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Teignmouth Harbour

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RichmondCommu

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G'day everyone,

Did Teignmouth harbour ever have a rail connection? I seem to remember seeing a siding leading into the harbour in the early 1980s but I might well be getting it mixed up with somewhere else.

Kind regards,

Richmond Commuter!
 
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Cowley

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Morning :).
Teignmouth Old Quay was definitely railway served although it's quite hard to find photos of it, there was a signal box called Teignmouth Old Quay somewhere around Alexandra Terrace as you leave the station and cutting and head towards Newton Abbot.
I don't remember it being there in the early 80s though, I thought it had all long gone by then but I'd be very interested to know if it was. The quay is still used by ships so is quite an unusual survivor on that stretch of coast now.
The only photo I could find was this old one from the RTCS below. It's looking towards the station with the mainline to the left and the quay etc to the right and behind.
I'll ask my dad later though as he lives there.
 

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John Webb

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Yes, Teignmouth did have a connection between the main line and the quay. I spent several family holidays there around 1958-60, and at that time it was possible to access the Quay at any time. They had a Sentinal steam tractor called "The Elephant" fitted with large wooden buffers for pushing the wagons about; I am pleased to say it has been preserved but currently resides in Holland, I believe.
Have a look at: https://britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/EPW024187, https://britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/EPW033436 and a few other images that are on that site.
Regards,
John Webb
 

Cowley

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Yes, Teignmouth did have a connection between the main line and the quay. I spent several family holidays there around 1958-60, and at that time it was possible to access the Quay at any time. They had a Sentinal steam tractor called "The Elephant" fitted with large wooden buffers for pushing the wagons about; I am pleased to say it has been preserved but currently resides in Holland, I believe.
Have a look at: https://britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/EPW024187, https://britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/EPW033436 and a few other images that are on that site.
Regards,
John Webb

Fascinating photos John. Thanks for posting the link.
 

theblackwatch

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Having been to Teignmouth many times on family holidays, this was something I was totally unaware of. As the saying goes, "you learn something every day".
 

30907

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Old Quay box and its goods loop was still in use in the summer of 1968 (the first of 3 summer holidays there), but I don't remember the quay siding being in use. It had closed by 1970, the Up loop behind the station also being taken out.
 

Cowley

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Old Quay box and its goods loop was still in use in the summer of 1968 (the first of 3 summer holidays there), but I don't remember the quay siding being in use. It had closed by 1970, the Up loop behind the station also being taken out.

I just spoke to my dad who read me out a letter from BR to The Teignmouth Quay Company and it was about BR scheduling the quay sidings for closure in 1967. The reason given was that the new coal concentration depot at Exmouth Junction would remove the need for coal to come in through the docks. The TQC were unhappy about this as they also were dealing with wagonloads of china clay and this work would be lost at the same time.
The construction of the coal concentration depot was slightly delayed but it looks like the quay sidings had been severed by 1970 which ties in with what 30907 observed.
He also remembers the sidings still being in use when he came down on holidays in the 1950s/60s and now from where they live he can see the docks out of his front room window. :)
 

RichmondCommu

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Many thanks for all your replies everyone. From what I can remember of our trip in 1983 the harbour branch must have crossed a road at some point as that is where we saw the remains of the railway.

For what its worth we had spent the day spotting Peaks, class 33s, class 50s and HST's and were now in search of fun and girls (we were only 17 and staying at a nearby guest house). Memories!
 

Cowley

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Many thanks for all your replies everyone. From what I can remember of our trip in 1983 the harbour branch must have crossed a road at some point as that is where we saw the remains of the railway.

For what its worth we had spent the day spotting Peaks, class 33s, class 50s and HST's and were now in search of fun and girls (we were only 17 and staying at a nearby guest house). Memories!

There may well have been remains in the roads still, I wonder if there are any there now? I'll have a look at some point.
As far as fun and girls go, you were probably lucky to get away in one piece and not wake up in the hold of a ship heading for the Baltic with lipstick stains on your collar... :lol:
 

alxndr

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The old maps available online from the National Library of Scotland may be of interest.

A signal box can be seen marked "S.B." at the foot of Clay Lane on the OS 25 inch 1892-1905 series (the above link should hopefully take you to this page).
 

Cowley

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The old maps available online from the National Library of Scotland may be of interest.

A signal box can be seen marked "S.B." at the foot of Clay Lane on the OS 25 inch 1892-1905 series (the above link should hopefully take you to this page).

Thanks for that, interesting to see how much some of it has changed.
 

150219

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There may well have been remains in the roads still, I wonder if there are any there now? I'll have a look at some point.
As far as fun and girls go, you were probably lucky to get away in one piece and not wake up in the hold of a ship heading for the Baltic with lipstick stains on your collar... :lol:

Sadly, there aren't any remains any more.

I lived in Teignmouth all the way through my childhood (early 80's) and remember walking into town and looking down at the railway, from the gap where the Old Quay Signal Box used to be. I can not recall whether the Signal Box was still there at this point, or whether it had been demolished.

The area of the Old Quay, abattoir and trawler dock was redeveloped and modernised in the mid 80's, including a minor bit of the road structure above Alexandra Palace, all of which are still in place today.

The former Quay and docks between the beach at Shaldon Bridge and Polly Steps were redeveloped to include a massive grain warehouse, which I remember playing in on sunny Sundays, and a new weighbridge.

There is nothing particular of note in the way of old relics from Shaldon Bridge all the way through the railway line and out the other side of the station anymore, including the Quay. Most of the diamond weight restriction signs on the many little road bridges over the railway were all removed at a similar time.

If there are any track remains left, then it's possible that they are buried under the concrete; but otherwise nothing really obvious in the way of history.
 
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