Railways in the UK

The November meeting of the Solent branch was a presentation by branch member Philip Haines illustrating the sea wall in the Dawlish in different eras. Familiar locations illustrated included Starcross, Cockwood Harbour, Dawlish Warren, Langstone Rock, Dawlish, Sprey Point, and Teignmouth.

We began in the late 1950s and early1960s with processions of trains hauled by Kings, Castles, and Halls and the occasional Southern interloper. The majority of trains illustrated were express passenger services, but local services and freight were not overlooked with the latter including milk traffic. Moving to the late 1960s and 1970s the diesel era began with Warships and Westerns, the Cornish Rivera Express being a double headed Warship working for a period.

By the 1980s the diesel hydraulics had been replaced by diesel electrics such as Class 47s, and Class 50s, and HSTs had taken over the Paddington - West of England services and many Cross Country services. Summer Saturday services illustrated in the late 1980s to the early 2000s included some hauled by Class 31s, Midland Mainline HSTs being drafted in on Cross Country services from Leeds, Class 47s hauling West Coast main line stock with driving van trailers, and Class 159 units on services from Waterloo. The final era covered was 2023 with Class 80x units dominating the scene, mixed with Voyagers on Cross Country services, and Sprinters and Classes 165 and 166 on local services.

The Dawlish sea wall is well known for being pounded by waves during storms. Wave action and the rebuilt area of the wall were illustrated in some of the video sequences.

Our thanks to Philip for another entertaining evening of his digitalised slide collection and home filmed video footage.