Templecombe station

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

A video news report, from the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Heavy rain overnight has led to flooding in Somerset and much of South West England.

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said it was attending 51 flood incidents and called on motorists not to attempt to drive through flood water.

Footage of flood water pouring from a railway line near Templecombe, some five miles (8km) south of Wincanton, was sent to the BBC by Daniel Collinson.

[inspector_blakey]

Current state of play on the West of England line (until close of service today):

No trains between Gillingham and Exeter St D

Replacement bus Gillingham to Yeovil Junc and vice versa, calling Templecombe and Sherborne
Replacement bus Yeovil Junc to Exeter St D and vice versa, calling Axminster and Honiton.

Due to flooding on roads, there is currently no rail or replacement bus service to Crewkerne, Feniton, Whimple or Pinhoe.

The weather has left a real mess in its wake, with flooding at Whimple, Honiton and Crewerne together with a landslip between Axminster and Honiton. Train services have also been amended for tomorrow (Thu 22 Nov), with no trains running YVJ - EXD^» (Exeter St Davids - next trains) and replacement buses filling in the gaps:

http://www.southwesttrains.co.uk/alerts.aspx

[grandsire]

From SW Trains website looks as if line west of Yeovil will remain closed for a while:

"Due to a landslip at Honiton and flooding near Axminster, we are unable to run any trains between Yeovil Junction and Exeter St Davids until further notice.
Our engineers are on site and are working hard to repair the damage. Due to the extent of the damage and the continued bad weather expected over the weekend, the current estimate is that the line will not open until further notice.
Bad weather over the weekend has caused further damage means that the line will remain closed.
West of England train services which normally run between London Waterloo and Exeter St Davids will only run from London Waterloo to Yeovil Junction, at which point they will return to London Waterloo.
Message Received :25/11/2012 10:16"

[swrural]

Excellent news.

<http://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/update/2012-11-26/exeter-to-yeovil-line-reopens/?>

I'm hugely impressed  -it's still not great to be outside down here and those chaps must have worked wonders.

[inspector_blakey]

Yes indeedy: line handed back at 1649 today, but several speed restrictions remain in place for the moment.

A frankly astonishing piece of work by the engineers concerned, especially given that much of what they had already achieved was undone over the weekend by further cruddy weather.

The current state of play from SWT^▸ (South West Trains) is here:

http://www.southwesttrains.co.uk/alerts.aspx

[paul7575]

If I was SWT^▸ (South West Trains) I'd be having a word with whoever wrote their earlier press releases, now removed as overtaken by events. 

A couple of them referred to damage to 'a ballast'.  Surely no-one with any sort of rail background would draft that for issue?

Paul

[swrural]

The reporting has been well below the normal abysmal standard.  I am still waiting to find a photo of the 'landslide (at Honiton, between Honiton and Axminster, who knows where)' and the information given out by local media on where to get the substitute service timetables and so on was non-existent.

On the landslide, I have guessed that it might have been east of the Tunnel as much work has taken place there before -who knows?  The A35 was not blocked so a cub reporter could have easily got a photo if he or she had tried.

In fairness, the SWT^▸ (South West Trains) PR^▸ (Public Relations) was pretty vague itself. 

[bradshaw]

Templecombe has won the Small Stations of the Year category at the National Rail Awards

https://twitter.com/mrtimdunn/status/1174792329103904768?s=21

[JayMac]

Thanks, in no small part, to the sterling efforts of the Friends of Templecombe Station. And not forgetting Anne in the ticket office.

I am a member of FoTS but have only recently joined. In fact I joined the week the judging panel visited. My minimal input had no bearing on this award!



EDIT Link to a picture of the award: https://bit.ly/2ktvnYb (link to Facebook, shortened)

[rogerw]

They were busy tending the very attractive gardens when I passed through yesterday afternoon

[JayMac]

Yes, Thursday afternoon is gardening time.

[RichardB]

Congratulations to Templecombe -  the Friends, station staff, Blackmore Vale CRP^▸ (Community Rail Partnership), SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) (and anyone else involved).

Carrying on in the great tradition of the former Templecombe Station Promotion Group who used to do extremely well in BR^▸ (British Rail(ways))'s Best Kept Station Competition including winning it outright one year (around 93).  When that happened, they were taken home from Waterloo in the GM's Saloon hauled by a 33 (I was on it!).

The plaques are in the old waiting room.

[bradshaw]

A problem with the point and signals at the west end of Templecombe has meant all services have been diverted via Westbury since lunchtime yesterday.
 
Loss of power causing signals to go blank and points fail to work or detect.

Expected to last until 13.00 today.

Photo from Twitter

https://twitter.com/networkrailwssx/status/1255857651822538754?s=21

[JayMac]

Early one morning prior to lockdown, contractors working for SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) staged a dawn raid and removed three benches from the unused platform at Templecombe station. These were NSE^▸ (Network South East) era benches, and there were five in total, all firmly bolted to the old platform. It looks as though attempts were made to remove all five, but two stubbornly refused to be seperated from the platform. No details of the job were given to the local manager. The Friends of Templecombe Station (FoTS), who care for and maintain the fixtures and fittings on the unused platform side, were not informed either. They had maintained and painted these benches.

As there was no local communication that this removal work was going to take place, it was initially thought the benches may have been stolen for their scrap metal value. It was only after a member of the permanent way team for the area saw social media posts and commented about seeing the work order, was it learnt locally that SWR were responsible for the removal.

It is still unclear who made the decision, and there's been no explanation given to FoTS or the local manager.

The saga continues however. A person in Hook, Hampshire, had seen the social media posts about the missing Templecombe Station benches and contacted the FoTS. Two of the three benches taken from Templecombe have been repainted and installed at Hook Station.

One of our benches is still missing.

[grahame]

Don't TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) just manage the station and have a responsibility of care, having to return it in the condition it was when they took it on to their Network Rail landlord at the end of the franchise?