Thanks chaps for yr comprehensive answers. Unfortunately my Quail track plans don't seem to have much gradient or height info, should have looked at the 1:25000 OS^▸ (Ordnance Survey) map on the shelf before posting!

Doesn't explain the "cancelled due to signalling problems in the Taunton area" story though, but I never did believe that since it miraculously didn't affect the XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) train following, it didn't explain where the train physically was and it seemed an odd place to terminate a late-running service anyway. By sod's law my wife's iPhone was showing no signal for most of the journey as well so it was only afterwards that we could compare notes.

Thanks again
Chris

Really useful and interesting forum, wish I had discovered it earlier!

I went to Totnes on Saturday 8/10/11 in good time to pick up my wife from the 1106 from Paddington due 1406 but it wasn't shown on the platform information display. Then there was an announcement that it was cancelled "due to signalling problems in the Taunton area" so I enquired in the ticket office and was told this was true and pax were expected on the Edinburgh-Plymouth train due 1416 (and shown as running 10 mins late).

Then I overheard one of the platform staff explaining that the train in question was not going to stop at Totnes because one power car was down and it needed to take a run at Rattery Bank, the pax were going to be transferred to the XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) service at Newton Abbot. This is at least consistent with the similar thread regarding Train not stopping at Bodmin Parkway

Meanwhile on board my wife was being told that "to avoid the train (which was by then 10 mins late) being even later arriving in Plymouth and delaying following trains (which it certainly would if it had ground to a halt on the incline!) she should alight at Exeter and catch the following train. Fortunately this was only 5 mins behind and there was room on it, so all ended well.

But I hope someone with expert knowledge can answer my ensuing questions which are

• Why was the missing arrival/departure not shown at Totnes as "cancelled" rather than just removed from the display
• Why are different FGW^▸ (First Great Western) staff giving out different reasons for the non-stopping, none of which is either comprehensive or entirely true
• If Dainton bank is as steep as Rattery Bank why would a train which can't stop at Totnes be able to stop at Newton Abbot and still get over the top?
  
  

TIA^▸ (Transient Ischemic Attack (aka "mini-stroke")) Chris