5th Feb 1984

50017 "Royal Oak" storms down the hill with the 15.25 Exeter St. Davids to London Waterloo train. It is passing the engineers sidings that used to be located here, not that I recall them being used. The head shunt for the sidings ran all the way down into the former up platform, with a connection to the mainline. Back in the 1960s there were four tracks through the station, one each for the platforms, and two through lines, one of which remains as the route today. The milk sidings were over to the right. The Seaton Branch curved away to the left, and the substantial signal box would have been sited just off the end of the disused platform seen here. There's so much to take in from this image, and although the engineers sidings were lifted years ago, much of what you see still remains, although it is all hidden under a forest! Talking of forests, even "Royal Oak" is still with us....