Great Western Coffee Shop

I'm currently reading a book of footplate memories of rail staff based around Yeovil. The main topic of the book is recounting journeys between Yeovil Pen Mill/Town and Taunton via Langport West and Durston.

Mentioned in passing was a GWR (the original company not the modern poor pretender!), then later, Western Region service, called the Channel Islands Boat Express, that run from Paddington to Weymouth Quay via Yeovil Pen Mill. Apparently the Southern Region took over this boat train in 1960, running it from Waterloo to Weymouth Quay via Woking, Winchester and Bournemouth.

Does anyone know more about this train when it was run by GWR/Western Region? I'd particularly like timetable and route information. Did it go via Swindon and Melksham or via the Berks & Hants?

Scant information online.

Timetable World has a 1949 WR timetable that suggests the London boat train stopped only at Reading, while two others ran via Yeovil from Manchester and Westbury. However, I'm never sure with timetables of that era whether trains are direct or if connecting times are being shown.

There's also a service from Southampton, with trains from Waterloo via Reading and from Swansea, both via Salisbury. Which region was their official owner is probably not discernible from that timetable (if it meant anything).

I have a reprint of the October 1947 Southern Railway timetable. There's a page in there about the joint service that the Southern operated with the GWR to and from the Channel Islands. Unfortunately my scanner is being awkward today and won't let me do a copy. Not sure whether the joint service was a post-war expedient.

On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, the boat would set off from the Channel Islands in the morning (08:00 from Jersey, 10:15 from Guernsey) and go to Southampton (arrive 16:30), connecting with a Boat Train (depart 17:20) to Waterloo (arrive 19:10) with an intermediate stop at Basingstoke (arrive 18:15).

In the reverse direction, the Boat Train left Waterloo at 21:00 (and Basingstoke at 21:58), arriving at Southampton Docks at 22:51. The boat departed at 23:45 overnight to arrive at Guernsey at 06:30 and at Jersey at 09:15.

On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, the boat (08:15 from Jersey, 10:45 from Guernsey) went to Weymouth instead (arrive 15:00), connecting with a Boat Train (depart 15:40) to Paddington (arrive 20:35). In the reverse direction, the Boat Train left Paddington at 18:00 arriving at Weymouth Quay at 22:42.  The boat departed at 02:00 overnight to arrive at Guernsey at 07:00 and at Jersey at 09:30. No mention of intermediate stops or route I'm afraid.

Southampton gives a longer sea crossing but a shorter train journey; overall it's slightly quicker. The timings are such that the SR can use the same train in both directions while the GWR have to have two trains.

A return ticket from London cost £6 2s 6d in First class (£6.13 in new money) or £3 16s 0d in Third (aka Standard - £3.80).

The July 1938 Bradshaw has separate SR and GWR services. The timings for the boats are very different - the SR boat does the same north-by-day-south-by-night pattern, but the GWR has two boats that only do one crossing, by day. So it feels as if the 1947 joint service was a post-war expedient.

The Boat Express is  shown as

    Paddington         08:30
    Reading             09:10
    Westbury           10:15/10:20
    Weymouth Quay 11:55
    Boat departs       12:10

    Boat arrives        15:05
    Weymouth Quay 15:40
    Yeovil Pen Mill     16:49 set down only
    Frome                17:23/17:25
    Reading              18:58
    Paddington          19:30   

The logic of the outward Westbury and inward Frome stops is lost on me.

By stopping the inward service at Frome, this provided a quicker connection to Bristol, via Radstock. I have mentioned before that this quirk resulted in the branch connection from Frome to Bristol running with express headlamps, as a '4 bells' train as opposed to the '3-1' signal code of all the other branch services.I am sure that the little pannier tank was puffed up with pride . . .

That 1938 service is very much like the 1949 one, except the latter stopped only at Reading going down, but at Pen Mill and Frome as well returning. Both ways it took 20 minutes longer.

That timetable shows a connection from Bristol etc. onto the Manchester-Weymouth trains at Westbury. There is no such train going back, which may explain the extra stops on the Paddington Boat Train. Was it felt to be too late arriving? Perhaps, but the connecting train down from Manchester ran overnight (departing 12:30 a.m.)!

I was at Waterloo in the early sixties my first job was recording and setting up files for all "Incidents".

One of the biggest sets was Weymouth Quay.  Entry was:

Date: "Train Hit Car".

This was mainly with the Channel Island Express due to overhang of the Mark 1s round the curves on the Tramway, The "grogles" didn't believe the hashing and parked on the overlap and if unlucky and if  not spotted got hit by the train. 

The other notorious place for car/rail in interface was Sunningdale level crossing on the A30 before the days of the M3 and   barriers so the gates swung across the road.

The entry was:

 Date "Car hit gates"

If you know the location it is in the middle of long wide straight section through the town and trains seemed to come out between the buildings.

I think those car drivers were known as grockles?

I'm sure I must have travelled on the Waterloo service as a child on a REPTA* family holiday to Guernsey via Weymouth in the mid 1960s - sadly this is no help at all as I can remember precisely nothing about the journey except how slow the train went on the tram section, dodging cars and people.

About 17 years ago we went to Guernsey (flying this time) and went to try to find the guest house we stayed in - it didn't seem to be there any more.  We asked a local who said with large round eyes..... "You don't mean the Benefits Hostel?"  "That burnt down years ago!" :o

Well it was all right when we stayed there! ;D

* anyone remember REPTA?  Still going, see https://www.repta.co.uk/

Yes, that was one of the least insulting names given to visitors by the locals  :)

I lived in Weymouth in the last few years of the boat train. By then it was quicker to walk from Weymouth Town to Quay than be on the train as its progress round the harbour was so slow especially if a car or two needed to be extracted from the route.

If I remember correctly, the quay trains had a railwayman with a flag in front of the train on the road section? Made the trip to the quay station many times as a youngster

I grew up in Weymouth so am very familiar with the post 1960 scenes mentioned but do not recollect any details of the Western version of the boat train. The query has largely been answered above but there is a comprehensive book available (I once had a copy but now out of print. Some copies available on E Bay) on "The Great Western at Weymouth," Lucking 1971, David and Charles) which will no doubt contain every detail.   

Thanks for the replies to my OP. Filled the gaps in knowledge that my enquiring mind had after seeing mention of the 'Channel Island Boat Express' in my current read:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yeovil-Taunton-Martock-Langport-Durston/dp/0955333407

Having moved to Langport I wanted to learn more about the railways that served the town.

I wonder if the Paddington - Weymouth service wasn't provided by a "slip coach" from a West of England express, both in GWR and Western Region days? The coach would have been slipped at Castle Cary and attached to a Weymouth train. ** see Rogerpatenall post later - the Slip would be further east ** I have vague memories of seeing one in a train whilst on holiday at Bridport in the mid 1950's. Although we, as a family, travelled from Evesham to Bridport by coach (Black & White) changing at Cheltenham at the Associated Motorways hub. (Who says private companies can't work together to provide joined up transport!).

During our holiday we travelled by train Bridport to the branch junction at Maiden Newton and it would have been there that I saw the Slip Coach.

Wikipedia suggests that in the 1920s a Slip Coach was attached to the Cornish Riviera- 10.30 off Paddington. Maybe that continued after the War?

PS: For those fortunate to be young enough to have never heard of slip coaches, these were single coaches attached to the rear of a non stop express. At the appropriate juncture the guard activated the 'slip', I.e. Operated the device that disconnected the coach from the train at speed. Then by skilful operation of the brakes brought the carriage to a halt at the next station. Staff at that station then helped attach the carriage to the branch line service for onward journey to the destination. Returning to Paddington the process was much less slick and therefore slower as the slip coach had to be attached to the up train whilst it was stopped at the junction station.

GWR/BR(WR) had many examples, as I believe did some of the other 'Big Four' railway companies.

Yes - slip coaches ran until the early sixties. They were always slipped at Heywood Road and collected by a tank into Westbury station where they were added to an existing Weymouth Line train. In the latter years, slips were attached to the 1030 'Limited' (latterly in chocolate & cream livery) and the 330pm off Paddington. So far as I am aware, slipping never took place at Cary.