Last Days of Steam in Devon by Maurice Dart with dust jacket

$15.00

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Devon, the second largest county in England, was served by the Great Western and the Southern Railways, each following routes which differed greatly in character. For many years after nationalization there was still a definite 'company' atmosphere around most of the system with branch trains on the GWR known as 'auto-workings' and on the SR as 'motor-trains'.

Plymouth and Exeter were served by both lines. The GWR followed a southerly route around Dartmoor which entailed heavy engineering works, with viaducts crossing river valleys and tunnels at the top of the famous South Devon Banks at Dainton and Tigley/Rattery. These gradients together with Hemerdon near Plympton required all heavy trains between Plymouth and Newton Abbot to be 'double-headed' or in the case of freight trains, assisted in the rear by a 'banker'. Awe-inspiring spectacles and sounds to excite railway enthusiasts, but very hard sweat and graft for the firemen on the engines, and the driver, coaxing their charges, blasting up the banks and through the woods, which in the autumn delivered another hazard - falling leaves on rails already slippery with rain. The line from the Torbay area, which generated heavy holiday traffic, joined just before Newton Abbot, which used to be a mecca for railway lovers, then on to Exeter passing the scenic stretch through the 'Rock Tunnels' - superb in the summer, but notorious in winter storms at high tides, when the waves splash up over passing trains and at times break the sea wall near Parson's tunnel and at Dawlish. Branch lines full of character served inland towns, with others heading for the coast.

The SR followed the River Tamar and skirted the western and northern slopes of Dartmoor on easier gradients, with a summit at Sourton, a grim area in the depth of winter, to reach Okehampton, with its station perched high on the hillside above the town, rarely windless and often rainswept. This was the Junction station for the lines to North Cornwall via Halwill, where four lines met, the one to Torrington and Bideford being a railway enthusiasts delight but a financial disaster to the operating department, with passengers normally numbering six at the most. Then along the river to Barnstaple, the Junction for the hilly line to Ilfracombe, and the twin routes south, to Yeoford and Taunton through wooded river valleys. At Yeoford the two SR lines joined to curve gently alongside rivers to reach Exeter St David's, where the incline of 1 in 37 up to Exeter Central required assistance. To see and hear a heavy ballast train from Meldon Quarry, often with four or five engines, tackle this was an experience - two Ns with two El/Rs and an M7 all working flat out.

Exeter always presented a problem to enthusiasts regarding which station to spend most time at: St David's with its 'Kings', 'Castles' and 'Halls', or Central with its 'Merchant Navys', 'West Countrys' and 'King Arthurs'. Beyond Exeter, with its large engine shed at Exmouth Junction, the SR threw off a succession of branch lines to the coast running through pastoral and wooded country.

Much of this is now history as both the GW and SR have been pruned. The GWR lost its branch lines apart from Paignton and intermediate stations between Plymouth and Totnes closed, with diesels gradually replacing steam traction from 1959. The SR was cut brutally with its main line being severed beyond Bere Alston with no passengers between Yeoford and Okehampton. The line to Barnstaple has survived but many branch lines were closed, leaving only that to Exmouth. Surprisingly main-line diesels appeared on the SR east of Exeter in the early 1950s for a few years, but steam returned only to be finally ousted from 1965 onwards, following transfer to the Western Region.

This book, it is hoped, will awaken memories of the activity at North Road, Newton Abbot, St David's and Central, the branch-line byways of both railways and the engine sheds at Laira, Newton, Exeter, Okehampton, Barnstaple Junction, Exmouth Junction and Friary. GWR 4-6-0s are depicted at work on the main line with pannier tanks, 'Prairies', and 0 4 2Ts on the branches.

SR 'Pacifics' are shown with a variety of tank locos on the branch lines, including BR types which replaced the ageing SR engines and SR and BR 4-6-0s and the faithful Ns and Us, which together with the T9s handled much of the SR traffic in Devon.

No longer does the Teign Valley echo to those sounds - specific to the GWR - of a tank loco free-wheeling, or stopped in a station and 'blowing a raspberry', nor can we hear the stirring shriek of a T9's whistle as it barked away from Bere Ferrers; long may these treasured memories remain with us.

Preservationists operate the Dart Valley and Torbay lines using GWR steam locos and there is talk of re-opening from Bere Alston to Tavistock and possibly from Yeoford to Okehampton. The Plym Valley line is an embryo preservation group on a short section of the GWR Tavistock branch at Marsh Mills, so through the county, a little of what was lost is being retrieved.

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