A Traipse to Tiverton [3]

Changing at Tiverton Parkway

The Traveline journey planner seemed unwilling to route the traipsing passenger via Tiverton Parkway on a theoretical trip from Seaton.

Even from Exeter, there is no mention of the rail and bus opportunity.

The xx09 departures are service 1A via Cullompton and Parkway, whereas the xx29 and xx59 are "direct" service 55 or 155 journeys. At 40 minutes these are always faster than train plus bus ...

... and Stagecoach doesn't even admit to Parkway on its map.

There are (usually) three trains an hour northbound between the two stations in question.

The one bus an hour calls at Parkway at xx44 ...

... so offering a very risky connection with the xx24 from Exeter and a total journey time of 42 minutes; and that's without the hassle of getting from central Exeter down to St David's station. That adds an inconvenient walk or a 15 minute frequency local bus into the equation. So the 55/155 is always quicker.

Connections between bus and train are equally poor in the other direction ...

... with the bus from Tiverton calling at xx50 with, at best, a  near 20 minute wait for an Exeter train.

Clearly it is impossible to match a clock-face bus timetable to a somewhat erratic rail schedule; but if all parties (First Great Western, Cross Country, Devon County and Stagecoach) want to encourage the link rather than paying lip service, a half hour frequency should be the absolute minimum between Parkway and Tiverton. But that would cost an extra bus!

In the other direction, say from Taunton, the bus/rail option is on a par with the infrequent Buses of Somerset route 22 ...

... as shown in example 5 above. From Taunton Station, the bus loses its equality, but it can take up to 20 minutes (according to Traveline) from The Parade to station entrance.

The interchange facilites at Parkway equal the lavishness of the station ...

... with just a timetable in a frame and out-of-date branding on the flag** to encourage and edify any brave interchanging passenger. It would be interesting to find out how many longer distance passengers, say from London, Birmingham or the far reaches of Cornwall make use of the bus link; fbb suspects very few!

The fbbs went by car!

The multi-storey car park at Tiverton was cheap and next door to the bus station which, had the rail link from the Western main line still existed, would have offered easy interchange.

Because Mrs fbb is not always interested in bus stations (why?), the happy couple explored the town before splitting up; Mrs to the shops and the chubby one to the delights of omnibological observation. Anyway, at first sight the bus station was not throbbing with activity.

Neither was the town! But there were plentiful signs to the museum which seemed a good place to start. The outward signs were good, public transport-wise.

The "Tivvy Bumper" was the nickname for the local "auto train" and the loco was housed in the museum.

Which was closed in January! Boo. But as fbb expressed disappointment, the very nice lady curator offered to let the sad lad into the building. Hooray.

The visit was, perforce, brief; but a delight. There was the Tivvy Bumper loco with an assortment of other local railwayana ...

... and other nostaligic transport stuff. Well worth a visit; but not in January!

The museum doubles as Tourist Infromation and fbb was pleased to see a large rack of leaflets.

As this included all the Devon County books, everything local was available. Well done! What was even more encouraging was a wide selection of railway books.

fbb was sore tempted! And this section of the building is open in January.

The visiting pair from East Devon then agreed to split up with fbb's good lady off to enjoy the retail experience of the town and himself back to the bus station.

But first, coffee!

** Due to the complexities of the road access to Parkway, the fbbs missed the opportunity to "pop in" on their return journey. Access from and to Tiverton (via A361, top left of map below) involves a "double run" to and from the M5 roundabout (bottoom right).

The bus stop flag may have been changed to remove the "brand" for service 1 which no longer appears on the buses.

But it probably hasn't.

 Next bus blog : Thursday 5th February 

A Traipse to Tiverton [2]

Via Tiverton Parkway?

Thus wrote fbb yesterday. Our revered government closed down Transport Defunct on the grounds that "other suppliers" were providing similar services. One of which was Google Transit. The occasional outbreak of hilarity often brightens the old man's dull and turgid days, so for an inspiring giggle, fbb enquired of the global gorgon that is Google.

The result was disappointing for a traveller but ludicrous as expected. And, lest our Google-supportive readers accuse fbb of entering the wrong place names, the map confirms "A" and "B" as hunky and dory.

In preparation for this blog, the enquiry was made at 1730 last Saturday and repeated at 2000 ditto; it was re-checked yesterday at 0900.

OK let's try something else.

Google offers a true traipse with a total "transit" time of ...

... just under five hours. Seems a bit slow, doesn't it? But there is a good reason for that as the map reveals.

Something doesn't look quite right?

Train from Exeter south to Starcross, National Express 337 to Taunton then National Express 502 to Tiverton. Easy peasy. As well as the route's being double barrelled tosh, the 337 doesn not stop at Starcross anyway!

fbb never thought that he would write the next sentence.

Thank goodness for Traveline! We are offered a selection of sensible options:- bus to Exeter then Stagecoach 55 to Tiverton, for example.

Or Auntie Frances' Axe Valley Travel bus to Axminster, train to Exeter and thence 155 to Tiverton.

Both options are hardly slick at just over two hours (23 miles as the fly crows, 33 miles by road) but a tad better that Google Transit's five!

Traveline also provides a map showing the walk route from Central station to the 55/155 bus in Exeter.

This is good, but not the best option. Better is to walk back along the platform to the eastern station exit ...

... where the luxuriously appointed bus stop, complete will full timetable information, shelter and seat (in your drams, buster!) ...

... is right outside the barrier shed. But that version comes from someone who knows, not from a computer program which doesn't!

The 55/155 bus service runs every 30 minutes during the day, Monday to Saturday; but watch out for the difference between a 55 and a 155.

There isn't one! 155s merely continue from Tiverton to Barnstaple every two hours.

But no mention of anything via Tiverton Parkway.

P.S. According to their own web site (timetable search), Stagecoach does not operate a service 55.

Well, you can't have everything.

 Next bus blog : Wednesday 4th February 

A Traipse** to Tiverton [1]

Once by Train!

From 1848 you could change from the Great Western Main line at Tiverton Junction for the short trip into the town. The junction station which also served the Hemyock branch was at Willand but nothing remains today ...

... except the expected industrial sites.

In 1884 a line was opened between Morebath Junction and Tiverton  allowing a service to run south from Dulverton.

The line was completed south to Exeter just under one year later via a junction and station at Stoke Canon ...

... again consigned to oblivion. All closed in 1963/4. Oblivion consigning was equally satisfactory in Tiverton itself where a splendid station ...

... soon bit the dust to be replaced by a town centre avoiding road.

But lucky old Tiverton was given a second station called West Exe!

This station was opened on 19 March 1928 to serve the western side of Tiverton and Heathcoat's Mill, a major employer in the town. It was equipped with a wooden shelter, and the original 109 feet (33 m) platform was almost doubled in length in May 1937.

It was generally unstaffed, but at busy times a porter was sometimes sent from Tiverton to collect and sell tickets.

Ironically, the observant explorer can (just!) spot the site today.

There is an otherwise unexplained grassy mound with a row of cottages still standing beyond.

Heathcoat's Mill ...

... still stands in its little cul-de-sac off West Exe North.

The factory was destroyed by a fire in 1936, but rebuilt and adapted to make "hard" items as well as textiles. In the Second World War, it made parachutes, aircraft components and agricultural machinery. It has provided lace for several royal weddings including that of the present Queen and the net for the late Princess Diana's wedding veil.

In the second half of the 20th century, the Heathcoat factory became increasingly mechanised. John Heathcoat and Co was taken over by the Coats Paints group in 1969, while a management buyout in 1984 enabled the firm to operate independently. Today the factory is known as Heathcoat Fabrics. It employs 438 people and supplies a range of apparel and high technology textiles to markets around the world.

 Tiverton Junction Station ... 

... remained in use until 1986, although nothing juncted post 1964! It was replaced by Tiverton Parkway, one of a new breed of stations not associated with towns and cities but designed to act as a railhead for a wide area.

Tiverton Parkway was built on the site of Sampford Peverell Halt (closed 1964) ...

... and could best be described as basic! All facilities are gathered in a single storey building on the "up" (to London) side.

The "down" (south-westbound) platform manages to make an inter-city station look like a badly used commuter halt!

Not much better than Sampford Peverell. Neverthless, it should be possible to travel from Seaton to Axminster, thence to Exeter St Davids for a train to Tiverton Parkway and a bus into the town.

fbb will continue his investigation tomorrow.

In the meantime ...

... one of the station facilities looks intriguing. Parkway Pantry, the place for all your booze?

Better check that internet page again!

** Traipse - a very juicy word that needs to re-enter our vocabulary. It means "to take a tedious or tiring journey". A possible clue to the contents of tomorrow's post?

 Next rail/bus blog; Tuesday 3rd February 

Kit Bashing for Beginners

Airfix was founded in 1939 by a Hungarian businessman Nicholas Kove, initially manufacturing rubber inflatable toys. In 1947, Airfix introduced injection moulding, initially producing pocket combs. In 1949, the company was commissioned to create a promotional model of a Ferguson TE20 tractor.

The model was initially moulded in cellulose acetate plastic and hand assembled for distribution to Ferguson sales representatives. To increase sales and lower production costs, the model was sold in kit form by Woolworth's stores.

The first aircraft kit was produced in 1955. Most sad old men of fbb's generation will remember the excitement of making their first Airfix kit. Although we were advised to paint all the parts before assembly, we never did. Using a little tube of glue (which stuck to everything, especially clothing much to mothers' disgust) we hurried to join the two halves of the fuselage together, add the wings and tail plus other unimportant bits like pilot, propellor and landing wheels. Then the not very well finished kit was attached to the ceiling with drawing pin and thread, only to fall out onto the floor without warning, knocking delicate bits off the model. These delicate bits would immediately evaporate, never to be seen again.

Although fbb had become interested in model railways, he just had to make a Spitfire - and did!

But it was the railway models that were the answer to a maiden's schoolboy's prayer. For a modest 2/- (two shillings or 10p; some as much as three shillings) you could equip your railway with realistic scenery at pocket money prices. 2/- inflated to today's prices would be £2; today's spitfire, for example, costs £7.99. OUCH!

In the late 80s, Hornby Railways (formerly Triang) started selling kits. fbb picked this one up at his local model shop for £5.

fbb thought this was expensive for very old stock, possibly of poor quality; but he was wrong on both counts. On-line prices ranged from £9.50 to £15. OUCH! Produced on the continent, this was originally advertised as a GWR signal box. The flatter pitched roof looks very french!

But the kit most definitely wasn't GWR.

Neither was it an Airfix kit.

And it was too big for fbb's tiny little back-yard layout. His quarry-based preservation railway model would never have needed such a huge construction. So try "kit bashing"!

Out comes the hacksaw, glue and paint and we reduce the Hornby kit by one third.

Most kits are hard to paint. Getting good joins between the colours of framing and weatherboarded panels is very hard, especially for an old codger whose hands are not as steady as they were. But not for this Hornby kit, no longer in production.

First paint the framing; splash it on!

Then paint the boards, which are separate mouldings.

Glue the mouldings into their allocated slots and you have a reasonably clean and tidy signal box.

With a little bit of touching-up here and there, fbb has the basis of a very tidy little model. The kit is not finished and has been assembled temporarily for the photo. If you have good eyesight you can just see the join where the chopped up roof has been reglued.

Signal boxes are disappearing from the real railway, with enthusiasts weeping over their loss. Each former railway company had different designs which contributed to the distinctiveness of old-style privatised railway travel long after nationalisation.

This from Notwork Rail a year ago.

The new state-of-the-art rail operating centre is one of 12 which will eventually control large parts of the railway across Sussex and Surrey, replacing more than 800 signal boxes and other operational locations currently used to control trains. The new rail operating centre is part of a transformation of the railway in Three Bridges which will see it firmly placed on the national railway map for many decades to come. Eventually it will control all of the railway from London Victoria and London Bridge stations, along the length of the Brighton main line to Brighton and the south coast, and large areas either side in both Sussex and Surrey.

Efficient, maybe, but 21st century signal boxes lack the character and personality of the old way of doing things. And you can't sit on a wall  near the "box"  at Three Bridges and listen to the bell codes, thus predicting to other less experienced "spotters" what the next train will be. Enjoy those that are left!

Just remembered. After a tortuous corporate history, Airfix is now owned by Hornby.

 Next bus blog : Monday 2nd February