I apologise for the lack of posts recently - I've been away, and the prospect of nostalgic posts did not capture my enthusiasm to write. However, after trips to Salisbury, Taunton and Exeter this week, alongside capturing rail replacement bus work at Southampton Central on Easter Monday, I am looking forward with new material to write.
Today's blog entry is a little different - it is more a photographic experience and blog praising "The Mule" - the former LSWR mainline route between Exeter and London Waterloo, a journey I always enjoy taking and took on the afternoon of Wednesday 8th April. Don't worry - for the bus-purists out there, there are a few elements of buses in today's piece - look, here's one of the new Streetdeck Electroliners in Salisbury...
There will be a few buses that feature in this blog entry, particularly now that there is a small interchange at Salisbury, where you can sample the brand new Wright StreetDeck Electroliners on the X4... 1340 (HV26 JVF) is seen arriving in early evening sunshine at Salisbury railway station.
The South Western Railway route between Exeter and London competes with the faster, more grand Great Western Railway route. It takes longer - a rough look at timetables indicates 45 minutes longer - but is cheaper too, and you can get some excellent advance tickets if you know you're travelling on that route. Exeter to Salisbury is about 1hour 50 minutes, sometimes longer, with another hour and a half between Salisbury and London Waterloo.
(c) Open Street Map
Travel is 100% by the South Western Railway Class 159 fleet, with the odd Class 158 to increase capacity. All of these trains include a First Class offering - now, while you might not be served drinks and small meals, or even have a toilet directly linked to the first class area, the seats are extremely confortable...
Tickets are reasonable too - a 'walk-on' standard off-peak single between Exeter Central and Salisbury is £18.50, with the First Class option £31.50 - cheaper if you book in advance too. The First Class section has 2+1 seats, which all have a table, all recline and all meet up with the window - it really was a pleasant travelling environment and very comfortable for the 2-hour trip to Salisbury. I caught the 1629 from Exeter Central, scheduled to arrive in Salisbury for 1822. We departed on time and arrived in Salisbury three minutes late - mainly down to late running incoming trains (at Pinhoe and Tisbury) on the single track sections.
A six-car 159 has two coaches with about two-thirds of the coach dedicated to First Class. For those interested, in the section where I was sat, there were three fare paying customers in First Class on departure from Exeter Central (one being myself). Alongside us were four youths who chanced their luck on an otherwise busy service - standard seats were already at a premium leaving Exeter (and, in my limited experience of using the West of England line, high demand out of Exeter is regular. They got off at the next stop, Pinhoe - of course, to say the adolescents chanced their luck may have been presumptious - they may have had first class tickets for that short journey...! Four other passengers joined or left at different parts of the journey.
For the first section of the route, the 159s cannot really get in their stride - it is more a commuter service, stopping regularly at the various stations on the predominantly single line between Exeter Central and Honiton. Indeed, again in my limited experience, it often seems the case the train is very busy leaving Exeter with it generally quietening down around Honiton and Axminster. The double-track section ends at Pinhoe - almost before it got started - and then there are frequent pauses at Pinhoe, Cranbrook, Whimple and Feniton. Some of these stations were initially closed by the Western Region in the late 1960s / early 1970s and have since re-opened, whilst others - Cranbrook in summer 2014 - have been opened with the growth east of Exeter. Unfortunately, there are currently no plans to restore the double-track along this section, so all train operating companies can do are increase the length of the trains - although this is again not a perfect solution as several stations can only take a three-car train.
Particularly after Honiton, the service goes into some beautiful countryside - here's a view down to Lyme Regis I think - it may also have been the Axe Valley - taken just outside of Axminster.
Some of the fine older, original buildings still stand, such as at Axminster...
A shot from outside the station, taken in 2021...
Axe Valley's LX58 LJA pauses outside a very wet Axminster railway station en-route to Beer on 5th August 2021 - typical British summertime weather!
Not too long after Axminster, via Crewkerne, is Yeovil Junction, home of the Yeovil Railway Centre and to British Helicopters, reportedly - a link to the nearby RNAS Yeovilton base I believe.
Although no locomotives were on display, there are always a range of carefully-restored wagons in the nearby sidings to enjoy.
The delights continue, first via Sherborne railway station, which retains its original station building and, looking southwards on departure to Salisbury / before arrival in to Sherborne, you can see the ruined Sherborne Old Castle - an English Heritage site. The castle was a grand and strong fortified location under the Bishops of Salisbury. In Elizabethan times, Sir Walter Raleigh leased the castle. It's status as a formidable fortress played a key role in the English Civil War, where it was utilised by the Royalists. As English Heritage put it, described by Cromwell as "malicious and mischievous, like its owner", it finally fell to Parliamentarian forces in 1645.
Next, on on to the former interchange with the long-lamented Somerset & Dorset line at Templecombe. The station retains only one platform, having once had three and a nearby depot (or shed). Templecombe was again one of the stations initially closed in March 1966, but re-opened since closure on 3rd October 1983. Curiously, the original arrangement required a footbridge over to the original 'up' platform, but in recent years, a new platform has been built out over the space of the former downline. This allows passengers to directly leave the train without the need of a footbridge and thereby allowing step-free access for all. It is a shame that the finances were not available to reinstate the second line. However, the station has a team who look after the station - the exterior of the former signal box is restored and there former 'up' platform is well-kept with displays and flower arrangements.
The passing places do mean there can be disruption on the West of England line - here we meet a southbound 'down' service pausing in the Tisbury loop. We had to wait in Tisbury station for this to arrive in the loop before proceding - again, there are no plans to upgrade the West of England line but it does feel like greater capacity at key locations would be beneficial...
After Tisbury is Salisbury - one of my favourite railway stations and gateway to the south and west. The interchange with buses and taxis has recently been renovated and improved, as illustrated below.
Morebus (Go South Coast) services X3 to Ringwood and Bournemouth and X4 to Larkhill have been extended from the city centre of Salisbury to the station at a frequency of every half-hour, massively improving connections on offer. There are two bus stops to the left, where the X3 and X4 stop, andon the right, there is the bespoke stop for the Stonehenge tour. The dedicated electrics are not in service yet, so the existing ADL Enviro400MMCs continue to do the honours presently.
Enviro 1635 (HF66 CFD) arrives not on the Stonehenge Tour but rather confusingly on route 66 - one of three evening peak route 66s that can be requested to serve the station. 
Sister 1637 (HF66 CFG) on the dedicated Stonehenge Tour service and stand.
And that's that really - in summary - if you have the time to spare, I certainly recommend a ride along the West of England route. So much to see and enjoy at the different stations and beautiful Wiltshire, Somerset and Devon countryside to see as well. And all for a decent price, especially if booked in advance. I appreciate that the disruptions to the line (single line issues, subsiding embankments, short formations) do happen - but I've chosen to ignore them for the purposes of this blog!
Ironically, as I write this, the 1629 depature from Exeter Central today (9th April) is cancelled - certainly not perfect - although my trip along the West of England line on 8th April was wonderful.
Thank you for reading.
James
