Today’s HST off lease stock move
Rail Operations Group Loco 47815 "Lost Boys" came down yesterday to Laira from Leicester to perform the movement of seven HST Mk3 coaches to the storage facility at Papworth Yard at Ely in Cambridgeshire. A couple of weeks ago 47813 "Jack Frost" suffered an...
Belmond British Pullman Day 2
The train was available to the public to take a day trip to Bath from Penzance (if you could afford it!) DB's Nick Campbell was on hand to photograph and video the train as it passed through Teignmouth station. I took up my position on Dawlish sea wall just east of...
June is Alzheimer’s Charity Month at Dawlish Beach Cams
Throughout June 2019 we will be raising money for Alzheimer's Society South West. I've chosen this charity this year as it is close to my family's heart. My auntie and uncle moved to Dawlish years ago and now my auntie resides at Palm Court on Marine Parade where she...
Belmond British Pullman
This afternoon Friday 31st May saw the Belmond British Pullman train passing along the sea wall en route from London Victoria to Truro on what has become an annual weekend trip to the West Country. Hauled by two Pullman liveried locomotives 67021 and 67024 matching...
Devon in a Day! 15th June 2019
I have to admit to being a fan of "All the Stations" which for those who don't know, is a fabulous YouTube based channel which specializes in railway journeys. Geoff and Vicky are somewhat mad but extremely fun and a few years ago undertook a challenge to visit every...
Art…or Vandalism on the Cathedrals Express.
Well I know which I think it is. It had been a disappointment that the steam engine, Duchess of Sutherland, was unavailable due to a mechanical problem with a driving wheel and had to be replaced by two West Coast Railways Class 47's, but so sad to see the graffiti...
Freightliner wagon collection.
On Tuesday 30th April Freightliner 66534 named "OOCL Express" came down to Hackney Yard at Newton Abbot light engine from Stoke Gifford to collect a rake of empty YKA flatbed rail carrying wagons and take them to Westbury. OOCL is the acronym of a Hong Kong based...
The Great Britain Xll steam rail tour.
The tour round Britain last year unfortunately wasn't routed through Devon and Cornwall but this year, starting from Paddington on Saturday 27th April, the tour pauses at Exeter from 2.01pm until 2.23pm and should then pass through Dawlish at 2.37pm on its way to...
Neil has a SPAD while driving a HST!
Back in October we were very fortunate to be invited to film around Laira TRSMD by GWR. During our visit the wonderful liason officer suggested we arrange another family day out to drive a HST! here is the account of the day. Friday 12th April and we meet the children...
Long Rock Open Day
On Saturday 13th April 2019 GWR opened the gates to it's newly refreshed Long Rock Depot in Penzance Cornwall. We were invited along to see the depot and many exhibits on display during the charity event which raised funds for the RNLI. We arrived around 9am to be...
Half an hour on Dawlish station 18th April 2019
Another set of eight off lease HST Mk3 coaches on their way to storage at Ely in Cambridgeshire. As before the locomotives powering the train were Rail Operation Group's 47815 leading 47813. Let's hope that Cross Country use some of these to replace Voyagers for their...
Teignbridge Approve NR Plans
Teignbridge Planning Committee have today agreed unanimously to approve Network Rails design for the new sea wall phase 1. The section takes in 360 metres of track between Kennaway Tunnel and Colanade Viaduct with work expected to begin in May. During a well attended...
Sea Wall update
Network Rail were in Dawlish on Wednesday 10th April to give an update on their preferred plans for phase 1 of the resilience works. Many of the local residents were also in attendance to get a closer and more informed idea about what those plans mean going forwards...
The Springtime Cornishman
This Diesel Special was made more interesting to the rail fans as it brought a new class of locomotive to this area in that it is bi-mode like the new Hitachi IET 800's whose primary power source comes from overhead electricity with a lesser powered diesel engine....
Rail Operations Group Off Lease Stock Movement.
Yet more HST Mk3 coaches leaving Laira for Papworth Sidings at Ely for storage. ROG sent down two of their Class 47 diesels with two Barrier vans from Leicester yesterday to make this movement today 11th April. The locomotives,47813 named "Jack Frost" was at the head...
Open letter to all regarding Phase 1 Seawall Plans
Open letter to Right Honourable Chris Grayling MP Minister for Transport, Honourable Anne Marie Morris MP, Sir Peter Hendy Chairman of Network Rail, Teignbridge Planning Committee, Residents of Dawlish and Visitors to Dawlish. Whist supporting the resilience work...
Creatures of the night 1st-3rd April
Here are a selection of the late evening Colas Infrastructure trains carrying long continuous welded rail en route to Cornwall. The first two on the video were powered by 70816 and the other was 70811. The driver(s) must look out for Nick to give him a friendly toot...
Just how high is the new sea wall going to be
Just how high IS the new sea wall at Dawlish going to be, in real terms. On Saturday last, a group from the Dawlish Town Council and supporters met on the sea wall. An ingenious graphic display was shown to all those who attended and local resident and holiday makers...
Dawlish line get’s the Blue signal to proceed.
The first part of resilience and new safety equipment is now being tested at Dawlish as part of the South West Resilience Programme. In a first for the United Kingdom, NR are overseeing the introduction of a new signalling system to warn train drivers of potential...
Class 50 Terminator-Phoenixed return + Extras.
Unfortunately on Saturday the weather didn't improve and the light drizzle didn't help the photographic efforts but it was nice to hear the engine noise from the two 50's as they passed along the sea wall at a bit more speed than in the morning where they had been...
New HST Castle set GW3
Today GW3 Castle set was rostered on the 6am T E 12 service Penzance to Exeter St Davids which calls in at Dawlish on the way up. The set was powered by 43094 and 43005. There is only a ten minute turn round time in Platform 6 before it returns to Penzance as the...
Loco hauled freight and Infrastructure trains.
A look at some of the freight and infrastructure loco hauled trains that have passed over the Dawlish & Teignmouth sea walls recently. Most of the Industrial sand trains have featured two DB Cargo class 66 locomotives hauling the box bogie wagons. There was an...
Dawlish Beach Cams Celebrates 5 Years of Live Streaming
When I started setting up Dawlish Beach Cams in late 2013 I never expected it to become what it has today. What started as a single camera operation, with a few thousand followers, has now expanded to 4 static cameras with over 60,000 followers over all social media...
What a difference a day makes
Yesterday it was rather bleak with a bitterly cold wind and today there was little wind and a sunny 11C as I went to record today's lunchtime sand train. This time the lead locomotive 66126 was in the old EWS livery and the second loco 66044 in the new DB Cargo red...
Two for the Price of One
A dull drab day but a splash of colour to brighten up the scene for the hardy souls braving the chilly wind on the Dawlish sea wall today. There has been frequent train movements over the past few weeks of the Industrial sand from Burngullow near St. Austell in...
Sea Wall Improvements – Planning Meeting Dawlish Town Council
For those who wish to attend, there is a Town Council Planning meeting at The Manor House, Old Town Street, Dawlish, EX7 9AP on THURSDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2019 at 7pm The meeting is open to the public and questions and concerns may be raised as the chairman permits. Local...
Funding announcement for new sea wall made by Minister for Transport
Friday 15th February saw possibly the worst kept secret in British politics finally announced publicly. Chris Grayling, Minister for Transport arrived onboard a specially laid on GWR class 802 IET train just before mid day. Speaking to a crowd of media he announced a...
Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling’s visit to Dawlish.
Here is the presentation held on Dawlish station by Network Rail with Chris Grayling announcing that funding by the government has been granted for the first stage to improve the resilience of the Dawlish sea wall.
Dawlish Beach Cams The Great Storm 5 Years Later
This Dawlish Beach Cams mini documentary covers the shocking storm in Dawlish during February 2014. We show you unseen footage and photos of the event and explain the history of the railway and why that section of the sea wall collapsed. Credits Network Rail...
Dawlish Dominates again! Comment from Simon
It's been quite a busy time for Dawlish as far as the news headlines are concerned. The 5 year anniversary of the railway collapse at Sea Lawn terrace brought news crews and reporters to the town in large numbers to look back on events. For some, it was a painful...
Five years on
"It would only be under some extraordinary circumstances of high spring tides and very heavy gales that the water would even touch the wall of the railway. There is not, in my opinion, any ground for apprehension. A railway is not a work liable to any considerable...
Network Rail submits plans for resilience work
Network Rail has made a planning submission to Teignbridge District Council to improve the long-term resilience of the railway linking Devon and Cornwall to the rest of the UK. Plans, developed in partnership with world leading engineering contractors Arup, for a new,...
Week end Rail News 03/02/2019
There were a couple of interesting trains this weekend. On Saturday Colas 66846 brought down from Hinksey Yard 15 MRA wagons loaded with ballast for use on the Barnstaple line. Surprisingly rather than running round its train in Exeter Riverside yard it came down to...
Railway News – Special trains 2019 Passing over the Dawlish & Teignmouth sea walls
Special trains passing through Dawlish 2019 First one This Sunday 3rd February! Please note. These are planned tours but invariably some are cancelled or postponed for various reasons - Loco unavailable, fire risk and occasionally lack of bookings or as it is...
Voyager campaign – Please support by typing “Agreed” in comments
So here is a question for you, Are the Cross Country class 220/221 Voyager trains acceptable for our region? I use the term region because although the Voyager has an issue with sea conditions at Dawlish, the resulting cancellations will affect your journey if you are...
More Infrastructure workings over the weekend.
For the second weekend there have been five more trains bound for the Ivybridge area which were passing through Dawlish and Teignmouth.They all originated from the Hinksey yard carrying ready made railtrack sections and ballast. The yard is situated on the outskirts...