On the rails again… #Interrail
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On the rails again… #Interrail
Today, the delectable @seabass, Wendy the DBJUNGLESKOG and I are heading out for a steamy adventure!
Taking advantage of the fact that I am in Devon, we’re going to head for the Dartmouth Steam Train in Paignton, before heading back, having another train geeky stop at Dawlish, and taking the express from Newton Abbot to London Paddington.
We’re starting the day on one of @seabass’ favourite trains: a class 150
Today’s itinerary: https://moof.space/trip/2026-03-03
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On the rails again… #Interrail
Today, the delectable @seabass, Wendy the DBJUNGLESKOG and I are heading out for a steamy adventure!
Taking advantage of the fact that I am in Devon, we’re going to head for the Dartmouth Steam Train in Paignton, before heading back, having another train geeky stop at Dawlish, and taking the express from Newton Abbot to London Paddington.
We’re starting the day on one of @seabass’ favourite trains: a class 150
Today’s itinerary: https://moof.space/trip/2026-03-03
At Paignton we took the time to have a Full English in a proper greasy spoon next to the station.
We made it to the Dartmouth Steam Railway just in time to get on our carriage. We are in a standard carriage, which is delightfully retro. There is a Pullman Observation Car that is trailing the train, but it was too full for us to take when we arrived.
We haven’t even seen the locomotive yet!
It pulled away with a wonderful feeling of the carriages straining against each other as the locomotive took its load. We can see the plume of steam drifting away from us though.
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At Paignton we took the time to have a Full English in a proper greasy spoon next to the station.
We made it to the Dartmouth Steam Railway just in time to get on our carriage. We are in a standard carriage, which is delightfully retro. There is a Pullman Observation Car that is trailing the train, but it was too full for us to take when we arrived.
We haven’t even seen the locomotive yet!
It pulled away with a wonderful feeling of the carriages straining against each other as the locomotive took its load. We can see the plume of steam drifting away from us though.
Our locomotive today was 5239 Goliath, a beautiful engine with a nice chuffing sound at low speed.
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Our locomotive today was 5239 Goliath, a beautiful engine with a nice chuffing sound at low speed.
The ticket includes a hop across the estuary on a passenger ferry from Kingswear station to Dartmouth. And Dartmouth was incredibly pretty.
It’s a classic British touristy town, but without the tackyness and a lot of history. Sir Walter Raleigh had an estate here, and Agatha Christie lived here too.
We visited St. Saviour’s church, which has an impressive ceiling, an impressive organ, and impressively detailed artwork on wood all around the place, as well as on the stained glass windows. There is even an original Royal Crest from the reign of Charles II on the gallery.
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R relay@relay.infosec.exchange shared this topic
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The ticket includes a hop across the estuary on a passenger ferry from Kingswear station to Dartmouth. And Dartmouth was incredibly pretty.
It’s a classic British touristy town, but without the tackyness and a lot of history. Sir Walter Raleigh had an estate here, and Agatha Christie lived here too.
We visited St. Saviour’s church, which has an impressive ceiling, an impressive organ, and impressively detailed artwork on wood all around the place, as well as on the stained glass windows. There is even an original Royal Crest from the reign of Charles II on the gallery.
@moof Lovely!
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The ticket includes a hop across the estuary on a passenger ferry from Kingswear station to Dartmouth. And Dartmouth was incredibly pretty.
It’s a classic British touristy town, but without the tackyness and a lot of history. Sir Walter Raleigh had an estate here, and Agatha Christie lived here too.
We visited St. Saviour’s church, which has an impressive ceiling, an impressive organ, and impressively detailed artwork on wood all around the place, as well as on the stained glass windows. There is even an original Royal Crest from the reign of Charles II on the gallery.
Also in Dartmouth we visited the Museum, a building we didn’t get much time to see. We got special access to a room that has what’s known as the “Jesse tree”.
This is a family tree leading from Jesse, father of King David, laying down on the bottoms of the tree, all the way to Jesus, shown in the arms of his mother, as detailed in the Gospel of St. Matthew, and it is depicted in plaster on the ceiling.
There are some interesting stylistic choices, and the ceiling has had a certain amount of restoration, but it was impressive for 17th century artwork.
The room itself is used as an archive for the museum, and you have to ask for access, but it is very much worth it.
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Also in Dartmouth we visited the Museum, a building we didn’t get much time to see. We got special access to a room that has what’s known as the “Jesse tree”.
This is a family tree leading from Jesse, father of King David, laying down on the bottoms of the tree, all the way to Jesus, shown in the arms of his mother, as detailed in the Gospel of St. Matthew, and it is depicted in plaster on the ceiling.
There are some interesting stylistic choices, and the ceiling has had a certain amount of restoration, but it was impressive for 17th century artwork.
The room itself is used as an archive for the museum, and you have to ask for access, but it is very much worth it.
We then hurried away from the museum in order to make it to an estuary cruise. The weather was ideal, it was sunny enough that we could sit on the outside foredeck, and I even got out my sunglasses.
This was very much worth it. The Estuary is beautiful, with plenty of features that were pointed out by the skipper as he took us round it, as well as some of the local fauna, including some seals, with a few groanworthy puns thrown in along the way.
The rail geeks amongst us were delighted to see the steam train come by, and even a house that is currently building a funicular for access!
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We then hurried away from the museum in order to make it to an estuary cruise. The weather was ideal, it was sunny enough that we could sit on the outside foredeck, and I even got out my sunglasses.
This was very much worth it. The Estuary is beautiful, with plenty of features that were pointed out by the skipper as he took us round it, as well as some of the local fauna, including some seals, with a few groanworthy puns thrown in along the way.
The rail geeks amongst us were delighted to see the steam train come by, and even a house that is currently building a funicular for access!
“Do we want to sit in the Pullman Observation Car? On the downside... The locomotive will be coupled to the front. On the upside... The locomotive will be coupled to the front”
We did, in fact, decide to sit in the observation car, after watching the locomotive shunt and couple to it, and then we were pulled back to Paignton.
@seabass, Wendy the DBJUNGLESKOG and I had some lovely views out of the window of the train, as well as of the locomotive.
(CW: eye contact)
