ashburton buzz

Above 3 Ashburton

Above 3 Buckfastleigh 1.9.1972 (copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

FACEBOOK - FRIENDS OF ASHBURTON STATION

My first ever visit to a steam line was to what was then called the Dart Valley Railway, from Totnes to Buckfastleigh. This was 42 years ago - and I was lucky enough to take a few photos.

The line wasn't technically a heritage line but a business, reopened to make money from tourists. Back then you took a round trip from Buckfastleigh to just short of Totnes, where you couldn't alight. Since then trains have run into Totnes network station and later to a separate station at Totnes (Littlehempston), which is the current situation. This saves the line huge access charges with the downside of passengers having to take a short (but scenic) walk between the two Totnes stations. The lines are still physically connected.

The line is now a genuine heritage line, the business side of things now concentrated on the nearby Paignton-Kingswear line, which closed in 1972.

But there is an elephant in the room here, and it's the last two miles of the branch between Buckfastleigh and Ashburton, which are currently lifted. Amazingly the line was truncated in the early 70s because a ROAD took part of the trackbed. But forty years on the world has changed completely, and now it's roads on the back foot and in terminal decline, whilst railways are getting busier and busier.

It's time to look at Ashburton again. Buckfastleigh is a problem on several levels. It is rather overdeveloped (in the same manner as Norden on the Swanage line and Bishop's Lydeard on the West Somerset), an intermediate station masquerading as a terminus. The South Devon Railway, as it is now known, has invested a great deal into Buckfastleigh. A shop, restaurant, loco sheds, picnic area, miniature railway and a museum. All will lose out when Ashburton becomes the terminus again. To their credit the SDR are supporting a return to Ashburton. Perhaps they've grasped that they can have the best of both worlds. With facilities remaining at Buckfastleigh the new Ashburton terminus can retain its small branch terminus atmosphere. If the timetable allows the pattern of services could include long stops at Buckfastleigh in one direction, to allow people to continue to use the facilities.

As for Ashburton they are on the cusp of a HUGE increase in tourist visitors when the line is fully reopened. And also stand to eventually gain a REAL public transport service connecting with the South Devon main line at Totnes in due course. As our road network continues to decline Ashburton can look to a future - perhaps 10 to 20 years hence - where once again the locals can catch a train and with one change be in Plymouth, London or Bristol. Local businesses will also have a way of sending out their products and bringing in their raw materials.

But I've said enough, and what I've said is pretty familiar to most of you! I'll let the people who are actually working towards the reopening tell the rest!

Preserve the chance to have a railway back in Ashburton

I write supporting a growing number of the younger element of the South Devon Railway and its supporters who are heavily involved in railway operations not too far from Ashburton.

At the time the A38 was built the Dart Valley Railway put more effort into acquiring the Paignton-Kingswear line. There was less will to retain Ashburton Station and railway.

Now the two railway lines are entirely separate, the loss of the top end of the branch is still a sore point. Increasingly - all be it late in the day - there is a desire among principally some of the South Devon Railway's most devoted volunteers to prevent decisions being made now which deny the railway returning to the town.

As part of my background, I have been working for the SDR since 1994 (full time as a paid fitter/ steam driver for 12 years and still drive steam) I now run a digital piano shop in Bristol. I have never known in all this time as much interest in Ashburton station.

I also am more aware than most of the enormous task facing any fledgling organisation when trying to work with big business and other organisations intent on making money and property developers etc. We mostly thought even 15 years ago that there was no chance of any railway resurgence to Ashburton. Many of us have grouped together, there are Facebook pages now devoted to Friends of Ashburton Station, pictures and well wishes are uploaded daily. National heritage railway press have published articles on the history and intended fate of the site.

Clearly there has been a lot of work done so far on this process of consultation for the site and many of the railway supporters have not been involved with any degree of conviction early enough in the process. While the South Devon Railway is successfully operating the very large concern that it is - any resurgence of railway to Ashburton has not yet reached out into involvement.

I can say this though - it has long been known to us at the SDR as a general rule that losing the only surviving Brunel branch line terminus station and losing the chance to try and preserve the station site, track bed and railway buildings, all of which could be restored to original design would be wrong.

Perhaps you know a great deal about heritage railways and the costs involved, perhaps you also know that they are dear to the hearts of well-wishers the country over. Even in 2014 railway heritage preservation is as strong as it was when the Dart Valley Railway was formed- see how other locations are getting their railway back.

I have always realised that any railway activity in Ashburton would not be universally welcome. Never the less the benefits to business in the town would be good.

Initially our supporters wish to see the railway land left un-developed in its entirety. The station, goods and engine sheds and the track bed secured to pear tree. Momentum for our cause could then progress towards a national fund raising campaign to recreate a heritage site, complete with running line as far as pear tree. Done well visitor numbers would certainly increase.

Now I could ramble for hours trying to impress a point of view. I could come across as yet another railway fan. I could equally be trying to support an idea that may not be the majority view of the town. Ask yourself this though- which places along the valley most look like they are glad that a little railway came, and are still glad that people with passion made it possible that the railway stayed and became loved, visited, enjoyed by the people young and old that work on it.

In this day and age where projects in this country of ours are weighed down by quite large obstacles it would be easy for the population of Ashburton to have dismissed as impossible the chance of any railway return to the town. How would they respond if they thought it was a probability?

The degree to which railways built the towns they served is so important that even in 2014 people want them back, not just as transport links ( but increasingly so ) , not just as heritage sites, ( but the tourist interest is still very high ) , not just because a few nutters want to play trains ( but because men, and women, of all ages support, work on and get real enjoyment from spending time at the railway. )

While your deliberations on planning are progressing please be assured that a new organisation affiliated to the South Devon Railway with a growing number of supporters is fearing the permanent loss of the heritage of a part of the branch that was discarded wrongly in 1971.

New younger railway pioneers with the same spirit that saved countless miles of discarded railways from obliteration are rising up to be noticed in Ashburton. Among us are people with various skills not yet moulded into a coherent body skilled to engineer our aims- but we could be, with support, a more pleasing asset to Ashburton than more car parking , more supermarkets and other normal stuff more suited to towns that don't have a genuine branch line terminus largely intact.

Membership of the South Devon Railway will, I suspect, also be in favour of protecting the former railway land for a return to Ashburton. Studies have been carried out in years gone by as to the viability of re-instating the railway to the town. One thing though is very clear, when it's gone, it's gone. Once some flats or a supermarket or a car park are built there......

Of course- what's better for Ashburton, surely not a railway heritage visitor centre with a more long term aim of reconnecting to Buckfastleigh? Heritage bus links are the obvious interim measure allowing holiday makers visitations to the town.

I am of the age now where I see a clear reality to the task ahead of persuading any organisation as big as the national park and the whole of the town that the railway would be of benefit. Put simply, it would be of more benefit than car parking, supermarkets and housing- all of which can be built elsewhere and should never be built on former railway land.

If my email aims one thing it would be this:

Please note that railway supporters, given an indication that their views have been heard, could rally to produce an asset to Ashburton more pleasing and in keeping with the benefits that heritage steam railway already brings to the rest of the entire Dart Valley. This of course made possible by ordinary passionate people with a vision.

Collectively we suggest the town refrains from further developing the historical station site and expresses an interest in allowing further development of the fledgling group currently moving to retain and reinstate to railway use, for the much wider benefit than other lesser alternatives appear to offer.

A number of people interested are attending the meeting Thursday.

The group Friends of Ashburton Station exists on Facebook with a number of supportive photos and comments. You may like to see the heritage buses parked on the terminus forecourt!

Please be under no illusion- given the chance railways can return where they belong. There are many examples and all of them seemed unlikely when in their early stages. It would be a pity for the town to think that there was no will.

Having been involved with the SDR for over 25 years now I can say that never has the thought of the old station being lost for ever been so strong and never have such a band of younger supporters felt the need to stand up. If I have added any credence to the idea to assist in the aim then I'm glad.

This email can be used in support of the best option for the retention of railway land for the purpose of purchase and maybe one day the eventual reinstatement to our fabulous railway along the Dart. We know this is a late entry bid, we also know that once lost, there is no chance of extending the South Devon Railway if there is no aim to return right to the heart of the original terminus.

Hark at me..... Started his own business, suddenly things seem achievable after all.

Let us hope.

Mark Ireland

Mark Ireland Pianos, Bristol 

markireland55@gmail.com

0117 9717116, 

07906 431918.

Tavistock Ho!

(Bere Alston 29.8.1972 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

FACEBOOK - EXETER TO PLYMOUTH

News just in is that the Bere Alston to Tavistock line will now be rebuilt. ('And about time'!) I suspect most of you are thinking.

Take a look at the rather dire picture illustrating this piece. I'd only just passed 16 and had only been taking photos for a year is my excuse, but in a way it captures everything about this line. It was a snatched shot taken from the Gunnislake train as it reversed at the station. There are a few passengers on the platform, which shows that even in the nadir of rail travel in the UK this line was still fairly well used.

There's a very evocative final paragraph in the seminal work on these routes - The Withered Arm by T E Roche. The book had described this network of routes, and the sense of shock that a MAIN line could be closed. The author takes a little walk beyond Bere Alston, just a short while after closure, and almost talks himself into believing the line is still open, because the exit to the north is on a curve (as can be seen in the photo above) and nothing seems to have changed. And then he suddenly chances upon the buffers and stares in disbelief at the empty trackbed beyond.

Like the Waverley route the main SR route to Plymouth once boasted a network of branches off it, and these all needed to be closed before the final axe could be yielded. But the Callington branch was different, road services could NEVER replace the trains because of the way the Tamar cut a meandering course, isolating village en route from easy road access. So the line remained, though spitefully the last few miles from Gunnislake to Callington WERE closed. What it meant was that a good few miles of the old main line, from which the Gunnislake line branched off also had to be kept open. Six miles north of Bere Alston was the large and important town of Tavistock, which once boasted two stations, but this short piece of the line also had to close, so fanatical were the axemen of the time. Further on, at Meldon Viaduct, the main line reappeared, freight for a few miles, then Okehampton was allowed a passenger service - but even this was closed (to passengers) in 1972. I was there a few weeks before this stretch of line also closed to passengers, approached from Exeter of course. Freight kept going, and in recent years passenger services have been reintroduced on a few days a year. The line lives on here as well, if currently truncated!

Of course back in 1972 many people seriously believed the railways were finished, a withering rump remaining for those too poor to afford cars. Things have changed completely now, with rail in the ascendent and busier than it's been for almost a hundred years. We feel sorry for those people that are still tied to their cars, and now it's roads that are in decline (terminal this time).

Yet we're stuck with a fragmented rail network, designed for a world that's gone, and we need to get our railways back as quickly as we can, before the roads fail completely. There is the additional problem of climate change or, as it's now being rebranded, climate chaos. We all saw the terrible scenes at Dawlish last winter, when we were hit by ten storms in three months thanks to the stuck jetstream, directly caused by rapidly rising temperatures over the Arctic. We may find that many future winters are as extreme or more so, coupled with rapidly rising sea levels this spells the slow end of the 'alternative' route between Exeter and Plymouth via Dawlish, and the rapid rise of the Okehampton 'alternative'. Whilst we may get away with closing the ONLY route to Torbay, Plymouth and resurgent Kernow for now, and for a few weeks, that won't be acceptable in years to come when the road option is no longer available.

This is the REAL agenda behind the reopening of Tavistock. It may be dressed differently for public consumption, but I think we all know what this is really about. With Tavistock back on the network that gap to Meldon will seem tiny - smaller than the Borders Railway that will reopen next year for example (and through more challenging terrain!) Within a few years no doubt a solid and financed plan to close the link and give the west a second route to Plymouth, Torbay and Kernow will emerge. 

But this is just one reopening. To build resilience and keep our economy moving as the oil age ends we'll need a thousand .....

the problem with heritage railways

(All 1.9.1972)

I'm glad we have a lot of heritage railways in the UK but I'll be a lot happier when they begin to morph into proper community railways as I reckon that will protect them from the ravages of Peak Oil and the hands of the government!

It's great that in 2012 we can still see rural steam trains running through beautiful countryside, and I can think of few better ways of spending a day than at a heritage line.

But one problem for me is that they freeze history. Look at  these shots, apart from a few details they  could have been taken last summer. Heritage railways don't really change with the times, and photos don't capture a true railway atmosphere for this reason.

I'd much rather have been down at Totnes photographing the Westerns etc that were travelling through, because I'd have caught a moment in time (and would have FAR more valuable negatives!) I could have returned to Buckfastleigh at any time and could have captured just about the same shot.

I'm not offering any cure for this problem, just making an observation!

Looe branch, 1972

FACEBOOK - RAIL THING - THE LOOE AND CARADON BRANCHES

Following on from Abby's picture of Liskeard yesterday, here are some 1972 shots I took on the branch.

This line is very scenic and also extremely useful, although the strange junction arrangements at both Liskeard and Coombe Junction did lead the GWR to propose an alternative branch line in the 30s, which fortunately never happened!

The line is now VERY busy and getting busier every year. Cornwall held on to a few of its branches - Falmouth, Newquay, Looe and St Ives, but sadly some lines which really should not have closed - and are DESPERATELY needed now - still remain closed. Helston is bringing its line back bit by bit, and the Bodmin Railway is getting closer to Padstow, Fowey has a freight line only but Bude is still about 30 miles from the nearest railhead and Newquay's other branch, which served lots of Cornish villages, remains closed.  

a western at Truro

TRURO

(Copyright 18.8.1972 Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

FACEBOOK - RAIL THING - WESTERN REGION DIESEL HYDRAULIC LOCOMOTIVES

RAIL THING WEBSITE

I've never been a great loco fan but the Western Region diesel hydraulics were distinctive even to me! Family holidays spent at Dawlish Warren in the early 70s introduced these exotic locos to me, and I did manage to capture a few of them on film before they disappeared. This one was at Truro on 18 August 1972.

looe branch 1972

Causeland.

Liskeard.

Coombe Junction.

Sandplace.

(All pics 29.8.1972 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

FACEBOOK - RAIL THING - THE LOOE AND CARADON BRANCHES

My first trip on the Looe branch was on 29 August 1972, when I took these shots.

This is an unusual line with an unusual history. It was originally unconnected to the newtork and extended up on to the moors at Cheesewring. Its original purpose was to take quarried materials off the moor down to Looe Harbour. Eventually a tortuous connecting line was built to link it to the GWR at Liskeard. The Looe branch station at Liskeard is at right angles to the main line station, the lines are physically linked through the goods yard.

The line is still going strong, in fact it would be very hard to imagine Looe functioning without it. Whilst in 1972 the line was at its nadir with the trains almost empty, these days it's a job to get a seat in the summer. The line is very scenic and it would be nice to see it re-extended back towards the harbour - it was cut back in the 1960s when railways were in decline.

More info (from Wikipedia)

The Looe Valley Line is an 8 ³⁄₄ miles (14 km) community railway from Liskeard to Looe in Cornwall, United Kingdom, that follows the valley of the East Looe River for much of its course. It is operated by Great Western Railway.

History

The Looe Valley Line was opened as the Liskeard and Looe Railway on 27 December 1860 from a station at Moorswater, a little west of Liskeard, to the quayside at Looe, replacing the earlier Liskeard and Looe Union Canal. At Moorswater it connected with the Liskeard and Caradon Railway which conveyed granite from quarries on Bodmin Moor.

Passenger services commenced on 11 September 1879, but the Moorswater terminus was inconvenient as it was remote from Liskeard and a long way from the Cornwall Railway station on the south side of the town. On 15 May 1901 the railway opened a curving link line from Coombe Junction, a little south of Moorswater, to the now Great Western Railway station at Liskeard. The section from Coombe Junction to Moorswater was closed to passenger traffic on the same day but passenger numbers tripled. The new connecting line had to climb a considerable vertical interval to reach the Cornish Main Line which passed above Moorswater on a 147 feet (45m) high viaduct. The Liskeard and Looe Railway was taken over by the Great Western Railway in 1909 and the attractive seaside resort of Looe became heavily promoted as a holiday destination in railway's publicity.

The section beyond Looe station to the quay was closed in 1916 and the Caradon line north of Moorswater fell out of use at around the same time.

In 1966 the line was due to be closed under Richard Beeching's Reshaping of Britain's Railways plan, but was reprieved just two weeks before its scheduled closure by Minister of Transport Barbara Castle.

Community rail

Looe Valley Line road sign at Sandplace

Since 1992 the Looe Valley Line has been one of the railway lines promoted by the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership. The Looe Valley Railway Company Limited, a non-profit trading arm of the Partnership, has operated a summer ticket and information office at Looe since 2004, and the Friends of the Looe Valley Line group undertake voluntary activities. Passenger numbers have risen from around 58,000 in 2001 to 95,000 in 2010.

The line is promoted by many means such as regular timetable and scenic line guides, as well as leaflets highlighting leisure opportunities such as walking, birdwatching, and visiting country pubs.

The Looe Valley Line Rail Ale Trail was launched early in 2004 and encourages rail travellers to visit eleven pubs near the line. Seven of these are in Looe, two in Liskeard, one at Sandplace, and one inDuloe, a 30-minute walk from Causeland station. Nine or eleven stamps collected in the Rail Ale Trail leaflet entitle the participant to claim special Looe Valley Line Rail Trail souvenir merchandise.

The line was designated as a community rail line in September 2005, being one of seven pilots for the Department for Transport's Community Rail Development Strategy. This aims to establish the true costs and revenues for the line with an aim of improving them. It is also looking at simplifiying the reversal of trains, considering the costs and benefits should the line be "microfranchised" separately from the Great Western Franchise, and the potential for opening a Park and Ride station at Moorswater where the goods sidings are close to the A38 Liskeard Bypass.

In 2007 the signs on the Looe Valley platform at Liskeard were replaced with brown and cream signs in the style used by the Western Region of British Railways in the 1950s and 1960s.

Passenger volume

The majority of Looe Valley passengers travel the whole length of the line. Around 4,000 people now join or leave trains at Causeland each year, the busiest intermediate station, however many weeks find no one using Coombe Junction. Comparing the year from April 2008 to that which started in April 2002, passenger numbers at Looe have increased by 14%, but at Causeland they have increased by 92%.

[hide] [ v t e   ] Looe Valley Line
Legend Former line to Caradon Moorswater 0.00 Liskeard Cornish Main Line 2.00 Coombe Junction Halt Coombe Junction 3.75 St Keyne Wishing Well Halt 5.00 Causeland 6.50 Sandplace Terras Crossing 8.75 Looe Buller Quay

Descending to Coombe

The line is single track for the whole of its length and is worked by just a single train set each day. Trains leave Liskeard railway station from a platform at right angles to the main line platforms, initially running northeast away from Looe. Beyond the platform the line takes a long right-hand curve, passing the connection through the goods yard to the main line, and diving underneath the A38 road twice. It then descends steeply, now heading generally southwest, and passes under the Liskeard viaduct carrying the Cornish Main Line 150 feet (46m) above.

Curving right once more, the train joins the main branch line from Looe at Coombe Junction, and comes to a stand on a small level crossing. Most trains change direction here, the train's guard operating the points (see Signalling below), but two or three in each direction continue a few yards further to call at Coombe Junction Halt at Lamellion. Beyond the platform the line still continues to Moorswater, passing under the main line again beneath the Moorswater viaduct, but this section only sees very infrequent Freightliner (UK) trains carrying cement.

Along the valley

With the driver and guard having now swapped ends, the train recommences its southerly journey, now running alongside the old Liskeard and Looe Union Canal and East Looe River. Another level crossing is passed at Lodge, and then a short journey brings the train to St Keyne Wishing Well Halt, adjacent to the "Magnificent Music Machines" museum of fairground organs and similar instruments. The holy well of St Keyne is near the village which is a ten-minute walk from the station.

South of St Keyne the canal swaps to the west side of the line for a while, but as the valley closes in it disappears altogether for a distance where the railway was built on top of the redundant canal. One of the old canal's locks can be seen at Causeland railway station. This is the oldest station on the line as it was opened in 1879 when passenger trains first started operating. In common with most of the stations it has been rebuilt in recent years, a smart brick shelter having replaced the original wooden hut.

Beside the estuary

Causeway approach to Terras Crossing

After passing Sandplace railway station the railway follows the east side of the river, which is now a tidal estuary that the line follows to its terminus. The line passes over one more level crossing, the unusual Terras Crossing, where the road approaches the crossing over a causeway that is liable to flooding at high tide, so the footpath is raised on boards alongside. As the crossing is ungated trains must come to a stand and sound their horn before crossing. The ruin of the final lock of the canal is on the east of the line here.

After running further alongside the tidal estuary the line finally arrives at Looe railway station, opposite the point at which the West Looe River flows into the East Looe River to form the tidal Looe harbour. The town centre is a five-minute walk further alongside the river and buses to Polperro stop on the road near the station.

All distances along the line are measured from the point near the seven-span road bridge across the river where the Liskeard and Looe Railway connected with the private sidings on Buller Quay. The original station, now the site of the Police Station, was 14 chains (308 yards or 282m) north of this point, but the simple station of 1968 construction is forty yards north of this: thus the mile post marking ¼ mile from the original end of the line is in fact opposite the current platform, just 20 yards from the present southern end of the line.

Services

A train at St keyne Wishing Well Halt

The service operated by Great Western Railway since 10 December 2006 consists of nine trains each way daily. During the peak summer period from 20 May to 9 September 2007 three additional services were operated, including a late evening train. Sunday services only operate during this peak period, eight trains running on these days during 2007.

Coombe Junction Halt railway station is served by only two or three trains each way. The remaining intermediate stations are request stops – this means that passengers alighting must tell the guard that they wish to do so, and those waiting to join must signal clearly to the driver as the train approaches.

The trains are formed of either two-car Class 150 or single-car Class 153 DMUs. 150233 was once named Lady Margret of Looe Valley (the original Lady Margret was a steam locomotive belonging to the Liskeard and Looe Railway), and 153369 was named The Looe Valley Explorer. Both these trains carried large pictures on the outside showing local scenes, but interworked with other similar trains throughout the Great Western Railway network so did not work the line every day. Both these trains have now lost their special liveries and are now painted in the standard First Great Western livery.

Signalling

The guard rejoins the train at Coombe Junction after operating the point controls

The line is supervised from the signal box at Liskeard, which also controls the entry and exit from the branch onto the main line. A complication arises because of the existence of the Coombe to Moorswater freight line, thus the entire branch line is divided into three distinct single track sections controlled by either tokens or wooden staffs.

1. The section from Liskeard to Coombe is operated under the authority of a Tyers No. 9 Electric Token System. This consists of a pair of electrically interlocked machines, one in the Liskeard signal box and the other located in a hut at the No. 1 ground frame. The pair of machines only allow one token to be removed from either machine at any one time. However, the system has been modified to allow the token to be removed from and returned to the machine at Liskeard without the co-operation of a signalman at the Coombe machine as that machine is normally unstaffed.^[2] Single track token machines normally require the co-operation of both signalmen to ensure that the train is properly offered and accepted.^[3]
2. The section from Looe to Coombe is operated under the authority of a wooden staff, which has a key attached that unlocks the No. 1 ground frame, allowing the points to be changed to give access to the Looe branch.
3. The section from Moorswater to Coombe is operated under the authority of a separate wooden staff, which also has a key attached that unlocks the No. 2 ground frame, controlling the trap points at the north end of Coombe station.

The train driver is only permitted to enter a section when in possession of the correct staff or token. There is a gap between the three sections at Coombe, but as the No. 1 ground frame (at Coombe Junction) and the station are visible from each other this section is regarded as being within the "station limits" of the ground frame (the "signalbox"). That is, all movements around the No. 1 ground frame through to Coombe station must be under the authority of the guard's hand signals (the guard acting as signalman as far as the line's operation is concerned).

The Moorswater section has a fixed "stop board" protecting the station. Similarly, the Looe section has a stop board before the points at Coombe Junction. There is no stop board on the Liskeard section because the points must be locked in position to allow access to the ground frame's station limits, otherwise the Looe branch staff cannot be removed from the ground frame. The stop boards are fixed signals and a train may not be driven past without authority from the guard operating the ground frame.

No 2 Ground Frame

The Liskeard-Coombe Token is rarely surrendered at Liskeard until the end of the day, unless a goods train is scheduled to run through while the train is there. At Coombe Junction it used to be surrendered to the train's guard, who would place it in the token machine at the No. 1 ground frame and then use the Coombe-Looe staff to unlock the points, allowing the train to proceed back through the junction onto that section. However, in practice, the guard usually retains the token for the journey to Looe (in his capacity as signalman) as other trains rarely use the line today. The points are then returned to normal, allowing a goods train to traverse the branch if required, and the staff is given to the driver as authority to proceed to Looe and return. The token machine at Coombe is rarely used these days and indeed the hut that contains it is usually kept locked.

A goods train will similarly use a Liskeard-Coombe Token, surrendering it to the guard who, on this movement, will insert it into the Coombe token machine. The guard will then collect the Coombe-Moorswater staff, which is kept in the token machine hut, giving authority to enter the section to Moorswater. The points at the No. 1 ground frame are not changed for this movement, but a set of trap points, by the Coombe No. 2 ground frame at the north end of the station, must be opened and then closed again once the train has passed over. Since the driver of a goods train has to pull a considerable distance beyond the No. 2 ground frame he must physically touch the staff before proceeding out of Coombe station. However, the guard has to retain possession of it in order to operate the trap points again once the train has passed. Thus the Moorswater branch is actually operated by a variation of the staff and ticket system, the guard's verbal instruction to proceed taking the place of the ticket, once the driver has touched the staff. Once the trap points have been reset, the guard can give the staff to the driver.