Great Western Coffee Shop

Should go back to being the Torbay Steam Railway if it wants to attract 'tourists'  ;)

Indeed, certainly the most logical name, considering all 4 stations served fall within Torbay (the council boundary anyway - 2 of them cast their ballot paper in South Hams, such an odd setup)

Can't say I blame it  ;)

Seconded ;D

A woman from Devon has been jailed for a year after admitting stealing nearly ^50,000 from the company where she worked to fund her fruit machine addiction.

Tracey Spilsbury, 47, from Paignton, was employed as a cashier at the Dart Steam Railway Company. Between April and September this year she stole ^45,972 - 50% of the company's annual profit.

The mother of one was sentenced earlier at Exeter Crown Court.

Prosecutor Mark Barton said Ms Spilsbury's job at the railway involved taking all the money in from the cashiers and putting it in the safe. When police arrested her they found just ^150 in cash at her home. She told them she had spent all the money on fruit machines, trying to win back what she had already taken.

Mr Barton said: "It had spiralled out of control. She spent none of it on her family or herself but fed it all into the fruit machines."

The court heard that Ms Spilsbury's gambling addiction was so bad that she was playing two gaming machines at the same time.

Defence barrister Gareth Evans said: "The extent of her dishonesty took her by surprise. Nobody was aware of what she was doing and she was not spending that money in any other way. She never expected to get away with this and every time she went to work she expected the police to be there to arrest her."

Sentencing her Judge David Tyzack QC said: "This is a very sad case indeed. You wickedly helped yourself to the very substantial amount of money. The company can ill afford to lose such a large sum of money and there is no chance it will get any of the money back."

Dartmouth steam railway station development delayed

Plans to completely redevelop a train station on a steam railway in Devon have been put on hold for 12 months, its managing company has said.

Work had been due to be carried out at the Queen's Park Station in Paignton, home to the Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway.

The Dartmouth Steam Railway and River Boat Company said improvements would be made for the 2011 season instead.

It added that it hoped to carry out a complete refurbishment by April 2012.

Group general manager Andrew Pooley said: "Unforeseen technical challenges has led to this late decision and I felt it was too risky to proceed with the full redevelopment this year. In the meantime, we will be upgrading some of the facilities at Paignton."

Was this the company where an employee was recently jailed for making off with over ^45000 which she then spent playing fruit machines?

^1m revamp of steam railway station is put back for a year

A ^1 million development at the headquarters of a Torbay steam railway company has been postponed for a year.

The work by the Dartmouth Steam Railway and River Boat Company ^ formerly known as the Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway and Riverlink ^ was due to start at the Queens Park Station in Paignton on November 1.

The company now says redevelopment of the railway station has been put back 12 months to provide enough time for preparation works to be carried out over the winter closed season.

The decision comes a week after former company cashier and booking clerk Tracey Spilsbury 47, of Paignton, was jailed for a year for stealing almost ^46,000 to feed a gambling habit.

However company manager Andrew Pooley said: "The court case had absolutely nothing to do with our decision. Unforeseen technical challenges have led to this late decision and I felt it was too risky to proceed with the full redevelopment this year."

"Our demolition contractor needed another three weeks to do his part of the work and that would have meant a three-week over-run. The risks of delay on restarting would have cost us ^20,000 a week and that was something I was not prepared to do."

He says the postponement will ensure the completion in April 2012 for the full development is met.

"In the meantime we will be upgrading some of the facilities at Paignton," he added. "It also gives us more time to investigate renewable energy sources, in line with the new government guidelines."

He said the company will work on drainage of the site and removal of the canopy while seeking approval from Network Rail for some aspects of the project.

The work would have seen the whole station building stripped down to its steel skeleton for new cladding to be fitted, with a new raised roof and the whole building will be lengthened.

The company, which employs 100 full-time and part-time staff, says the cost of ^1 million will come from its own resources, not outside investors or banks.

Trains, which take passengers the seven miles along the South Devon coast into the Dart Valley with stations at Goodrington Sands, Churston and Kingswear, have stopped running until March except for Santa specials in December.

River trips, between Dartmouth and Totnes, run three days a week until March.