Читать книгу Railway Day Trips: 160 classic train journeys around Britain - Julian Holland - Страница 21

Engineered by Brunel, the main line between Taunton and Exeter was opened by the broad-gauge Bristol & Exeter Railway in 1844. The line was rebuilt with mixed-gauge track in 1876 when the company was also amalgamated with the Great Western Railway – the broad gauge was eliminated in 1892. Today trains can operate along this route up to a maximum speed of 100 mph and as there is only one intermediate station at Tiverton Parkway journey times are fairly rapid. Prior to the wholesale closures of the 1960s there were 9 intermediate stations and 5 branch lines (to Minehead, Barnstaple, Hemyock, Tiverton and Dulverton) along this stretch.

Trains for Exeter head off in a southwesterly direction from Taunton station and soon pass the new triangular junction laid at Norton Fitzwarren for the West Somerset Railway. The railway then climbs up the 1-in-80 gradient of Wellington Bank to the 1,092-yd Whiteball Tunnel and the summit of the line – it was down this bank that GWR 4-4-0 No. 3440 ‘City of Truro’ was apparently timed at 100 mph while hauling an ‘Ocean Mails’ special from Plymouth to London in 1904. Although there has been much debate about this feat it is highly likely that this was the first time that a steam train achieved this speed anywhere in the world.

From Whiteball Summit trains coast down to a stop at Tiverton Parkway station before descending into the lush valley of the River Exe to Cowley Bridge Junction. This infamous spot, the junction for the ‘Tarka Line’ to Barnstaple, is regularly flooded during periods of heavy rainfall, causing major disruption to services into Devon and Cornwall. Exeter St Davids station follows soon afterwards, from where visitors to the city centre can catch a connecting train up to Central station.

DESTINATION HIGHLIGHTS

12th-century cathedral; 11th-century Rougemont Castle; Danes Castle; St Nicholas Priory and Garden; Exeter Canal basin and riverside walks; 17th-century Butts Ferry; Royal Albert Memorial Museum; Spacex art gallery

FREQUENCY OF TRAINS

2 per hour

30¾ MILES 30 MINUTES

NUMBER OF CHANGES: 1

(Exeter St Davids)

The restored Exeter Canal in Exeter. Beyond is Exeter Cathedral which was completed in 1400.