jnjkerbin
Member
So, going away for Christmas equals a day out if you ask me, so it was a 0700 start from Lyme Regis. A brief walk up the hill to the station to catch the train to Axminster... oh no, sorry, down the hill to the bus stop 
to board the 0820 something to Axminster. It's raining and the waves are crashing over the cobb quite a lot so I'm pleased when a double decker turns up a few minutes early and I buy a return to the station and take a seat at the front on the top deck 
. We leave on time and the roads are quiet at this time of the morning despite being the last Saturday before Christmas and we make the journey to Axminster quite quickly despite a few large puddles here and there. I get off at the station and check the train is on time and it is! And a luxuriant 6 coach train is promised. The ticket office is shut because of an IT problem and the TVM doesn't sell rovers so I'm told to buy on the train. (OK technically I should have bought a ticket to start my journey but I take a chance.) I'm quite surprised when a triple win in the form of 158882, 158883 and 158890 all pull in. Clearly some 159s are in for maintenance.
We leave on time at 0903 and the guard seems to take about 5 minutes to sell tickets to four people before reaching me. I buy a Devon Day Ranger, with railcard for £6.60 and decide to not get out a rail travel voucher seeing how long it took him to find the ticket! The fields leaving Axminster are looking quite wet at this stage although the rain is easing off. My phone buzzes to tell me I've got a text. "Trains not running btwn newt abb and paignton - flooding", it says. So there go my plans! I'd original planned to go Exeter - Exmouth - Paignton - Exeter - Barnstaple - Exeter and then home. A quick check of my train to Exmouth shows it to be running so I decide I'll head that way anyway. The train pulls into Exeter Central a few minutes late and I attempt to get a picture of the 158s leaving but the poor conditions put paid to that. I head over the footbridge to the other platform to await the 0952 to Exmouth.
One of my aims in doing this trip was to do at least one 143, to start my coverage of those off. Departure time looms and 153361 and 150131 round the corner, both of which were new. We leave more or less on time. The train isn't too crowded and I keep an eye out for what is waiting in the loop at Topsham. A pair of 150s. I make a mental note to avoid that diagram in my masochistic search for pacers and enjoy the view across the estuary to Exmouth. (ed. actually Dawlish - typed it wrong :roll
On arrival at Exmouth, and after a brief photo opportunity it's back onboard the 153 for the journey towards Newton Abbot. A check of NRE shows that the line from there to Paignton is still shut. With the continued drizzle, I doubt the line will be opened any time soon. I therefore decide to abort going all the way to Newton Abbot, and bail at Dawlish instead, have a few photo ops and then head back to Exeter an hour earlier than planned to head to Barnstaple. At Topsham we're met by a pair of 143s (remembered for later) and then head on to Exeter. We reach St Davids more or less on time, but a check of the boards shows that an express that would normally precede us along the sea wall is late. However, it appears to be late enough for us to go first. The guard (who sounds Indian or Welsh over the speakers (they're very similar accents)) makes an announcement that the train will be terminating at Newton Abbot as expected. He checks tickets (turning out to be eastern European
) and advises passengers that buses have been arranged.
I hop off at Dawlish and after chatting with a dispatcher about the weather and the railway head down the sea wall (where the waves aren't too close), to get some pictures.
flickr seems a bit dodgy at the mo so pix will follow later. to be continued...
to board the 0820 something to Axminster. It's raining and the waves are crashing over the cobb quite a lot so I'm pleased when a double decker turns up a few minutes early and I buy a return to the station and take a seat at the front on the top deck . We leave on time and the roads are quiet at this time of the morning despite being the last Saturday before Christmas and we make the journey to Axminster quite quickly despite a few large puddles here and there. I get off at the station and check the train is on time and it is! And a luxuriant 6 coach train is promised. The ticket office is shut because of an IT problem and the TVM doesn't sell rovers so I'm told to buy on the train. (OK technically I should have bought a ticket to start my journey but I take a chance.) I'm quite surprised when a triple win in the form of 158882, 158883 and 158890 all pull in. Clearly some 159s are in for maintenance. We leave on time at 0903 and the guard seems to take about 5 minutes to sell tickets to four people before reaching me. I buy a Devon Day Ranger, with railcard for £6.60 and decide to not get out a rail travel voucher seeing how long it took him to find the ticket! The fields leaving Axminster are looking quite wet at this stage although the rain is easing off. My phone buzzes to tell me I've got a text. "Trains not running btwn newt abb and paignton - flooding", it says. So there go my plans! I'd original planned to go Exeter - Exmouth - Paignton - Exeter - Barnstaple - Exeter and then home. A quick check of my train to Exmouth shows it to be running so I decide I'll head that way anyway. The train pulls into Exeter Central a few minutes late and I attempt to get a picture of the 158s leaving but the poor conditions put paid to that. I head over the footbridge to the other platform to await the 0952 to Exmouth.
One of my aims in doing this trip was to do at least one 143, to start my coverage of those off. Departure time looms and 153361 and 150131 round the corner, both of which were new. We leave more or less on time. The train isn't too crowded and I keep an eye out for what is waiting in the loop at Topsham. A pair of 150s. I make a mental note to avoid that diagram in my masochistic search for pacers and enjoy the view across the estuary to Exmouth. (ed. actually Dawlish - typed it wrong :roll
On arrival at Exmouth, and after a brief photo opportunity it's back onboard the 153 for the journey towards Newton Abbot. A check of NRE shows that the line from there to Paignton is still shut. With the continued drizzle, I doubt the line will be opened any time soon. I therefore decide to abort going all the way to Newton Abbot, and bail at Dawlish instead, have a few photo ops and then head back to Exeter an hour earlier than planned to head to Barnstaple. At Topsham we're met by a pair of 143s (remembered for later) and then head on to Exeter. We reach St Davids more or less on time, but a check of the boards shows that an express that would normally precede us along the sea wall is late. However, it appears to be late enough for us to go first. The guard (who sounds Indian or Welsh over the speakers (they're very similar accents
)) makes an announcement that the train will be terminating at Newton Abbot as expected. He checks tickets (turning out to be eastern European) and advises passengers that buses have been arranged.I hop off at Dawlish and after chatting with a dispatcher about the weather and the railway head down the sea wall (where the waves aren't too close), to get some pictures.
flickr seems a bit dodgy at the mo so pix will follow later. to be continued...
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to Exeter Central. Departure is 2 minutes late and at Central I bid the pacers goodbye and head for a walk before catching the 1530 to Waterloo. 159108 rolls in and I have to stand as far as Honiton. "They never get it right, do they! ", says another passenger. Well they sort of do actually. This was the first time I'd had to stand today so well done South West Trains and FGW for doing well despite the weather and the Christmas rush. 
