Class800
Established Member
I've previously posted one Devon day ranger report - and have subsequently done another similar journey that I didn't write up for a report (wasn't actually a ranger), which visited Totnes, Gunnislake, Devonport and Plymouth from Cranbrook. Today, in order to avoid the frequent engineering works in South Devon at the moment, I did a day ranger on a Friday. This is probably the last Devon Day Ranger I will write up, but thought I would write this one up, to show the variety of journeys that can be undertaken using the ranger. Overall, I would still say my first ranger was the more interesting one. I was probably too tired to make the most of it today - but certainly spent far less on the ranger than the individual journeys would have cost.
I started at Cranbrook this time on the 9.14 up service (first once I could use on a weekday), alighting at the first station Whimple. I took some morning exercise by 'running' down from the station, past the Thirsty Farmer pub (not open yet) and along a narrow lane out of the village to climb a bank to have a magnificent view over the Whimple Cricket Club ground. I then returned to the village via the Parish Field. Somehow, I arrived back at the station 10 minutes early, having allegedly only been away 12 minutes! It felt like 20, at least.
I then boarded the 09.43 down service (class 159 - all the SWR services on this route are 159, sometimes in combination with 158), and immediately bought my ticket a Devon Day Ranger with Devon and Cornwall Railcard from the guard. This was my first opportunity of the day to buy it. The guard was polite, although struggled a bit with his machine. Initially, it said the railcard was not applicable on that ticket (which I know isn't the case), so he managed to apply it 'manually' - the fare was correct, although the railcard wasn't mentioned on the ticket! It said issued at Salisbury Gd (i.e. guard), so maybe the Salisbury based guards' machines aren't set up for the Devon ranger. The guard said this was a ticket that used to be sold a lot, but now very rarely. It is a great product, so I would very much encourage people to use it, as we want to keep it.
I arrived at Exeter Central just before five to ten, where I spent 20 minutes before the 10.14 (class 150) GWR Tarka line service, which I caught through to its terminus at Barnstaple. The line is named after the eponymous character in Henry Williamson's book Tarka The Otter. It was a very picturesque journey - part of the experience of the day, rather than just a journey. Too often people see the journey as just 'getting there' rather than part of the experience, but it can very much be part of the experience if approached with a conducive mindset.
I spent just over an hour in Barnstaple. Firstly, I went to get some lunch from the nearby Tesco's (rotisserie counter highly recommended), before returning to the station to sit under the platform canopy (away from any prying birds) to eat my lunch, in full sight of a disused island platform that now features charming flower pots and planters - including one display in the form of a miniature train. The current Barnstaple station used to be Barnstaple Junction, before the line to Barnstaple Town was closed and the Barnstaple Junction station reassigned as Barnstaple. Although the station is not particularly central in the town (arguably it is in Sticklepath not Barnstaple), it was a short walk down to the river Taw to see the elegant arched Long Bridge and a view across to the clock tower.
Then I returned to the station where I caught the 12.35 service as far as Exeter St Davids (it was class 158 - a change from the 150s that I accidentally bashed on GWR on my last ranger), where I caught the train to Exmouth that came in shortly after ours had left - the Exmouth train came in from Paignton and reversed in platform 1. This was a class 166 - the one I hadn't managed to catch on my last trip, when everything was a 150! I had just gone off piste - my original plan for the day involved changing at Crediton and seeing Okehampton, but I decided to change my plan, given I had spent plenty of time at both of these places on the Okehampton opening day. After a stop at the comically mis-auto-pronounced Digby and Sowton (it was the wrong 'sow' - today it sounded like 'sew', not a female pig), and passing the commando camp (no sign of forgotten trousers), we arrived into Exmouth at just gone quarter past two.
I had an enjoyable hour and a half or so in Exmouth, walking along the seafront and through the Maer nature reserve, turning around just before the lifeboat house, passing the cricket ground, and returning to the station via the Manor Gardens. I returned to Exeter Central on the 15.55 service (class 150), being treated before arrival into Exeter Central to a rather amusing announcement by the guard:
[in a booming deep voice]"The next station is Exeter Central. Change here for historic Exeter, cathedral, the roman walls, and the magnificent accommodation of Exeter Prison"
Soon, I crossed the bridge, and before the 159 came in to take me back to Cranbrook, I was able to view the grandeur of the Central Station building exterior and also noted the space between the platformed tracks where the centre roads would have run in the heyday of the railway. It would have been very interesting to see Exeter Queen Street Station - as it was called then - in its operational heyday. Soon, I was on the 159 to take me back to Cranbrook, a journey that was elongated by a 15 minute leg stretching stop at Pinhoe. The train was - unlike many in the current time - running through to London Waterloo, but its usual 3 hour 15 time was extended by three 15 minute breaks! As far as I am aware, the train toilet were working! And Pinhoe has no such facilities anyway. A bizarre end to a good day out on the trains. As before, no delays or cancellations.
I started at Cranbrook this time on the 9.14 up service (first once I could use on a weekday), alighting at the first station Whimple. I took some morning exercise by 'running' down from the station, past the Thirsty Farmer pub (not open yet) and along a narrow lane out of the village to climb a bank to have a magnificent view over the Whimple Cricket Club ground. I then returned to the village via the Parish Field. Somehow, I arrived back at the station 10 minutes early, having allegedly only been away 12 minutes! It felt like 20, at least.
I then boarded the 09.43 down service (class 159 - all the SWR services on this route are 159, sometimes in combination with 158), and immediately bought my ticket a Devon Day Ranger with Devon and Cornwall Railcard from the guard. This was my first opportunity of the day to buy it. The guard was polite, although struggled a bit with his machine. Initially, it said the railcard was not applicable on that ticket (which I know isn't the case), so he managed to apply it 'manually' - the fare was correct, although the railcard wasn't mentioned on the ticket! It said issued at Salisbury Gd (i.e. guard), so maybe the Salisbury based guards' machines aren't set up for the Devon ranger. The guard said this was a ticket that used to be sold a lot, but now very rarely. It is a great product, so I would very much encourage people to use it, as we want to keep it.
I arrived at Exeter Central just before five to ten, where I spent 20 minutes before the 10.14 (class 150) GWR Tarka line service, which I caught through to its terminus at Barnstaple. The line is named after the eponymous character in Henry Williamson's book Tarka The Otter. It was a very picturesque journey - part of the experience of the day, rather than just a journey. Too often people see the journey as just 'getting there' rather than part of the experience, but it can very much be part of the experience if approached with a conducive mindset.
I spent just over an hour in Barnstaple. Firstly, I went to get some lunch from the nearby Tesco's (rotisserie counter highly recommended), before returning to the station to sit under the platform canopy (away from any prying birds) to eat my lunch, in full sight of a disused island platform that now features charming flower pots and planters - including one display in the form of a miniature train. The current Barnstaple station used to be Barnstaple Junction, before the line to Barnstaple Town was closed and the Barnstaple Junction station reassigned as Barnstaple. Although the station is not particularly central in the town (arguably it is in Sticklepath not Barnstaple), it was a short walk down to the river Taw to see the elegant arched Long Bridge and a view across to the clock tower.
Then I returned to the station where I caught the 12.35 service as far as Exeter St Davids (it was class 158 - a change from the 150s that I accidentally bashed on GWR on my last ranger), where I caught the train to Exmouth that came in shortly after ours had left - the Exmouth train came in from Paignton and reversed in platform 1. This was a class 166 - the one I hadn't managed to catch on my last trip, when everything was a 150! I had just gone off piste - my original plan for the day involved changing at Crediton and seeing Okehampton, but I decided to change my plan, given I had spent plenty of time at both of these places on the Okehampton opening day. After a stop at the comically mis-auto-pronounced Digby and Sowton (it was the wrong 'sow' - today it sounded like 'sew', not a female pig), and passing the commando camp (no sign of forgotten trousers), we arrived into Exmouth at just gone quarter past two.
I had an enjoyable hour and a half or so in Exmouth, walking along the seafront and through the Maer nature reserve, turning around just before the lifeboat house, passing the cricket ground, and returning to the station via the Manor Gardens. I returned to Exeter Central on the 15.55 service (class 150), being treated before arrival into Exeter Central to a rather amusing announcement by the guard:
[in a booming deep voice]"The next station is Exeter Central. Change here for historic Exeter, cathedral, the roman walls, and the magnificent accommodation of Exeter Prison"
Soon, I crossed the bridge, and before the 159 came in to take me back to Cranbrook, I was able to view the grandeur of the Central Station building exterior and also noted the space between the platformed tracks where the centre roads would have run in the heyday of the railway. It would have been very interesting to see Exeter Queen Street Station - as it was called then - in its operational heyday. Soon, I was on the 159 to take me back to Cranbrook, a journey that was elongated by a 15 minute leg stretching stop at Pinhoe. The train was - unlike many in the current time - running through to London Waterloo, but its usual 3 hour 15 time was extended by three 15 minute breaks! As far as I am aware, the train toilet were working! And Pinhoe has no such facilities anyway. A bizarre end to a good day out on the trains. As before, no delays or cancellations.