We took a trip up the valley on the South Devon Railway behind the ex-GWR 0-6-0 panier tank No. 6412. The journey is through a tranquil sylvan landscape with shafts of sunlight intermittently piercing the canopy of trees on the river bank. The peace is only broken by the steady beat and exhaust from the locomotive as it pulls its string of Mark 1 coaches up the slope at a suitably sedate pace. This is attractive rural England at its best. The branch line is so typical of its type, serving occasional country towns and connecting them to the nearest main line. When we first came here, trains ran in to the main line station, but the potential bottleneck on the up track at the rail bridge over the Dart immediately to the east meant Riverside became the necessary start point for the heritage line, so that workings did not encroach on main line operations. That’s fine, as it’s only a short walk between the two, and the replacement terminus is itself a delightfully re-constructed period piece. Near Staverton, we passed 4500 Class 2-6-2 tank No. 5526 on a freight working that included brake van experience opportunities.
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