21st October 2019 · ‘All Aboard the Pines Express – Part 1’

Presenter: Chris Youett

The October meeting had as its speaker a long-term friend in Chris Youett who took us on the first part of a ride on the Pines Express. The most iconic part of the train’s journey was of course the Somerset and Dorset line from Bath to Bournemouth, so that was where we went. Starting at Bath Green Park, this part of the journey took us to Evercreech Junction. Apart from the normal services, summer Saturdays were extra busy with expresses to and from the Midlands and the North to South Coast and Devon holiday resorts. We followed the route south seeing, not just the Pines Express of the title but also other summer Saturday expresses and the normal traffic all going in the same direction as us. In addition, we did see the remnants of the freight use of the line with its connections to the Somerset coal fields. Chris is to be thanked for an evening of nostalgia, especially for the elder members, on a long-gone unforgettable and much-loved line.