please empty your brain below
The reliable old High Speed Trains get through the splashing waves as the video shows. Not so the dainty Cross Country Voyager units with their roof-mounted electrical equipment.

They are afraid of Dawlish and, when high seas are forecast, they terminate short at Exeter.

We await with baited breath to see how the new HST replacement trains will behave in splashing sea water.

Petras409 | 27.02.17 - 8:43 a.m. | #

I can remember my family had a summer holiday at Dawlish back in 1959. The cream tea's, and that railway line on the beach, made a big impression on me.

Michael | 27.02.17 - 9:18 a.m. | #

@Petras409: As I understand it, the specification for the IEP trains included something to make sure it doesn't suffer the same fate as Voyagers do along this stretch!

RG | 27.02.17 - 9:56 a.m. | #

If you stand in certain places along the seawall, when a 125 rushes past sometimes you can feel a fine spray on your face.....
Best not to think where that spray came from.....

Dan | 27.02.17 - 10:09 a.m. | #

Apart from Exeter and Plymouth (because my dad was on a long term work assignment there) most of my foray's into Devon have been to get to Cornwall.
I really must remedy that and "do" the county properly.
My Cornish roots still won't allow me to stop at Ivor Dewdneys though!!

Cornish Cockney | 27.02.17 - 10:20 a.m. | #

The slideshow really bought back some memories. Bloody hell.

Thanks.

Chris | 27.02.17 - 10:42 a.m. | #

Looking at some of those photos, one gets a feeling Spring is almost here.

Grumpy Anon | 27.02.17 - 12:05 p.m. | #

Great pictures. I've always wondered what someone would mean if they said "I feel a little bit dawlish today".

Malcolm | 27.02.17 - 2:49 p.m. | #

Chris - same here! I've spent about 6 months here when I was 1 - 6!

| 27.02.17 - 3:21 p.m. | #

You can get a one day off peak Rover ticket for this area of Devon for about a tenner. Covers all stations Exeter>Barnstaple, Exeter>Paignton, Exeter>Exmouth, Exeter>Plymouth and Exeter>Axminster so you jump on jump off as you need to along those routes.

Splashy | 27.02.17 - 3:32 p.m. | #

I love that bit of rail line along the coast.. You do have to sit on the correct side of the train though to get the full impact of the sea.,

Cornish monkey | 27.02.17 - 5:08 p.m. | #

@Cornish Cockney. I was always Ron Dewdneys at St Levan Gate fan. They were bought out by Ivor in 2014 ! Their main difference was the pastry.

scrumpy | 27.02.17 - 6:14 p.m. | #

during more than 10 years of travelling round England for work, Plymouth was definitely the best place I visited, partly because of that train ride along the coast. I still remember it.

amber | 27.02.17 - 6:17 p.m. | #

I might have seen Michael when I was there in '59 - I remember buying a black swan of Dawlish mug and eating fish and chips from a newspaper on the bridge over the stream. Thanks DG for bringing it all back - can't think what else we did but we managed a full week in the area based there.

| 27.02.17 - 10:39 p.m. | #

Glad you enjoyed your time in Dawlish; although Exeter is a pleasant city in its own right what makes it stand out from the crowd is it's location between moor and sea.

The coastal stretch of railway is rightly famous, largely because it is so unusual, but I also love the two absolutely glorious estuaries at either end. And either side of Starcross there are two reasons to sit on the 'wrong' side of the train; the view of deer in the grounds of Powderham Castle and of the boats in Cockwood Harbour.

And you are right that while Dawlish gets very busy in the summer, not many people stay in the town itself. However, if you had made it to Dawlish Warren you would have seen several huge holiday camps there.

whiff | 28.02.17 - 5:45 a.m. | #

@Petras409- I read somewhere that special Class 802 IEP's are being developed for Devon and Cornwall to cope with the long distances and steep hills so one would hope they would be Dawlish-proofed

whiff | 28.02.17 - 7:02 a.m. | #

Oh damn, the illusive DG has passed me by, maybe I unknowingly dropped you off or picked you up at either Dawlish or Exeter.

PG | 05.03.17 - 7:12 p.m. | #











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