Trains at Exeter St Davids, RL, 30/03/19

A fantastic morning spent at Exeter St Davids station on the Riviera Line where we see plenty of services from Great Western Railway, Cross Country and South Western Railway.

Exeter St Davids was opened in 1844 by the Bristol and Exeter railway and was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. This was known as a single sided station which meant that all the platforms were built on the same side of the station, the east side of it. This was because the town at the time was located to the east of the station which meant it would make things easier for the local community. Of course the town grew and it is now surrounding the station.

The station was so easy to make that it never once encountered any difficulty. At the time this was the end of the line until the line to Plymouth was completed by the South Devon Railway in 1846.

Because of this it meant that a loco shed was to be built to cope with the amount of trains that would start using this station. This would eventually pave the way for the Yard which we all know to this day which is currently having some work done to it hence the construction fencing blocking the view. The engine shed was demolished roughly 2 years after it was built.

The next line to make an appearance at the station was the Exeter to Crediton Railway in 1851, this new line resulted in the construction of a new junction to the south of the station which still stands today.

In 1864 the station went trhough a heavy remodelling stage because of the amount of trains coming into and out of the station, a new level crossing was built and new platforms were constructed which is how the station currently looks. Albeit with a few slight changes when the tracks were brought into standard gauge instead of the 7ft gauge lines that was solely used by the GWR company at the time.

In the early 1900's the station was given a another make over with tracks being removed that originally passed through the station which meant a new island platform could be built which helped with terminating trains and also ones having to turn around in the station.

My next station is Dawlish.

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