Our Reviewer Tony Taft reports:-
Today we had a presentation by Andrew Hamilton who is one of the team that operate the Dartmouth Steam Railway.
When you travel on the railway Andrew can be seen doing what he loves, checking the tickets and conversing with the passengers. Andrew is one of the shareholders and he told us that when he bought his shares they were selling at one pound per share, today you would have to pay ten pounds, so that was a very good investment on his part.
Today Andrew was giving us a talk on the history of the Dartmouth steam railway, and with the aid of many slides he talked us through the history of the railway. He gave us so much information that this review will only just scratch the surface, you could say information overload.
I absolutely love trains, and even go on the train to Newton Abbot rather than use the bus, so this presentation was of particular interest for me.
When I have used the steam train I think it has to be one of the most beautiful journeys in the country possibly in the world, there is nothing more relaxing than looking out the window and listening to Goliath chuffing away at the front, I am sure you all must feel the same as I do.
I have included a rare photo of the Kingswear Castle in 1904 transferring passengers across the river to Dartmouth, Andrew said that this annoyed passengers who had Dartmouth as their booked destination only to find that they had to disembark at Kingswear, and then having to carry their luggage on to a ferry.
The first section of the Torquay line was opened in 1848, which ran to Torre station, which was the main station for Torbay for the next eleven years, it was then extended from Torre to Paignton, and a further five years before the line was completed to Kingswear. The line finally opened to traffic on the 16th August 1864.
The Dart valley railway acquired the section of line and started train services in 1973; the line is fully up to standards and is able to carry the largest and heaviest locomotives in Britain.
It was in 1999 that the Dart Valley Railway bough the red cruisers, they already owned the Dart pleasure craft, it was though to be a good idea to buy these vessels, they then re- named them as River Link.
Andrew gave us a very informative talk which was enjoyed by all, he clearly has a vast knowledge on the subject and was only too happy to answer all our questions, we thank him for coming to talk to us all, and hope he comes back to tell us more in the future.
Paignton Probus Club 