Bernard Mills : Waterloo to the Atlantic Coast in the Diesel Era 11/11/23

On 11th November Bernard Mills presented a show entitled “Waterloo to the Atlantic Coast in the Diesel Era” which comprised his own scanned slides that were mainly taken from the 1960s to the early 90s. The programme was in two parts, equating to two books that are due to be published shortly, with the first one covering the Waterloo to Exeter line in journey order. Most of the stations were included together with other locations, and although Warships and Classes 33, 50 and 47 predominated, other types featured included Bullied pacifics, EMUs, Peaks on van trains and Westerns and HSTs on diverted WR trains. The second half followed the line from Exeter to Ilfracombe with a brief diversion to Torrington; the motive power in this part mainly changed to other types including DMUs and Classes 25 and 31, but with other appearances such as Class 20/9s on a weedkiller train and a Class 22 on a ball clay working. The presentation climaxed with a wonderful, and rare, selection of scenes on the Barnstaple to Ilfracombe section in its final years with Warships and Hymeks providing the power; particularly noteworthy were landscape views of trains on the steep climb away from Ilfracombe. This was a memorable show and your reviewer hopes that the books will do justice to the images!