The Resurrection of Okehampton Station: A Miracle On Dartmoor! | Another Station, Another Mile #23
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ต.ค. 2024
- #railway #trains #okehampton
When the last passenger service departed in 1972, and the platforms at this seemingly insignificant little station fell silent, many would have assumed that would be that for Okehampton Station. One of the last outposts of the old London & South Western Railway's North Devon network, what was once a tapestry of railways from Plymouth to Ilfracombe had already been whittled down to next to nothing. Many were surprised that Okehampton even survived as long as it did.
What nobody could've seen coming, though, was a plucky tale of survival against all odds, heritage operations come and gone, and finally nearly fifty years later, the full reopening of this charming little station on top of Dartmoor. Come join me as we experience history - the resurrection of Okehampton!
Featuring the excellent @Sim0nTrains - watch his video from the day here:
• Sim0nTrains Return to ...
And a cameo from Nick Higgins: / xnick291x
Additional Footage & Photo Credits:
HuntleyFilmArchives
Great Western MGM
stephensrailways
HSTHoward
Stoat13
Bernard Mills
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Given the issues with storms and Dawlish, it might be a good time to start thinking about reopening the rest of the way to Plymouth.
It's been a good time to think about that for a long time!
@@HeyItsAJOmega - It can snow quite heavily on Dartmoor during the Winter months. Meldon Junction, just west of Okehampton, was the highest point on the old Southern Railway network at 950 feet OD.
Okehampton has been extremely lucky in that the line to Meldon Quarry was kept open thus preserving the route. The second fortuitous thing was the efforts of the preservation of the now-defunct Dartmoor Railway. I travelled on this railway to Meldon Quarry with my late girlfriend who subsequently died after a short battle with cancer. The reopening of this station is a pleasing consequence for me in the light of the happy memory I have of travelling from this station when it was a heritage railway. Thanks for uploading.
Oh thank you for such kind words! I'm so sorry to hear of your late girlfriend, I'm happy this brought back some pleasant memories for you :)
... The pro-rail West Devon Borough Council sponsored a Summer Saturdays-only DMU shuttle service from Exeter to Okehampton and back in 1986, which I was fortunate enough to travel on. Along with lots of other fare-paying customers! So, in one way or another, Okehampton Station never completely closed to passengers.
@@KempSimon I usually prefer that old railway lines are thoroughly demolished and the land repurposed. But in this case housing or industry would not be appropriate or that useful. So I can cautiously give my approval to this reopening.
A great fan of Okehampton station.
A reunification with Bude, via Holsworthy would fill a huge gap in public transport shortfall, in North Cornwalll..
The privatised Southern Railway, which closed the lossmaking Barnstaple to Lynton line in 1935, was looking to pull out of north Devon west of Okehampton before the start of World War Two replacing steam trains with road buses for onward services to Holsworthy and Bude.
I'm old enough to have travelled by steam over this route. The weather always seemed to be bleak though and I remember the the rain beading down the windows of the green SR coaches, often hauled by a Bullied Pacific (the unrebuilt variety in those days, until 1960 when the rebuilt version was eventually cleared to traverse Meldon Viaduct). The views were spectacular, especially across the moor down to the Calstock Viaduct on the Callington branch and in my view superior to the albeit very scenic WR route to Plymouth. My last trip by steam on this route, from Exeter to Plymouth was in 1963. We caught a train at Exeter Central bound for North Cornwall and alighted at Okehampton, where waiting for us in the bay platform, was a train bound for Plymouth headed by an 'N' class mogul. Many thanks for the excellent video which has evoked much nostalgia!
And honestly, thank YOU so much for sharing your stories and memories! One of my favourite parts of making videos like these are hearing stories from people who lived and have such amazing memories from the times these stations/railway lines were originally open and in their heyday. So thank you for sharing this! I'm glad the video was able to evoke such happy nostalgia :)
The Swanage railway was completely removed in the 70s but it is back. Settle and Carlisle is still going strong. Some of the Great Central is back. The Devon Coast is flexible. Dawlish keeps being reclaimed by the sea. Who knows what the future may bring. Great video by the way.
This video is a personal view, but when you go back to the 60's these rural lines were at the end of there usefulness. The cost of keeping a lot these lines open did not make economic sense and the LSWR/Southern Region lines west of Exeter was a classic example how this panned out. Trains going to Ilfracombe, Padstow, Bude, Bideford and down to Plymouth were carrying very few passengers compared the old GWR route which went through larger areas of population on the south coast of Devon, so closure was always going to be on the cards. Steam traction though reliable was expensive to operate, even with the introduction of the diesel railcars, though cheaper to run these lines were numbered, the motor car was becoming very popular and affordable to run. However hindsight is a wonderful thing, with lots of if only. With car ownership booming in the mid 60's with its ease of travel, holidays in Devon and Cornwall were becoming more popular, however the road system was found wanting and you could struck in traffic jams for hours! So if the track hadn't been lifted leaving the infrastructure in place how much easier it would have been to reinstate these rural railways, especially when modern and efficient traction was coming on stream in the 1980's, it would have allowed locals to use a different form of transport to get to places like Exeter and Plymouth and of course the expansion of these local communities would have taken place especially with the advent of Park and Ride stations. The biggest plus of all, South Devon and Cornwall wouldn't have been cut off when the storms of 2014 cut the railway in half at Dawlish, the line via Okehampton would have been able to be used as a diversionary route. To think the billions being spent on HS2, the line from Okehampton to Tavistock down to Bere Alston could have been rebuilt including a new viaduct at Meldon for £900 million, this would have been money well spent. As I said hindsight is a wonderful thing!!
So ironic that in the 50s and 60s it seemed to be so modern and forward looking to get rid of trams trolley buses and branch railway lines. Now that attitude looks so short sighted.
Right? I know hindsight is 20/20 and all that, but even at the time so many people knew it was wrong and so awfully short-sighted.
So if the senior management team at British Rail's Western Region during the early 1960's was so hell-bent on closing down the entire Southern Railway network in Devon and Cornwall, how come that Barnstaple is now accessed by rail from Exeter rather than from Taunton? The condition of the lattice girder viaduct at Meldon didn't suddenly deteriorate as soon as the route was handed to the Western Region, it had been giving serious cause for concern since the mid-1950's and, if I remember correctly, had always been subject to speed and/or weight restrictions. When I explored the area during the mid-1980's a single line of rails still extended across Meldon Viaduct to a buffer stop just short of the former junction for Halwill. From where I spent a day walking along the empty trackbed of the former SR main line all the way to the outskirts of Tavistock.
I think you'll find that the enamel signs shown ("Okehampton" and "Platform 3") are Southern Railway, not B.R.
Very good item, especially your "lecture" at Meldon Viaduct.
The viaduct is wrought iron and cast iron I’ve never been but seeing it obviously wrought iron goggled it to check
Interestingly is that it was originally built for single track in wrought iron and I think when they built the second section it was made from steel, it's pretty unique and you can see the difference between the earlier spans and the later ones.
@@davidcann4329 I can’t remember whether was the rail or foot bridge without watching full video again but I saw cast iron and wrought or maybe mild steel so won’t argue
When is it opening to Plymouth
@@barrytipton1179 I'm afraid that I think the reopening to Plymouth may never happen, the section from Bere Alston to Tavistock has been scheduled for reinstatement for years, but has gone very quiet of late. Unfortunately some redevelopment of Tavistock Station and it's goods yard area is going to be very difficult to get around, but the majority of the route is clear and relatively easy to sort out
September 2024 and we are still delighted to have hourly trains to Exeter. A godsend for those hospital visits and avoiding the horrendous A30 and city traffic. The only fly in the ointment is the station parking which is run by APCOA sending fines, mostly unfairly, to local people. It would be great to see Tavistock, further down the line, reconnected first to Plymouth and later to Okehampton. I'm not so sure if restoring the branch from Meldon out to Holsworthy and Bude would be viable, but those towns have grown significantly.
Brilliant video as always! I really wish that more reopenings would happen on the rail network. Also Meldon Viaduct is impressive!
Its spectacular isn't it? I was genuinely lost for words when I first saw it, and stood on the viaduct itself looking out across Dartmoor. Genuinely got chills 💖
@@HeyItsAJOmega I don’t blame you. I get the chills as well 😂
Thanks for this amazing video - a video which all too vividly shews the reasons for closure were fundamentally questionable. Are you Meldon Viaduct is unfit for rail traffic? Maybe a second opinion would be advisable! There is a closed railway in East Sussex the closure of which is extremely questionable. To allow the building of a much-needed alternative road between one side of the County Town of Lewes and the other. By closing this connection to Uckfield - an alternative rail connection to London was lost.
sorry, I missed out 'sure' between 'you' and 'Meldon Viaduct'
- Iron is simply a huge chunk of chemical energy wanting to go somewhere, and when the 21% Oxygen in the atmosphere gets to it, the result is an explosion. The condition of the lattice girder viaduct across the West Okement River was giving BR(WR)'s bridge and tunnel inspectors serious cause for concern towards the end of the 1950's due to problems caused by corrosion.
Great video but to much food ha ha
Hi Another station, another mile. I look at the new timetable due to start from next month. Okhampton is getting an hourly service everyday from the 15th may
Is it possible for the line to reopen over the Meldon viaduct and into Plymouth? Could the viaduct be strengthened to carry trains again? I wish this could be made possible. Great video thank you.
10:39 I nearly lost my drink there! 😂 Another truly fantastic video, and I love seeing stories of railways returning, and bringing life back to the community!
Oops! xD Thank you so much! It warms my heart honestly :)
Another great (and brilliantly bittersweet) video, love the history, the atmosphere there but extra 👍 for your Public Service Broadcasting shirt!
YAY a fellow PSB head!! I got that shirt at their Brixton Academy show only a few weeks before filming this episode, one of the best nights of my life
A brilliant video AJ. Very good to see that Okehampton is back on the national rail network and I agree about the effects that beeching closures have had on many communities. Also I never knew beeching was Dr Who's evil cousin lol 😂
I wonder if that makes him the Master? Would make far too much sense XD And thank you so so much!!
- Didn't the late Dr. Richard Beeching want Okehampton Station to be kept open and, indeed, developed as the railhead for all of Devon and Cornwall north and west of Dartmoor?
Excellent video 👍
You're certainly right about politics getting in the way. It seems that some things never change
Amen, depressingly. Those who don't learn from the mistakes of the past are destined to repeat them, or however that phrase goes! And thank you :)
Brilliant, thank you! I'm holidaying in the area at the moment, too.
Isn't it wonderful that Okehampton Station wasn't modernised! And you captured the joy of the re-opening perfectly. Another positive is how, over the past several years, the railway companies and especially GWR have acknowledged the history and tradition of the railways and treated them with respect in many ways. Very much against the modern trend of trashing the old for no reason.
Thank you so much! Yes it's lovely to see that right? A lot more historical artefacts, old buildings restored, things like that preserved at stations now, and it's great to see
@@HeyItsAJOmega I recall (a bit vaguely) the plan by B.R.(S) to demolish the LBSCR Ticket office at Balcombe on the Brighton main line.
A deluge of protests, of course, suitably met with affirmation of their plan and confirmation that "....we do not operate a museum...." or something equally flippant.
visited okehampton and cycled the meldon viaduct in the summer of 2020, found it amazing that there wasnt a full service yet, the whole line (including the unused bits) is incredible.
re-opening railways is exactly what we need to do and its why ripping up lines like the weymouth harbour line is such a bad idea
if u build a service it will be used and okehampton can now be used as an example for many other dormant railways around the uk.
also ASAM is amazing and having geoff upload on the same day rly made my day
Absolutely agree with everything you've said! And thank you so much :)
Such a fantastic step in the right direction, reopening this long lost main line, which was a mistake in my opinion, notwithstanding the condition of Meldon Viaduct, which was one of the main reasons for closure. Having been to Okehampton and it's station in preservation days, plus having stood on Meldon Viaduct in the 1980s and Noughties, hopefully this section will get some serious consideration.
Right? I've heard mutterings that there is serious consideration to reopening all the way down to Plymouth again, and given the Meldon Viaduct was rumoured to never be in as bad a condition as it was claimed when it was closed, that might well happen sooner rather than later ^_^
Emergency Hot Chocolate, that’s a most excellent idea!
Always!!
Cant lie, It's extremely sad that Melton Quarry is in such a state. I hope that eventually, the route to Plymouth gets fully reopened. Great video AJ.
Very sad indeed. There are plans in the works for the Plymouth route to fully reopen, so I *hope* it's a case of when, not if. ^_^
It's all for you, Jago, sorry you're looking a bit peaky at the moment.
?
Had to get a bus from Exeter last year to get to a holiday park in Bude. Let's hope they carry on and reach the North Coast.
Wouldn't that be amazing? I believe there's a push to reinstate the line from Barnstaple to Ilfracombe as well?
Public transport is a bit hard to get in Cornwall. Bus drivers go to bed early and there's about a million one man taxi outfits. Wish I'd learned how to drive!
Reopen all the way to Padstow!
Okehampton station is very beautiful. So pleased that Network Rail and GWR finally started running the Okehampton service once again.
Agreed!! Such a gorgeous little station and it's great to see the local community rewarded for many years of hard work :)
@@HeyItsAJOmega Indeed 😄
Great video from me here in Exeter but used live in Crediton
Nice! I must say I enjoyed my stay in Exeter when I was filming this :)
Happy days ....
One of my fav Routes to drive in Train Sim World 2 The GWR To London Paddington
Well done!
Looks like you had a brilliant day Another Station Another Mile, really awesome video and thank you for a epic day
Thank you so much!! Great to meet you on this day, I'm sure our paths will cross again soon along the way ^_^
@@HeyItsAJOmega It did **cough** **cough** Great Central **Cough** **Cough** :p (Great Central was 2 months after this one)
Great to see this line reinstated 50 years after it closure, just hope people appreicate it return and hope people use it.
Went to this station on its re-opening date! 20th November 2021
So you were there on the the day this video was filmed? ^_^
Yup, however not the first train unfortunately
If you walked just a tiny little bit further past the viaduct you would have come to the former junction where the line split up towards Halwill. Plus you could always come back and abseil off the viaduct - its quite an experience :-)
I'd done quite enough walking about on this day, so I'll keep this in mind for another day! I do want to fully chart out the old Withered Arm network, so the Halwill Junction will be the first port of call probably :)
Fantastic Video AJ - and LOVE the t-shirt - i have one too #PSB #GO. Was lucky enough to see them live when they played the Albert Hall during the proms a few years ago!!!!
Yaaaay another PSB head!! Love to see it! Ohhhh goodness me I remember that, what a show to get to see in person! I bet it was an incredible night
Also strange that the Iron Bridge at Padstow was also declared unsafe, but now carries the Camel Trail for walkers, cyclists and horse riders for the last 40 something years.
Yep. Funny coincidence that, huh?
thoroughly enjoyable thanks
Great content as always! I've always like trains but it's safe to say your videos have made me even more interested than I used to be :3
Awww thank you!! Mission accomplished, that's the best compliment I can receive :)
Good to see you again Adam!
Thank you Marco! ^_^
Thank you for another interesting piece of work. Also loving the old theme tune has come back.
Thank you for the kind words! And hey, sometimes the classics are the best right?
Fantastic video very well put together I enjoy working it
Thank you so much!! ^_^
Now we need the line between Keighley and Oxenhope to become in full passenger service as well as the Stockport to Stalybridge service recieving more frequent links.
Only if the Keighley to Oxenhope route can continue to be operated with vintage steam locos and rolling stock? Please? xD
@@HeyItsAJOmega Worth Valley heritage railway can still run on it but I think the track should be electrified and doubled to welcome 331 and 333 units.
wonderful vvideo as always you have such passion for old railways thank you
Thank you so much! I'm glad the passion shines through on video :)
Really loved this video, and it was great to meet you there that day!
Still haven't figured out a link to the Northern City Line though 🤔🤔🤔
WELL. The best I've got is this. From Okehampton you could get the Atlantic Coast Express all the way to London Waterloo, which connects to the Waterloo and City Line, which was one proposed to be connected to....the NORTHERN CITY LINE. That's about the best I've got xD
@@HeyItsAJOmega aha! I knew there had to be one! Not just connected to, but built by the same company!
Yessssssss I love when I get a notification of a new video !
^_^ thank you!!
Excellent Video :) still a line I want to visit
I hope you get the chance to visit soon!! IT's worth the trip for sure :)
brilliant video
Thank you!! ^_^
did you sleep in?
The day after filming? Yeah I did xD
Great video
Thank you!
Thatsa me at the end
It is!! Thank you for joining us ^_^
That is a serious bridge :)
It really is! Just breathtaking to witness in person :)
@@HeyItsAJOmega grand that all the locals put on a big morning for the station reopening too - thanks for sharing it