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| Top: The reinstated level crossing gates. Bottom, from left to right: The station letter box, topped and tailed in Southern Railway green; the down platform waiting shelter – complete with home signal facing the wrong way (oops!); and a gradient post indicating 'Level' into the station. The letter box is the only surviving part of the original station building. (All photographs by Ron Strutt) | ||||
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| Above: Fremington station on the former London & South Western Railway's branch line from Barnstaple Junction to Torrington. The webmaster suspects that some, or all, of these buildings are new, since he used to travel over this line after closure to passengers and can remember Fremington as a scene of desolation. After the vandals came the demolition men. The branch has now been revived by Devon County Council as part of the immensely popular Tarka Trail. This and the following three photographs were all taken in July 2004. (Ivor Sutton) | ||||
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| Above: Instow station was the next on the Torrington branch as it turned south to follow the Torridge estuary. The signal box was restored some years ago and is opened occasionally at weekends during the summer, when brake van trips may also be available on the short length of relaid track seen in the foreground. (Ivor Sutton) | ||||
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| Above: The uninitiated could be forgiven for thinking that Bideford station (the next after Instow) was still operational, but the amount of rust on the rails gives the game away. The station building on the right now accommodates the Tarka Trail rangers, while the pink building on the left (behind the signal box) is the Royal Hotel, which received so much trade from the railway that it still has its own access directly to/from the platform. (Ivor Sutton) | ||||
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| Above: 'A cup of tea after your gruelling walk, sir?' A scene on the platform at Bideford, featuring members Dean Sutton (left) and Jonathan Aston, who organises walks for the club's South Western Area. Alas, the destination board on the carriage now reads 'Information' instead of 'Atlantic Coast Express', so these two won't be letting the train take the strain on their way back to Barnstaple! Had they made it to the next station – Torrington – they could have enjoyed a pint, for the station there is now a public house. (Ivor Sutton) | ||||
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| Above: Rhayader station in Powys was situated on the Cambrian Railways' branch line from Three Cocks Junction (near Brecon) to Moat Lane Junction (near Newtown). The building survives thanks to the Highways and Transportation Department of Powys County County, which uses it as offices. Photographed in April 2004. (Bob Prigg) | ||||
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Above: Bob's answer to obstructions on disused railway lines! This bulldozer was found abandoned, shorn of its shovel, just south of the demolished Brackley Viaduct on the former Great Central Railway from Nottingham to London Marylebone. We suspect that the vehicle was dumped over a decade ago, after construction of the Brackley bypass. Photographed in May 2004. (Bob Prigg) |
