Exeter St Davids to Penzance via Dawlish Driver's Eye View

[@brucewilliams8714]

On one of my visits to Britain , and heading to Penzance, our HST near Dawlish was diverted to wrong line because, as the conductor announced, the down line had been damaged by massive waves. Right, say I, there's a photo here, so I went to a door, lowered the window on the lee side and pointed my camera ahead. Just in time to snap a huge wave breaking over the carriage ahead of mine. My other trips were a lot calmer, and all enjoyable. For bringing back great memories, many thanks from Australia 🇦🇺

[@johnmcnulty1129]

My older brother Michael passed away 2024. He lived for all things GWR. Travelling, books, cab rides. He would've absolutely loved this, with just a couple of stops along the way. I watched it in memory of him Maybe his spirit watched it to ! Thanks for posting Ben

[@dweeb99]

Magnificent video of a mornng run along the coast of England's green and pleasant land. I hang on to these for glimpses of sanity in an ever-maddening world. Many thanks for posting!

[@tungstenkid2271]

But if the world and its leaders were sane, we'd have no clowns to laugh at..:)

[@TruckerGaz]

Finally..... I've been waiting for this cab view run for ages. And now it's arrived.. hurrah

[@richardgriffiths5920]

Me too for the last time I had a proper train ride in Cornwall was way back in 1957 when it took us hours and hours to get to Bristol Temple Meads where we had to spend the night in a waiting room before another train took us to Birmingham, then onto Coventry.

[@andrewholloway231]

I have just finished watching this video. It is brilliant, the scenery, the viaducts, 43251's engine... Thank you very much Ben.... really appreciate this.

[@richardgriffiths5920]

Me too having had my only trip to Cornwall by good old steam train back in 1957.

[@100SteveB]

What a great time of day to do that run. Low sun and the mist patches really added to the atmosphere of this beautiful stretch of line.

[@lesleyhirst3422]

I've also been hoping someone would make this run; it was well worth the wait. Thanks very much!

[@Kivetonandrew]

A brilliant video. Is amazing how twisting and hilly the route is. Cornwall is my favourite county to visit, home of my ancestors.

[@DaventryParkway]

Probably the most wonderful journey and cab video ever, thank you so much for going to all the trouble. I always wanted to be a train driver but the late 1980s led me astray with psychedelic drugs!😃 I did work for BR for a short while in a non-safety related post and was actually offered the job, a traction trainee opportunity at Bletchley in 1992 but very sadly had to turn it down. Worst day ever.... It all turned out well in the end though and now thanks to you Ben, I can safely combine both. Edit. The first time I went this route was a summer Sunday in 1985 behind 50021 Rodney from Birmingham New street to Penzance, I remember almost every minute with my head out of the window for all the spectacular parts and I'm only just getting the flies out of my eyes now.

[@trevorpritchard2127]

Loved this video. I live in Dawlish and often train spot along the coastline from Dawlish Warren to Teignmouth . The views are spectacular 👌

[@theo-v7t]

Great video! Brought back memories of being sat atop Dawlish Warren’s Langstone Rock or its little brother to the north when Warships were so very common!! ❤

[@PppDdd-q1u]

Great video. Loved the trip over the Royal Albert Bridge. I've watched the live webcam of the bridge. Great to see it all from the drivers point of view. Thanks.

[@cityofghosts4037]

I like train journeys and appreciate all aspects of engineering, but I'm certainly not a train enthusiast. However, I've just finished watching this entire video and I was blissfully relaxed the entire time. I live in South Devon and my workplace backs onto this railway (Teignmouth) but I've never seen it from this viewpoint before. Beautifully made video, I really appreciate it - thank you!

[@thecolneranger1588]

Beautiful video. The weather conditions give it an ethereal quality.

[@iangallaugher3468]

Tide's in! I think this is first I've seen with the estuaries full. And a lovely calm day too. Thanks for this, from the other side of the world.

[@chrisbee5774]

Just watched this all the way through. I used to do the Exeter / Liskeard and back run a lot. Thank you for the wonderful memories. I would love to see 43251 fly past in person one day. The Interciry 125 is my favourite train of all time. The sound of the turbine kicking in. Marverlous technology. Subscribed. Thumbs up.

[@edwardbarnes2702]

Whow! Just watched this again, its brilliant in that you say the sound recordings are from the engine department, This really adds so much to the journey, that engine sound it doesn’t need any voice commentary. Just excellent. 🤓 Eddie

[@cliffwoodbury5319]

Thank U For Presenting This Video. Have Watched Many But Can't Remember Ending A Journey At A Terminus Stop For A Non Metro Cab View. Penzance Station Is looking Stunning/Amazing And Is A Great Example Of How Railway Infrastructure Can Be Beautiful When Well Maintained. Thank U Again!

[@ianpeddle6818]

Fantastic and iconic journey. What an absolute joy and a treat. I’ve waited years for this journey in full. Thank you for posting. Atmospheric weather and stunning scenery. It doesn’t get much better. 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@pabloassab1]

Thanks much for this. A New Yorker living in London, Iv made this trip a number of times staring out the window at the eco-beauty and the coastal line. Great seeing what I was missing as a passenger of the driver's view. Really enjoyed and subscribed right away. Big Up!

[@duainesimpson274]

Absolutely wonderful, Just a dream to see it from a view point! Class 43 from Devon into Cornwall.. fantastic 💯💯💯

[@venerablebeade]

love the bit where it goes over the Tamar Bridge- great video- thank you for using the real engine sound as well.

[@johnledbury8403]

That was good, thank you. I have traveled on that line many times, but seeing it like this was marvelous.

[@tombigou54]

Quelle belle vidéo. Cette ligne est d'une telle beauté, merci pour ces magnifiques paysages.

[@Bigbro28]

An outstanding video, maintaining your high standard of excellence 👍. (That's a long flamin' walk along the seafront.)

[@martinhew981]

I have worked this line and also the now the West of England line since the early 80's and this video has been a rare treat. How wonderful to see it in such good quality and so recent too. Also congratualtions on filming the Exe estuary and Dawlish with the tide up! and in calm weather. I think i will be watching this many times as one of my all time favorites. Thank you.

[@PMH5001]

Terrific! How beautiful England is, and especially Devon and Cornwall. Mesmerising!

[@steamisbest]

Brilliant video, it's such a better view from the cab than being a passenger which i've done many times. Would love to see the reverse working with the shunts into Dawlish Warren and Paignton.

[@DavidTurner-r1k]

One of the great railway journeys of the world.

[@78Alcione]

Nice to watch this great cab view ride thru inland and coastal segments. Beautiful! Thank you.

[@neilfurby555]

Wonderful journey, quite mesmerising. Thank you so much.

[@vinniesuperstar8923]

amazes me how Cornwall, and Penzance in particular gets such an intense service. Great video, I don't think I've ever seen the route in that direction.

[@basingstoke63]

A fantastic video ,Ben . The end of what I believe is the longest rail journey in the ,UK , starting at Aberdeen . Thanks for uploading .

[@ChangesOneTim]

Well done Ben - you made Exeter-Plymouth in 50min; must be some 25yr since any non-stop runs were in the passenger timetable. And...you must have been one of the first (if not THE first) to be checked down at the new Grampound Road signal CL5883 1:51:50 since it was added earlier this year. By the way, at 2:11:03 is Treleigh (pronounced TreLAY) R/G footpath crossing. Thanks as ever for the ride 😀

[@richardkennell6428]

Seriously addictive! Many thanks Richard

[@AndreiTupolev]

@@ChangesOneTim there were some non-stop runs in the up direction on summer Saturdays before the end of HST operation, but there didn't seem to have been any in the down direction, so this might well be a contender for 'fastest run for quite a while'

[@nicklittle8780]

@@AndreiTupolev Not like the days of the Golden Hind and Cornish Riviera expresses, eh?

[@acolakes]

I'm pretty certain this was a passenger free drive - Ben mentions a route guider with him in the description. Hence why basically no stops are made. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[@AndreiTupolev]

@acolakes yes, it's a track testing train

[@KatharineA0203]

Nobody sits down coming round the estuary at Starcross - just a spectacular view 🤩🤩

[@Rollin-Rant]

You're video brought back a lot of memories along the route and a lot of changes with the old semaphore signals gone, happy to have seen them at St.Erth Station though, brilliant video 👍.

[@Trond_travels]

This journey is absolutly lovely, I had to watch it twice.

[@raysmith114]

Awesome journey - one of the best. Thanks Ben

[@30041946]

Hello Ben . Another excellent trip. Thank you. Roger

[@kevinellis8869]

Great trip, it highlights the different weather conditions you have to contend with.

[@1903bretep]

Thanks Ben, another great run and I think having the audio come from the engine room actually added to the experience despite the lack of AWS etc, just a thought for future videos.

[@pdunderhill]

God's Wonderful Railway, thank you for stirring memories of Redruth to Bristol Temple Meads, and back, on HS125s in the '70s and '80's. A couple of Winter journeys I did wonder if we would get stuck in Dawlish due to the Storms!

[@simonc5313]

Thank you so much for this. very interesting.

[@letrainavapeur]

A very interesting run, the light at the first start of the run was particularly nice.

[@mrandsp]

Great quality video coupled with the engine sound and the wonderful scenery - many thanks for posting. Great to see the old semaphore signals at the Penzance end still working!

[@ridefast0]

Excellent video thanks. Must be a proper climb from Newton Abbot up to Dainton tunnel, judging by the amount of revving! Great to see these magnificent vehicles re-purposed and still going!

[@tenorab]

brilliant, amazing experience thank you

[@Nenlothiel]

Perfect video! Thank you so much.

[@Fenestra_M]

I like this video I have played it through several times even at slow speed- really good.Long overdue not available until fairly recently. I do not know if there is a video Pasddington or Waterloo to Exter. If there is I will play that-but- thanks for this one !!

[@nineoneten]

That is a seriously beautiful route, the view crossing the Tamar into Cornwall is outstanding. Used to travel to Cornwall on holiday trains back in the 80's and spend the holiday running up and down the main line and the branches on a rover ticket. One of those videos that are good at 0.5x speed with the sound off. A shame to rush them !

[@nmb46]

Amazing Ben, thanks very much.

[@pgw1977]

A wonderful journey! Thank you Ben. 😃

[@alanmusicman3385]

So good to get a decent HD view of this maximally scenic route. It always feels to me that the waterside sections to Newton Abbot are saying to the remaining sections into Plymouth "Ha! Follow That!" and the remaining sections shrug and just say "Nah, not even gonna try".

[@michaelhill-fl3yj]

A magnificent video of a much loved line

[@Going-Full-Circle]

This is a beautiful train line to travel on.

[@GaryCheater]

Great video, love the coast routes 😊

[@leplessis8179]

Walked over the Tamar road bridge last weekend - spectacular views of the railway!

[@tact86]

Great Video, Thanks. Would love to see more like this.

[@andrewjohnson582]

Walked along that sea wall at teignmouth on a day out,brings back memories, great video

[@geraldmartin2729]

I like the way the captions line up exactly with the picture.

[@rogercarrell]

A VERY interesting journey. Thankyou.

[@ramonwilliams5721]

A great video, never been into Cornwall, was born in North Devon, and finished up in Worcestershire. kind regards

[@revjohnoliver]

Outstanding video, beautiful ride.

[@marksamuel130]

Gods Wonderful Railway in all its splendor

[@johnsumner1667]

Thank you for posting this. I was going to ask if a video like this would be possible

[@davecroad6277]

Traveld on that line many times really scenic line always nice to travel on

[@jessicamorgan3073]

Thanks Ban and Colas. The light was fantastic

[@markmason5523]

Great video …Thank you…

[@Phil3756]

Wonderful video of two wonderful counties with everything sea, countryside, viaducts and still a little of the semaphore signalling, it must take some time putting up all the locations/speeds so Thank you for taking the time with both video and captions. The red car on the A30 after st Erth at 2h.09m have been doing some speed with you able to do 75mph and they flew past you. Very nice to reminisce of times past by the sea wall, and holidays in Cornwall mainly with family, but would try and get a day free to see the 37's on china clay at Lostwithal. If you do request tallies of routes would very much like to see the WCML Trent valley, and via Tamworth high level, please.

[@Spookieham]

Cheers - saw the house my wife grew up in during the run past the dockyard. Long since sold and we now live on the other side of the world.

[@WalterKuhn-pb2rd]

Fantastic trip, thank you!

[@malcolmelliott1876]

Wonderful viedo.. thanks Ben

[@oliverbaylis7773]

Looking forward to this one, bravo!😊

[@ETRuT1]

Brilliant, on a beautiful day! Thank you.

[@ianinvancouverbc]

Had in laws in Dawlish and Torquay made this trek a few times, stunningly beautiful

[@SMILEVIDEOTRAINS]

great journey, thank you

[@tristcm9633]

Wonderful video! Nice to have been caught at EXD 😂

[@fouloleron2002]

Absolutely superb.

[@allsearpw3829]

Nice one Ben saved me a ticket price as the ride passed the sea is not as long as I thought .😉👍

[@44662dc]

I really enjoyed that Ben. You did get checked a number of times only to see the signal step up. Still good to see the old G.W. semaphores around ,but for how long

[@firestarteronyoutube5542]

YES! THANK YOU!!!

[@AussiePom]

Marley Tunnels are cosmetic and were put in at the insistence of the landowner so passing trains wouldn't spoil his view. At 29:54 is the tiny village of Tigley and there used to be a signal box there although there's no trace of it today. On the Peter Handford audio recording West of Exeter side two he recorded two trains both ascending and descending Rattery Bank where Tigley is located. One was descending down the bank fast with a train for Kingswear and the other was ascending with a train double headed with a Hawksworth County and a Castle. The recording was done inside Tigley signal box with the bell codes explained in the year 1957.

[@pallelli3133]

I've been a fan of Brunel since forever (I even went to Brunel Uni in West London). Thank you for that cab ride view over the Royal Albert Bridge. It amazes me how something like that could have been built in the 1850s, though I do wonder at the 15mph speed limit. Is that for safety reasons, or simply to allow the passengers more time to marvel at it's greatness?

[@the1gip]

Oh my goodness it's so pretty!

[@deltic1964]

Excellent Ben

[@jwslijm7278]

Oh this is a huge one! See it when i have time. Plymouth - London i have seen om the last day of 1 certain operation. So to Penzance is the final nail in the coffin. Hope it does not dissapoint.

[@GordonShuffell]

Fantastic your best video yet?

[@jacobsmith385]

I’ve never seen the exe so full!

[@markcf83]

Must've been not long after all that heavy rain down there.

[@tibsie]

Why do I find a nearly three hour video I want to watch, right before it's time to go to bed? It's 2am, I'll have to leave it for tomorrow!

[@david-stewart]

Excellent

[@iangarbutt7451]

Fantastic memories of my trip to St Ives... my starting point was Farnham.... on to Woking, then change at St David's 🧡🚄🧡

[@billydoidge7661]

saw myself on the platform in Truro lol

[@K1W1fly]

"I.K. Brunel, Engineer, 1959" - The Royal Albert Bridge is spectacular!

[@AndreiTupolev]

1859!

[@nicklittle8780]

@@AndreiTupolev My all-time favorite railway bridge! I grew up a ten minute walk from the Devon end and never fail to wonder at the incredible engineering. Great pubs underneath the bridge on both sides of the river!

[@philipperry1304]

I'll watch it Monday

[@mrbluesky2050]

Nicely, more so since I spent last April on a weekly Cornish ranger up and down Plymouth to Penzance and all the branches, ( St.Ive's, Falmouth Docks, Newquay, Looe and Gunnislake. )

[@Frostie3672]

My favourite route to drive in train sim classic & with the HST enhancement pack from Armstrong powerhouse the HST sounds are spot on to the real thing as well.

[@Harryvolting]

Wonderful, but difficult though it was I had to jump off at Newton Abbot.. chores and cheers Ben.

[@ELPaso1990TX]

Would be great if more videos like this then can do a full UK train cab journey from Thurso to Penzance.

[@richardgriffiths5920]

Wonderful film and I was wondering whether I'd see anything of Cornwall after watching the final day of the HST run from Plymouth to London Paddington from May 2019. The journey over the River Tamar on the Saltash viaduct was exactly as I'd hoped as I had vivid memories going over that river on The Cornishman from Birmingham Snow Hill to Truro then onto Perranporth as a young lad around 1957. We actually were stuck on the viaduct for quite some time due to a derailment ahead of our train. Thanks Ben for bringing back wonderful memories to an old train buff.

[@BIGV710]

wow so it was you who went past my house just after laira loco shed i thought i heard a HST after lipson junction on right next to tracks it was on friday 18 oct