I have had to spend the week in York again. This has meant very little time for anything other than work, except for the odd hour here and there. Whilst I have achieved no modelling, I have spent some time doing some internet research/reading, primarily on the Beeching cuts. I was born after the cuts, but I have had to live with the consequences of them, especially in North Devon, where the extent of the cuts can only be described as savage. I used to have to drive for 6 miles to catch the train to Exeter for work each day, whereas the old railway station was c. 300m from my house!! And I live a lot closer than most in Devon to a railway station.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing and each generation has its own ideas. However, in my view the railway cuts of the 1960's can now be seen to be shortsighted, unstrategic and in many ways now hinders the re-expansion of the network. In the 1960s cars were seen as the answer, and environmental factors such as particulate pollution, noise pollution, social well being, economic decline of severed communities, carbon dioxide emissions, traffic congestion and population growth were not even considered in the economies of the time. And in the case of Devon I wonder whether towns like Bideford and Torrington will ever see rail services again, I hope so.
Anyway, whilst trailing through the internet I found several cracking videos of the North Devon line. My favourite shows a rake of mk1s behind a warship travelling through Barnstaple Junction, Barnstaple Town, Braunton and ending in Ilfracombe, just a couple of days before the line closed for good. The fact the 'branchline' had about 5 mk1s and clearly plenty of passengers, shows the fool-hardiness of closing the line. I guess this line will never be reinstated now, due to having cross the River Taw at Barnstaple, and also the selling of some of the land at Barnstaple Town station and Braunton, and the Ilfracombe station site. Now one can imagine the line to be a key development route in the southwest, and a real tourist attraction, if only it still existed. Anyway, that is not the case, but of course in modelling terms it still exists in my imagination!!
Hopefully I will be back to some normal modelling later this week, - I am looking forward to getting home. Until then please have a look at the videos if you have any interest in the railways of Devon, they are well worth a watch .
http://youtu.be/djcVdpr7Vx8
http://youtu.be/3V_FMj66b1k
http://youtu.be/RW-Nkjrjo_c
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