David Mitchell : The Barnstaple & Okehampton Branches through the years 10/02/24

On 3rd February David Mitchell presented a digital show entitled “The Barnstaple & Okehampton Branches through the Years” which followed the two lines in journey order, with at least one photo of every station; about a half of images were his own with the other half comprising pictures from earlier years that he has collected. Hence our trip started at Exeter Central with a 1947 photo of the ‘Devon Belle’ Pullman train which was followed by the very last ‘Atlantic Coast Express’ arriving in 1964. Motive power depicted on passenger trains varied from T9s, Ns and Bulleid Pacifics though to Warships and Hymeks and then Class 25s and 31s. DMUs ranged from Heritage units to today’s Sprinters and the first Turbo to work to Barnstaple, and Classes 47 & 50 were featured on DMU substitutions. Two of the images were of branch railtours – a T9 in 1963 and a ‘Skipper’ DMU in 1986, whilst other railtours included rare visits of locos from Classes 20, 40 & 56. Freight traffic was also illustrated including visits to Meldon Quarry, and ballast trains from there were depicted from the steam era through to the end of such traffic in 2009. The final images were of some of the work involved in reinstating the Okehampton branch, culminating in a view from the first day of the revived service.