Patrick Honey I am now 84 and lived in the area during and after WW2. When my Father came home from Army service in 1945, I was 10 years old and he was employed on the GWR as a plate layer. Following the war the Admiralty raised concerns at Govt level about the possibility of storm damage to the main line at Dawlish cutting off its main fleet base at Plymouth from re supply of ammunition / fuel and Stores etc. As a consequence in 1946 and 1947 my Father and other Staff were employed, in gangs of 12 men, every weekend for 2 years in bringing the Teign Valley line - from Newton Abbot to Exeter St Thomas, via Lustleigh and Trusham up to main line standards ! With the expectation of heavy ammunition trains the existing line - mostly single track with passing loops at Stations - was deemed to not be up to those specifications ! So every under bridge and drainage culvert and embankment was strengthened to be able to cope with extra weight plus passing loops were lengthened. The Teign Valley line was closed to traffic at the time of Beeching cuts but after then it was occasionally used for the Royal Train to be stabled at night when on tours of the West Country, until the track was finally lifted. Had it been kept ready on a care and maintenance basis - as many military bases were, the West Country could have had continuous traffic during the recent period of closure. I remember my Father and his mates cycling home after a gruelling days work with pick and shovel absolutely worn out and this went on for 2 years. It is a prime example of the folly of Government short sightedness when Beeching was brought in ! PGH
Patrick Thanks for your very interesting reply. It was indeed shortsighted to close the old LSWR route to Plymouth via Oakhampton. However I suspect that if it was still here then the coast route could well have been abandoned after the recent storms
Patrick Honey
I am now 84 and lived in the area during and after WW2. When my Father came home from Army service in 1945, I was 10 years old and he was employed on the GWR as a plate layer. Following the war the Admiralty raised concerns at Govt level about the possibility of storm damage to the main line at Dawlish cutting off its main fleet base at Plymouth from re supply of ammunition / fuel and Stores etc. As a consequence in 1946 and 1947 my Father and other Staff were employed, in gangs of 12 men, every weekend for 2 years in bringing the Teign Valley line - from Newton Abbot to Exeter St Thomas, via Lustleigh and Trusham up to main line standards ! With the expectation of heavy ammunition trains the existing line - mostly single track with passing loops at Stations - was deemed to not be up to those specifications ! So every under bridge and drainage culvert and embankment was strengthened to be able to cope with extra weight plus passing loops were lengthened. The Teign Valley line was closed to traffic at the time of Beeching cuts but after then it was occasionally used for the Royal Train to be stabled at night when on tours of the West Country, until the track was finally lifted. Had it been kept ready on a care and maintenance basis - as many military bases were, the West Country could have had continuous traffic during the recent period of closure. I remember my Father and his mates cycling home after a gruelling days work with pick and shovel absolutely worn out and this went on for 2 years. It is a prime example of the folly of Government short sightedness when Beeching was brought in ! PGH
Patrick
Thanks for your very interesting reply.
It was indeed shortsighted to close the old LSWR route to Plymouth via Oakhampton. However I suspect that if it was still here then the coast route could well have been abandoned after the recent storms