummond ‘M7’ No 30034. The last passenger train had left Turnchapel as

early as 8 September 1951, but the line remained open for freight services for a further 10 years, until closing to freight traffic with effect from Monday 2 October 1961.

Later that year, Drummond ‘M7’ No 30034 departs Plymouth Friary on Saturday 30 September 1961 with the Plymouth Railway Circle’s ‘Last Train to Turnchapel’, consisting of seven British Railways standard 20 ton brake vans and one exGWR ‘Toad’ brake van. Friary station had closed to passenger traffic three years earlier, on Monday 15 September 1958, but lived on as a goods depot, as seen in this view. Peter Gray PG2765

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Above: No 30034 is seen once again with the Plymouth Railway Circle’s ‘Last Train to Turnchapel’ on 30 September 1961, on the unusual Hooe Lake swing bridge at Turnchapel, crossing a body of water adjoining the River Plym. The swing bridge was operated by the signalman at Turnchapel signal box, who would be obliged to walk onto the bridge in order to crank the manually operated mechanism on the central pier, remaining there until the bridge was re-closed. Peter Gray PG2767 Two years after the ‘Heart of Devon Rambler’, 11 June 1962 saw the ‘South Devon Phoenix’, once again organised by the South Devon Railway Society, operate from Paignton to Moretonhampstead and return. Consisting of Large Prairie No 5153 and six coaches, the special carried train reporting number Z17, with the title of the train chalked in large letters on No 5153’s smokebox and coal bunker. On 2 September 1962, the Southern Counties Touring Society’s ‘South Western Limited’ ran from London to Devon, to mark the end of the Maunsell ‘Lord Nelson’ class. On the outward journey No 30861 Lord Anson hauled the train from Waterloo to Sidmouth Junction, where ‘M7s’ Nos 30024 and 30025 took over for the run via Tipton St Johns to Exmouth and then to Exeter Central. No 30861 took the train back from Exeter as far as Salisbury, from where it ran to Eastleigh behind Drummond ‘700’ No 30309, with ‘King Arthur’ No 30770 Sir Prianius (the last surviving example of the class) returning the train to Waterloo. 8 September 1962 saw the ‘Farewell to the Ashburton Branch’ brake van special from Totnes to Ashburton and return, organised by the Plymouth Railway Circle and the South Devon Railway Society. It consisted of no fewer than 13 brake vans, most being of the BR standard type, hauled by Laira-based ‘4500’ class No

4567. The train visited Totnes Quay and then ran to Ashburton and back to Totnes, and was the last British Railways era passenger train over the Ashburton branch, which closed to all traffic two days later. No 4567 would be formally withdrawn two weeks later, on 21 September 1962. The ‘SD&TR - L&SDR Farewell’ railtour ran on Saturday 29 December 1962, hauled by ‘4575’ class No 5564, to mark the closure of the line from Plymouth to Tavistock, built as the South Devon & Tavistock Railway, and its continuation to Launceston via Lydford and Lifton, the Launceston & South Devon Railway. The train departed Plymouth North Road at 10.40am, with the return leg leaving Launceston at 12.40pm. On 24 February 1963 the ‘West Countryman Rail Tour’, operated by the LCGB, brought exotic motive power to Devon in the form of ‘A4’ Pacific No 60022 Mallard, which hauled the train from Waterloo to Exeter Central. The train continued down the bank to St David’s behind Small Prairies Nos 4591 and 5564, then taking the Exe Valley line to Tiverton, and continuing to Tiverton Junction. A limited number of passengers were able to travel to Hemyock and back behind ‘1400’ class No 1450, before Mallard headed the train to Paddington.

Opposite Top: The ‘SD&TR - L&SDR Farewell’ railtour is seen at Lifton on Saturday 29 December 1962, hauled by Lairabased Small Prairie No 5564. The train marked the demise of the former South Devon & Tavistock Railway from Plymouth to Tavistock via Bickleigh and Horrabridge, and its continuation to Launceston via Lydford and Lifton, the Launceston & South Devon Railway. Later in the day the weather would deteriorate, with the start of the ‘Great Freeze’ of 1962-63. Severe snowfalls would result in two evening trains becoming snowed-up, one at Tavistock and one at Bickleigh, and what should have been the very final trains over the line in each direction would not run. Peter Gray PG3092 Opposite Bottom: Gresley ‘A4’ Pacific No 60022 Mallard heads the return working of the LCGB ‘West Countryman Rail Tour’ through Sampford Peverell station on Sunday 24 February 1963, heading for London Paddington. It had departed Tiverton Junction a few minutes earlier, after passengers had enjoyed tours of the Exe and Culm Valley lines behind slightly less exotic motive power in the forms of Nos 4591 and 5564, and No 1450 respectively. Mallard would be withdrawn from service two months later on 25 April 1963, whilst Sampford Peverell station would close on 5 October 1964, with the down loop being removed in 1966 and the up loop and sidings in 1968. Peter Gray PG3113

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Devon Transition from Steam Eight months later, on 19 October 1963, Devon was visited by another celebrity Gresley Pacific, ‘A3’ class Flying Scotsman, which had been acquired by Alan Pegler earlier in the year and repainted as LNER No 4472. Flying Scotsman hauled the Ian Allan ‘Western Belle’ special, formed of Pullman stock, from Paddington to Taunton, with ‘4300’ class 2-6-0s Nos 7317 and 7332 heading the train from Taunton to Barnstaple, and on to Ilfracombe. After returning from Ilfracombe to Barnstaple, Nos 7317 and 7332 continued to Exeter St David’s and up the bank to Central, where No 4472 took over for the run to Waterloo.

On 27 February 1965 a little-recorded special train marked the last day of public passenger services on the line between Halwill Junction and Torrington. It consisted of a three-car diesel multipleunit, with a large headboard fastened to the handrails beneath the driving cab windows of the driving motor car at the northern end, with the legend “North Devon & Cornwall Junction Light Railway 1925 BR (SR) BR (WR) 1965 Farewell”. The train seems to have started from Halwill Junction, running to Torrington, and apparently continuing at least as far as Bideford, before retracing its steps to Halwill Junction.

9 May 1964 was a special day in steam railtour history. Train Z48 from Paddington to Plymouth via Westbury, returning via Bristol Temple Meads, was carefully prepared to be a fitting swansong for main line Great Western steam, as well as marking the 60th anniversary of the famous run by City of Truro on the Plymouth London mail train on 9 May 1904, reported as exceeding 100mph down Wellington Bank. On the first leg, after reaching 96mph, No 4079 Pendennis Castle had to be taken off the train at Westbury after losing its firebars, being replaced by No 6999 Capel Dewi Hall as far as Taunton, where No 7025 Sudeley Castle took over for the remainder of the run to Plymouth. On the return leg from Plymouth to Bristol, double chimney-fitted No 7029 Clun Castle gave an exceptional performance, arriving at Temple Meads some 15 minutes ahead of the booked time, recording the fastest ever run by a steam locomotive between Plymouth and Bristol.

The ‘East Devon Railtour’ on 28 February 1965, organised by the LCGB, was so popular that it was repeated, as the ‘East Devon Railtour 2’, a week later, on 7 March. ‘Merchant Navy’ No 35022 Holland America Line hauled the train from London Waterloo to Axminster, where the train was split into two parts, which proceeded to visit the Lyme Regis, Seaton and Sidmouth branches using Ivatt ‘2MTs’ Nos 41206 and 41291, ‘4MT’ No 80041 and ‘5700’ No 4666. The two parts were re-combined at Tipton St Johns, ran to Exmouth and then to Exeter Central, with No 35022 returning the train to Waterloo.

On 20 September 1964, celebrity ‘9F’ No 92220 Evening Star hauled the Southern Counties Touring Society’s ‘Farewell to Steam’ from London Victoria by a circuitous route via Woking, Aldershot, Alton, Southampton Central, Romsey and Salisbury to Yeovil Junction. At Yeovil Junction Evening Star was replaced by Ivatt ‘2MT’ tanks Nos 41206 and 41308, which took the train to Yeovil Town and back, before heading down the main line to Seaton Junction and then completing a return trip on the Seaton branch. On returning to Seaton Junction Evening Star took over again, and took the train back to Victoria via Byfleet, Staines and Twickenham.

A month later, on 27 March 1965, the ‘Exmoor Ranger’, organised by the Plymouth Railway Circle and the RCTS, visited several lines that were due to lose their passenger services, or had already done so. The five-coach train was hauled by Ivatt ‘2MT’ tanks Nos 41206 and 41291 from Exeter St David’s via Okehampton to Halwill Junction, and thence via Torrington to Barnstaple. The Halwill Petrockstow section had been closed to all traffic four weeks prior to the tour, and special permission was necessary to run over it. Reversing at Barnstaple, Victoria Road, the train ran to Ilfracombe, banked from Braunton to Mortehoe summit by Collett ‘2251’ class 0-6-0 No 3205. It was the turn of Nos 41206 and 41291 to bank the return train on the climb out of Ilfracombe, with No 3205 in charge to Barnstaple and then over the Devon and Somerset line to Taunton, where it was the last locomotive to be turned at Taunton shed, before returning to Exeter.

Exmouth Junction-allocated Ivatt ‘2MT’ tanks Nos 41206 and 41291 are seen near Yarde Halt, between Petrockstow and Torrington, on Saturday 27 March 1965 with the Plymouth Railway Circle / RCTS ‘Exmoor Ranger’ railtour. Hauled by the two Ivatt tanks, which ran bunker-to-bunker to ensure chimney-first operation throughout the tour, it ran from Exeter St David’s via Okehampton to Halwill Junction, and thence via Torrington to Barnstaple, calling at Hatherleigh, Petrockstow, Torrington and Instow. Having arrived at Barnstaple, Victoria Road, the train would continue over Mortehoe summit to Ilfracombe. Peter Gray PG4048

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Ivatt ‘2MT’ No 41283 leaves Dunsland Cross, on the Bude branch between Halwill Junction and Holsworthy, on Sunday 5 September 1965 with the ‘Launceston Branch Centenary’ special, organised by the Great Western Society (South West Group). Hauled throughout by No 41283, the train was scheduled to start from Exeter St David’s at 12.20pm, returning at 7.18pm. No 41283, which carries a Western Region 83G shed code plate for Templecombe, had first arrived in the West Country when it moved to Barnstaple Junction in March 1963, moving on to Yeovil Town in the autumn of 1964, before reaching its final shed at Templecombe the following summer, where it would be withdrawn in early 1966. Peter Gray PG4227 Although the ultimate destinations of the Great Western Society’s ‘Launceston Branch Centenary Tour 1865 - 1965’ on 5 September 1965 were in Cornwall, all but a few miles of its route lay within Devon. The Plymouth - Launceston line had closed to passengers as a complete line on 31 December 1962, so the journey to Launceston followed an alternative route. Hauled throughout by Ivatt ‘2MT’ No 41283, the four-coach train ran from Exeter via Okehampton to Lydford, then Launceston, visiting both the former Southern and Great Western stations. From Launceston it ran via Halwill Junction to Bude, returning via Okehampton to Exeter.

17 months after its ignominious removal from the 9 May 1964 special, No 4079 Pendennis Castle headed the Ian Allan ‘Pendennis Castle Special’ from Paddington to Exeter St David’s on 2 October 1965. From Exeter the train continued to Totnes behind Nos 4555 and 3205, which were being delivered to the nascent Dart Valley Railway. The train retraced its steps from Totnes to Exeter behind ‘Warship’ D841 Roebuck, with Pendennis Castle returning the train from Exeter to Paddington.

Another twice-run special was the Southern Counties Touring Society’s ‘Exeter Flyer’, which ran first on 12 September 1965 and again three weeks later on 3 October. The eight-coach train was hauled from Waterloo to Exeter Central by No 35022 Holland America Line. From Exeter it continued behind Standard ‘4MT’ tanks Nos 80039 and 80043 to Barnstaple Junction, where it divided; No 80039 taking one half to Ilfracombe and back, and the other half going to Torrington with No 80043. Three weeks later, No 80039 operated the Torrington leg (the last operational day for stations between Barnstaple and Torrington), with No 80043 doing battle with the route over Mortehoe summit to Ilfracombe. Once the two parts had been reunited at Barnstaple, they retraced their steps to Exeter, where Holland America Line waited to head back to Waterloo.

The ‘Two Rivers’ special on 11 December 1965, formed of a threecar diesel multiple-unit and operated by the Great Western Society (South West Group), ran from Plymouth by the Southern route via Bere Alston to Lydford, continuing by the Western line via Lifton to Launceston, and returning by the same route. 1966, the final year of specials to Devon, began on 8 January with the ‘Last Steam Train to Exeter’, which would prove to be an inaccurate title, but did bring a ‘West Country’ to Exeter for the last time under British Railways. No 34001 Exeter of Nine Elms depot headed the train from Waterloo via Guildford, Haslemere, Havant and Eastleigh to Salisbury, where it was replaced by No 34015 Exmouth of Salisbury shed for the run down the main line to Exeter. After being serviced at Exmouth Junction it returned later in the afternoon to Salisbury, where No 34001 took over once again for the return leg direct to Waterloo.

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Devon Transition from Steam With whitewashed buffers to mark the event, ‘West Country’ Pacific No 34015 Exmouth, long allocated to Exmouth Junction but now based at Salisbury, bursts out of Honiton tunnel on Saturday 8 January 1966 with the privately organised ‘Last Steam Train to Exeter’ from Waterloo to Exeter and return. This train is believed to have witnessed the final departure of an unrebuilt ‘West Country’ Pacific from Exeter Central - just over 20 years since their introduction - when No 34015 hauled the return leg to Salisbury. This would not in fact be the last steam train to Exeter, being followed by a number of further steamhauled specials to Devon in the course of the following months. Peter Gray PG4387

27 March 1966 saw another special bring an ‘A4’ to Devon, with No 60024 Kingfisher heading the ‘A4 Commemorative Rail Tour’ from Waterloo down the Southern main line to Exeter Central, continuing down the bank to St David’s. Kingfisher was one of the last steam locomotives to be serviced at Exmouth Junction, which had officially closed to steam on 1 June the previous year. On the return journey it was banked from St David’s to Central by ‘Hymek’ type 3 dieselhydraulic No D7048. A few days later, on 2 April the ‘Steam again over Honiton Rail Tour’ ran from Waterloo to Salisbury behind No 34032 Camelford and from Salisbury to Sidmouth Junction behind No 34006 Bude. ‘Hymek’ No D7069 took the train from Sidmouth Junction via Budleigh Salterton to Exmouth, and the same locomotives operated the return legs in reverse order, with the final section from Salisbury running via Eastleigh, Havant, Haslemere and Guildford to Woking and thence to Waterloo. Not all specials were steam-hauled, and on 18 June 1966 the Plymouth Railway Circle organised the ‘Plymouth Area Brake Van Tour’, which undertook an extended tour of the city’s freight lines, powered on different sections of its perambulations by 204hp diesel shunters Nos D2177 and D2178, with an assorted formation of seven brake vans. It ran from Marsh Mills to Tavistock Junction, thence to Sutton Harbour and Cattewater, then Plymstock, continuing via Friary Junction to Friary station. It next took the main line through Plymouth station and via Cornwall Junction to Millbay docks, returning to Plymouth station, from where it ran via Devonport Junction to Stonehouse Pool Quay and return. Apparently overcome by its exertions, it is reported that D2178

expired at Millbay docks in the course of the tour. On 26 June 1966 the Southern Counties Touring Society’s ‘Devonshire Rambler’ was appropriately hauled from Waterloo to Salisbury by No 34002 Salisbury, continuing down the Southern main line to Exeter behind No 35023 Holland-Afrika Line. The train descended the bank to St David’s, from where it took the Western Region main line to Westbury, where No 34100 Appledore took over for the final section via Salisbury, Southampton and Basingstoke to Waterloo. A third class of Eastern / North Eastern Region Pacific made an appearance on 14 August 1966, when ‘A2’ class No 60532 Blue Peter hauled the LCGB’s ‘A2 Commemorative Railtour’ from Waterloo to Exeter. Blue Peter came to a stand on Honiton bank, having run short of steam, and after arriving at Exeter Central it ran to Exmouth Junction shed for attention. It continued from Exeter to Westbury, where ‘Britannia’ Pacific No 70004 William Shakespeare took over for the final part of the journey back to Waterloo via Salisbury and Basingstoke. As late as 15 October 1966 a ‘Merchant Navy’ made it to Exeter at the head of the ‘Steam again to the West Country’ excursion. Starting from Waterloo, the train was hauled by No 35023 HollandAfrika Line via Salisbury and Warminster as far as Westbury, from where No 35026 Lamport & Holt Line headed the special via Taunton to Exeter St David’s. The train was banked from St David’s to Central by ‘Warship’ No D866 Zebra before heading up the Southern line to Salisbury, from where it returned to Waterloo behind Holland-Afrika Line. Accounts of the run tell of outstanding performances by both ‘Merchant Navies’ and their crews.

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Chapter 10: The Devonport Dockyard Railway

Although little seen by the public, and relatively rarely photographed, Plymouth contained a significant and interesting railway system beyond that of the main line network, namely the Devonport Dockyard Railway. The Royal Dockyard at Devonport had an extensive standard gauge railway network, serving both the North and South yards, which was connected to the main line network for incoming deliveries. The networks in the two yards were joined by a tunnel of limited dimensions, necessitating the use of a restricted profile for locomotives’ cabs. In January 1955 the system extended to a total length of just over 23 miles of track, of which the majority was in the North yard. Each yard had its own locomotive shed. Developments on the Dockyard Railway during the 1950s and 1960s reflected those on the British Railways system, both in the introduction of diesels and the withdrawal of passenger services. Until 1956 motive power consisted entirely of steam locomotives from a number of builders, in particular Andrew Barclay, as well as Hawthorn Leslie, Avonside and Bagnall. In 1955, however, the Admiralty placed an order for 28 Hibberd Planet 4-wheel diesels, fitted with Foden engines and fluid drive couplings, for use at various locations around the country, with 10 examples being delivered to Devonport between 1955 and 1957. In a parallel to

events on the main line, steam on the Dockyard Railway would be finished within 10 years. There was also a sizeable fleet of self-propelled shunting cranes; until the 1950s these were steampowered, but in 1954 and 1956 a large number of new dieselpowered cranes was acquired. The principal purpose of the Dockyard Railway was conveying assorted freight traffic, together with passenger trains operated for transporting naval personnel and contractors, using peculiar 4-wheel coaches with an elaborate system of classes, based on passengers’ ranks. Passenger services operated until May 1966, at which time steam operations also ended. The final steam locomotive to work on the Dockyard system was Bagnall 14in 0-4-0ST No 2962 of 1950 Devonport Dockyard No 19, which operated on the Devonport system until 1965, and was then utilised as a mobile boiler in the docks until final withdrawal in 1968. It would subsequently be acquired by the Cornish Steam Locomotive Preservation Society, leaving the dockyard for preservation in February 1969.

Devonport Dockyard No 18, Andrew Barclay works number 2137 of 1942, is seen in steam at the dockyard on Saturday 26 January 1963. Because of the restricted-height tunnel between Yards 1 and 2, it features a reduced profile cab compared with the standard Barclay design. No 18 had been supplied to Devonport in March 1942 to provide support for an ageing locomotive fleet. It would be sold in 1966, and subsequently scrapped. The dockyard system was entirely steam-powered until 1955, when the first of 10 Hibberd Planet diesel locomotives were acquired. Peter Gray PG3100

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Devon Transition from Steam A Dockyard Railway passenger train, consisting of 4-wheel coaches Nos 16, 9, 137, 55, 26 and an unidentified sixth coach, is seen also on 26 January 1963, with the exchange sidings with the national network in the background. The formation represents the standard six-coach rake of a passenger train at the period, with Nos 16 and 9 being three-compartment coaches for use by different ranks. There were two types of these coaches, with one of each type per train, one for use by three categories of more senior officers, the other for petty officers, foremen and recorders. Nos 137, 55, 26 and the furthest coach are the more basic workmen’s coaches, resembling goods vans but fitted with benches around the interior sides. Passenger services on the dockyard system would end three years later, in 1966. Peter Gray PG3102

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ISBN 978-1-913251-43-7

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Devon Transition from Steam

Images from the Transport Treasury Archive

Compiled by Andrew Fox

16/01/2023 10:48