Didn't we have a lovely time...

Didn’t we have a lovely time…

Very occasionally we are able to escape the bonds of work and have a week of leave to take a holiday somewhere in the UK (having a dog can be a restriction at times…!)!!!  This year, my wife Sarah and I headed to Devon for a week – great for dog walking, plenty to see and, of course, the odd item of transport interest to enjoy…  Here, for those who might be interested, are some of those railways (plus one bus museum) that we managed to take in (amongst other things, I should add in my defence!) last week…

Lynton & Barnstaple Railway

Way back in 1987 there was a two-part BBC television programme titled ‘The Little Train to Lynton’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95_ojCmEOCA) that was memorable for its slight melancholy over the loss of this narrow gauge line in North Devon in 1935, and perhaps had little optimism for its recreation.  Its a lovely programme (and with some very nice music) and one which clearly couldn’t foresee the railway heritage movement as it stands today, and the boundless energy of the recreated L&B with potential for a 19 mile railway across the stunning Exmoor hills.  I am sure it will happen, but for now, we can enjoy a one mile section at Woody Bay, towards the Lynton terminus of the route.  The railway has a beautiful station that looks just like the photos of it (as I suppose it should really!), some interesting motive power and four restored coaches from the original railway to carry passengers in.  This alone makes it worth a visit in my view!  It was a good way to kick off the holiday…

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Launceston Steam Railway

This 2.5 mile railway, a two foot gauge line on the trackbed of a standard gauge route, is absolutely charming and one that I have been to before, but which often comes up in conversations amongst those of us who perhaps harbour he desire to build our own quintessential narrow gauge light railway…  It is a great example of that, and has been built by Nigel and Kay Bowman plus supporters, with four former Welsh Quarry Hunslets to draw upon for the service, some very nice light railway coaching stock, a pretty route and a fascinating terminus adjacent to what was a gas works, complete with sidings darting off in every direction.  The bookshop is good too!  We rode behind ‘Lillian’, of Penrhyn origin and well used to its new life in Cornwall.

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West Somerset Railway

The WSR is one of our premier heritage railways (in my top 3 favourites to visit – SVR, FR/WHR and WSR, if I’m being partial).  It is the longest single journey, has superb scenery, long steep gradients and has developed its GW infrastructure to a superb level without overdoing the ‘country branch’ theme at all.  I last visited in 1992 I think, and before that we had enjoyed family holidays in the area, knowing a very different WSR then, which was operated by a GW pannier tank and a mixture of ageing DMUs.  How different it is now!  With four GW locos in steam on the day of our visit, seven coach trains and plenty of passengers, it is clearly a different place to the one I visited last time!  We thoroughly enjoyed riding behind Odney Manor as it roared its way along the coast and up into the Quantock Hills (the climb out of Williton, making up time, being something I shall remember for a long time – it was thunderous!).  Here, then, are a few limited holiday snaps of the day – the best way to experience this railway, like those above, is to visit it…

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Wythall Transport Museum

This was somewhere to break the journey on the way home, being just off the M42 south of Birmingham (that’s my excuse anyway!).  The transport museum at Wythall consists of a very professional history of Midlands public transport, supported by sheds displaying the wider collection, restoration facilities and an electric commercial vehicle collection – including a number of Smiths vans (similar to our own and one of the subsidiary companies of the famous ‘Ringtons Tea’ firm – they had built their own coachwork, later forming Northern Coachbuilders to develop the commercial side – our trolleybus, 501, has an NCB body for instance).  Here we concluded the holiday and turned north for the long haul home.

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