Exmouth Junction
| Exmouth Junction | |
|---|---|
Exmouth branch diverges to the right
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| Overview | |
| Type | Flat junction |
| Locale |
Exeter, Devon, England 50°44′00″N 3°30′28″W / 50.7332°N 3.5077°WCoordinates: 50°44′00″N 3°30′28″W / 50.7332°N 3.5077°W |
| Services | |
| Operation | |
| Opened | 1861 |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge |
Exmouth Junction is the railway junction where the Exmouth branch line diverges from the London Waterloo to Exeter main line in Exeter, Devon, England. It was for many years the location for one of the largest engine sheds in the former London and South Western Railway. The sidings served the railway’s concrete casting factory as well as a goods yard.
The London and South Western Railway (LSWR) opened its main line from Yeovil Junction to Exeter Queen Street on 19 July 1860, and a branch line from Exeter to Exmouth on 1 May the following year. The junction of the two lines was 1.1 miles (1.8 km) from Queen Street, just east of the 263-yard (240 m) Blackboy Tunnel.
An engine shed was initially provided at Queen Street but as the number of trains serviced grew too many for the cramped site, a new shed was opened at Exmouth Junction in 1887 on land to the north of the main line. It was rebuilt in brick and concrete in the 1920s by the Southern Railway (SR, which had taken over the LSWR in 1923), and at its peak in the period between 1930 and 1960 it typically had an allocation of over 120 locomotives, as well as being responsible for engines at other depots in the south west. It was closed to steam locomotives in 1965 and finally closed in 1967.
Concrete works were established near the engine shed which converted into a coal concentration depot after closure, whilst the site of the shed itself was turned over to a supermarket in 1979. The coal concentration depot received its last delivery in the late 1990s and has seen little use since. In the 1990s the area was used as a depot for railway maintenance machines and a new small shed built. After privatisation it was operated by Jarvis Plant, but this had ceased by early 2008 and the shed demolished.
The first signal box was built between the main and branch lines in 1875 and from 1887 had to control the entrance to the engine shed which was in front of the box. The line from Yeovil to Exeter was already double track but the Exmouth line had only one until 31 May 1908. The lever frame had to be extended in 1927 to accommodate the extra levers for track alterations to serve the enlarged engine shed. On 15 November 1959 a new brick-built 64-lever signal box with flat roof was brought into use. The building is still in use, but the levers were replaced by a modern panel on 15 February 1988 when it took over control of the level crossing and signals at Pinhoe, where the two tracks merge into a single line towards Honiton. The panel also supervises all movements on the Exmouth branch, including the passing loop and CCTV level crossing at Topsham.
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Wikipedia