Dartmouth Steam Railway Footplate Experience

Steph Woolvin has donned her overalls, popped on some suitable footwear and helped drive the Dartmouth steam train...

The half hour train ride between Kingswear and Paignton is classed as ‘one of the finest heritage steam railway journeys anywhere in Europe.’ It takes in some of Devon’s most breathtaking scenery. Slowly rumbling alongside the River Dart, passing through the famous Greenway tunnel and woods, stopping at the picturesque Churston station and then taking in superb views of Torbay from the nostalgic resorts of Broadsands and Goodrington. I’ve enjoyed all these sights many times from the comfort of 1940s rolling stock but today I’m volunteering for standing room only.

The company offers the ‘Footplate Experience’ seven days a week, throughout the year. You go one way on the locomotive and enjoy the journey back as a passenger in one of the carriages. After signing my life away on the health and safety form I’m introduced to the crew – driver Andy and fireman Jack. These two have been working together since they joined the company three years ago and you can tell they’re perfectly in-sync as they go about their tasks getting the 220 tonne train ready to pull out of the station. Jack’s job is to ensure a steady supply of steam to provide power to the engine. This is more difficult than it sounds as the engine’s steam requirements vary according to the weight of the load it’s pulling and the gradient. Jack has to think ahead and load more coal onto the fire accordingly. “People say driving is a skill and firing is an art,” he says. 

As we pull away the smell of engine smoke fills the air and our famous whistle echoes across the Dart valley – only this time it’s my hand pulling the chain! The train gathers momentum and soon we start chugging along the familiar line, waving to people queuing for the Higher Ferry as we pass.  “Green” shouts Jack, with his head sticking out the side of the engine! There’s limited visibility out the front windows and it’s Jack’s job to check for signals - if they’re green we’re good to go, if they’re yellow there’s a chance the next one maybe red. They say they’ve only ever had to make one emergency stop - when a tree was down by Greenway station; “it’s not easy stopping a train of this size quickly but we managed it and no one was hurt,” says Andy. As the river fades out of sight we get to the bit I have been looking forward to – the tunnel - and it didn’t disappoint!  For a few moments it’s excitingly noisy, dark and a little smoky – all that can be seen is the brilliant orange fire and the silhouettes of Andy and Jack as they continue to move about the plate. Far too quickly we are out and pulling to a halt at Greenway - a request stop. 

During this pause I ask Andy and Jack if they played with train sets as children. “Oh yes, I had a Hornby one,” says Jack enthusiastically. “Little did I know I would grow up to drive one!” Andy says they both volunteered at railway stations before getting the role here: “I think you need a true passion for this job. You wouldn’t do it unless you loved it. It’s hard work, hot, dirty, and can be long hours. We do a 12 hour shift at the weekend, as the firebox has to be lit a good few hours before the train’s first journey of the day.”

As we move off and pick up speed trees, meadows and streams start whooshing by. You can certainly feel the wind in your hair even though we’re only going 25mph. “We could actually get upto 45mph,” says Andy “but it’s only a seven mile stretch of railway so we would probably be in Paignton in 15 minutes, plus legally we can only do 25.” Each time Jack opens the door to the firebox the burst of heat is quite overpowering but the boys don’t even flinch! Apparently the temperature in there can get up to 1,800 degrees on coal coming from Northumberland, Wales and Russia. 

As we pull into Churston we have a quick break waiting for the Kingswear bound train to pass. It was quite a relief to leave the hot engine and step into the cool air on the platform but after five minutes on the bench I couldn’t wait to get back in and set off again. We travel over viaducts passing high above houses and coloured beach huts at Broadsands, then wave to people lined up with their cameras at Goodrington Sands. Just before approaching Paignton Jack puts on his fluorescent jacket and jumps down to open the level crossing (which is shared with Network Rail). This part of the line runs parallel to the mainline so they often run alongside a Virgin or Great Western train. 

At Paignton Jack unhooks the engine and Andy expertly lines up the 87 tonne engine underneath the water tank. He then jumps out to refill the water – a job that needs to be done regularly as they use up to a thousand gallons per trip. It doesn’t take long before crowds of people appear outside the engine eager to take photos and quiz Jack. I asked if he gets tired of the attention: “We like it, although you sometimes get people who know a lot about steam engines and want to tell you everything right there and then! We don’t have a huge amount of time to talk, especially in the summer when the turn around is less than 15 minutes. Although we always find time to wave to the little boy who stands at the Sands Road level crossing pretty much everyday. He even taps at his watch if we’re late!” 

The Footplate Experience costs £85 and you need to be 18. Andy says they enjoy having new faces to chat to each day; “I’d say we probably see more men than women but it’s actually quite nice having ladies up here as they don’t mind asking lots of questions - men tend to be a little more reserved” (apparently more cautious about revealing gaps in their engineering knowledge). “We see excited 70-year-olds who’re fulfilling a lifelong dream, eager 18-year-olds who have been given this as a birthday present and all ages between. 

If you fancy a go or know someone who would appreciate a voucher go to www.dartmouthrailriver.co.uk/special-tours/footplate-experience

First published By The Dart magazine August 2017