Axminister redoubling

[SWT Driver]

Well why not get FGW to run a service to Honiton or Westbury via Honiton serving the local stations.

That with a bit of judicious planning could be looped at Honiton either way so that the last stations between Honiton & Exeter could be omitted altogether.

I wonder how many through passengers there are from Pinhoe, Whimple & Feniton not many I suspect, by those stations being omitted you could save about another 7-10'.

 

[CCF23]

It doesn't make sense to me that 159 starting a 171 mile journey from Exeter Central to Waterloo has to stop at Pinhoe!

I agree but sadly either an express-long distance service serves these stations or no trains do at all and i think it is better that these, even a few people, use the train rather than another form off transport eg. car, taxi, bus etc. I agree also with SWT driver in him saying the FGW should run a local service out of Exeter and use the doubled platforms at either Honiton or Axminster.

 

[Oliver]

I agree but sadly either an express-long distance service serves these stations or no trains do at all and i think it is better that these, even a few people, use the train rather than another form off transport eg. car, taxi, bus etc. I agree also with SWT driver in him saying the FGW should run a local service out of Exeter and use the doubled platforms at either Honiton or Axminster.

One of the unusual features of the Exeter - Waterloo line is that the trains serve as a main line service to London and also as a service between local stations, notably west of Salisbury. There are a lot of school children going travelling to Sherborne, Gillingham and Salisbury, and a lot of people change trains at Salisbury. It's notable that if you travel in back half of an up train it is often less full east of Salisbury than it was before you reached Salisbury because a lot of people get off there and those joining board the unit which is attached to the front.

An hourly service is generally all that the loadings warrant; there is usually plenty of space on a six coach train west of Salisbury, so the "all-stations" mode is likely to be the norm for the future. If we ever get a half-hourly service between Axminster and Exeter there may be scope for the Waterloo trains to skip a couple of stations, but hard to see much more improvement.

Though it doesn't rank well on speed the line is quite popular with users. The 159's are generally clean, there is a trolley on most trains, the staff are competent and the stations are OK.

 

[Chafford1]

For those with a historical interest, the following timings are for the Warship hauled semi-fast services between London and Exeter Central (the Warships replaced the Bulleids on West of England services in September 1964 with the regular interval semi-fasts starting in June 1965 and the line being singled in 1967):

Fastest timings (Waterloo - Exeter Central):

1965: 3h39m (9 stops) by the 1300 from Waterloo
1967: 3h47m (11 stops) by the 0620 from Exeter Central
3h40m (6 stops) by the 1000 Summer Saturdays from Waterloo
1968: 3h23m (8 stops) by the 0910 from Waterloo
3h07m (6 stops) by the 1110 Summer Saturdays from Exeter Central

(Many thanks to the gentlemen who took the trouble to research this information)

By comparison:

Dec 2009: 3h15m (15 stops) by the 1320 and 1420 from Waterloo, which suggests the 159s have much better acceleration than the Warships.

 

[SWT Driver]

So they jolly well should, they're (158/9's) a lot lighter & have a better Power to Weight Ratio than a Warship as all the cars are powered, whereas you only had a single locomotive and dead weight behind it.

I stand by what I said though and that's the service is slow & utter rubbish.

 

[royaloak]

Well I catch it regularly and I think its fine, not too happy about cutting them back to Exeter from December though, but then it will be hourly which will be much better.

 

[SWT Driver]

This poor bugger got on one today...

 

[royaloak]

Were you driving, you have scared him to death!

 

[fgwrich]

This poor bugger got on one today...

HA Thats pretty much exactly how i feel after the 'pleasant and wonderfull' SWT service to Exeter St Davids and back !!!

Nice one SWT Diver

 

[Chafford1]

Well I catch it regularly and I think its fine...

I agree.

The fares are much lower on this route which after all, to many people, will always be the premier route to the South West!

 

[Drsatan]

Well why not get FGW to run a service to Honiton or Westbury via Honiton serving the local stations.

That with a bit of judicious planning could be looped at Honiton either way so that the last stations between Honiton & Exeter could be omitted altogether.

I wonder how many through passengers there are from Pinhoe, Whimple & Feniton not many I suspect, by those stations being omitted you could save about another 7-10'.

Nice idea but FGW probably don't have enough units at the moment. I don't want Cardiff-Pompey services being reduced to two cars again!

 

[SWT Driver]

Why not, it makes things nice and cosy in the winter when the HVAC fails.

 

[SWT Driver]

There's a notice on the SWT website that the engineering blockade has overrun by at least 24 hrs, maybe even longer!

I find it incredible that after all that time they still cannot finish a project ON TIME!

 

[devon_metro]

At least they have plenty of warning...

Oh.. wait

 

[royaloak]

Journey planner is still saying there are trains tomorrow.

 

[SWT Driver]

Now closed until further notice, which doesn't bode well.

I hope it's open for the weekend as I was thinking about doing the 0920 WAT-PLY & (Last SWT service) 1742 PLY-WAT as far as Woking.

 

[devon_metro]

Now closed until further notice, which doesn't bode well.

I hope it's open for the weekend as I was thinking about doing the 0920 WAT-PLY & (Last SWT service) 1742 PLY-WAT as far as Woking.

The evening service to Paignton, and then returning to Basingstoke runs later, officially being the last scheduled South West Train west of Exeter.

1805 Exeter St Davids - Paignton (starts Honiton)
1910 Paignton - Basingstoke.

 

[Domeyhead]

I was there not long ago and it struck me how easy the branch to Lyme was to operate and how relatively cheap it would be to operate today if it had been spared (but with intermediate halts closed). The Lyme branch did not require any movement on the main line and no points or level crossings (or even signalling if it was worked as a one train operation )- it reminded me a little of today's Lymington branch which SWT driver will know well and which has been designed the same way for minimal control.
If it was operated by a single car 153 or even a PPM at quiet times (as per the Stourbridge branch) and tickets bought on train I could imagine it breaking even today - especially in summer.
Now if we could only get those trams off the Seaton branch.........

 

[Chafford1]

I was there not long ago and it struck me how easy the branch to Lyme was to operate and how relatively cheap it would be to operate today if it had been spared (but with intermediate halts closed). The Lyme branch did not require any movement on the main line and no points or level crossings (or even signalling if it was worked as a one train operation )- it reminded me a little of today's Lymington branch which SWT driver will know well and which has been designed the same way for minimal control.
If it was operated by a single car 153 or even a PPM at quiet times (as per the Stourbridge branch) and tickets bought on train I could imagine it breaking even today - especially in summer.
Now if we could only get those trams off the Seaton branch.........

It does beg the question whether some of these branches could be reopened as light railways/trams without all the expensive signalling and other paraphernalia - possibly with second hand trams from the continent (like Watford - St Albans)

 

[paul1609]

I was there not long ago and it struck me how easy the branch to Lyme was to operate and how relatively cheap it would be to operate today if it had been spared (but with intermediate halts closed). The Lyme branch did not require any movement on the main line and no points or level crossings (or even signalling if it was worked as a one train operation )- it reminded me a little of today's Lymington branch which SWT driver will know well and which has been designed the same way for minimal control.
If it was operated by a single car 153 or even a PPM at quiet times (as per the Stourbridge branch) and tickets bought on train I could imagine it breaking even today - especially in summer.
Now if we could only get those trams off the Seaton branch.........

The problem was that Lyme Regis station was about 3/4 mile and about 250 feet above the town centre. According to the records in winter it mostly carried fresh air with the locals using the bus to Axminster instead.

 

[MrC]

The problem was that Lyme Regis station was about 3/4 mile and about 250 feet above the town centre. According to the records in winter it mostly carried fresh air with the locals using the bus to Axminster instead.

Things have changed just a little bit since the 1960s. The residential bits of the town have gradually grown out past the station site and the traffic (esp. during the summer) can be horrendous. Probably still not worth re-opening the line though.

 

[kennethw]

The downgrading of the line was as a result of the Beeching report which decreed two lines serving Exeter and Plymouth was a luxury BR could not afford, two lines arose because of competition between the Southern and Great Western to capture the holiday traffic to the West Country. Even after nationalisation each region seemed to pretend the other didn't exist. This rivalry also probably lead to the crash at Salisbury where an express tried to maintain double the permitted speed through the station leading to the requirement for all trains to stop. Exact facts regarding this crash will probably never be known since both driver and fireman died. As far as Exteter the Southern was the better of the two - its supporters dubbed the opposition the Great Way Round, but the bottleneck between Exeter Central & St Davids with its 1 in 36 grade plus all traffic west of Exeter having to reverse sealed its fate. Beeching originally proposed closure Salisbury to Exeter but the line was saved as a "grey" route which would have to survive on the traffic it generated itself, the singling and closure of some stations reflected reduced traffic, no holiday trains such as the Atlantic Coast Express This also sealed the fate of the Exeter - Plymouth section (Meldon viaduct too expensive to maintain) and various branches such as to Bude and Padstow. Good to see some improvement on the line but can only see that it will always be a secondary route especially as electrification of major routes from Paddington will now take place

 

[Oliver]

I was there not long ago and it struck me how easy the branch to Lyme was to operate and how relatively cheap it would be to operate today if it had been spared (but with intermediate halts closed). The Lyme branch did not require any movement on the main line and no points or level crossings (or even signalling if it was worked as a one train operation )- it reminded me a little of today's Lymington branch which SWT driver will know well and which has been designed the same way for minimal control.
If it was operated by a single car 153 or even a PPM at quiet times (as per the Stourbridge branch) and tickets bought on train I could imagine it breaking even today - especially in summer.
Now if we could only get those trams off the Seaton branch.........

I was sorting out a cupboard this morning and found some photos I took of Axminster and Lyme Regis back in 1961.

http://nick301.photos.us.com/c1798948.html

I also added some details of the new Axminster arrangements to the TRAC website.

http://sites.google.com/site/traclubsite/meeting-reports

TRAC = Thorncombe Railway Activities Club

 

[kennethw]

re closure of the branches - originally it was proposed to close Plymouth to Penzance as well, local opposition saved St Erth to St Ives which began a new era in 1978 with a park and ride from a new station at Lelant. Yes, economies were needed as one visitor the the grandly named North Devon & Cornwall Junction Light Railway which ran from Torrington to Halwill Junction (since closure basically a few farms) and had 4 passenger trains, two only ran as far as Petrockstow, and latterly was worked by Ivatt Mickey Mouse tank locos with a single coach (train set to model railway dream) plus china clay reaffic had no less than four engines in steam. These brances died shorn of through holiday traffic and I am reminded that the Blackpool trams have survived due to the illuminations which generate huge volumes of traffic for six weeks, in the winter months when I visited there were six single deck cars maintaining the entire service. when Bude was shorn of its through trains, oppostion lead to a Summer Sat service from Paddington, but by the time it was arranged with poor publicity to boot, poor patronage resulted & was not repeated. When these lines went in the 60's a motor car for everybody was the future, with todays population and attitudes things could be very different

 

[shinkansen1966]

What's that big white trackside monolith in the first picture? 50% across, 35% down.

Think that's the combined footbridge and lift.