Exeter Central
 |
Although by the 1970s the booking hall had been let out for
commercial rent the Southern Railway sign above remained. The sign went on
below, where the blue business centre sign is seen here, stating "Through
Expresses to
Salisbury, London, Portsmouth, Brighton, Plymouth, North Devon and North
Cornwall".
photograph by Paul Martin |
| Exeter Queen Street station was opened to public traffic on
the 19th July 1860. It was constructed originally as the terminus of a
single-track line built by the London & South Western Railway (L&SWR),
which formed a westwards extension of the Salisbury & Yeovil Railway
(opened on the 1st June the same year), but it was destined in due course to
become a major through station on the L&SWR main line to the West
Country.
It is reputed that Queen Street station was built in the moat of Rougemont Castle, which is located south of the railway. The railway approaches the station from the east through Black Boy Tunnel (263 yards long) then passes under the Well Street, Pennsylvania Road, Howell Road and New North Road bridges before entering the station itself. On 1st February 1862 a westwards extension of the line was opened to join with the Great Western Railway (GWR) at Exeter St Davids station - this passes under Queen Street itself (which bridges the line immediately west of the platforms) and then descends a steep descent of 1 in 37 through the 184 yards of St Davids Tunnel. This extension gave the L&SWR access across GWR lines to Cowley Bridge Junction and thence onwards via Crediton to Barnstaple and Bideford. The station became an interchange in 1861 with the opening of a branch to Exmouth, which left the main line about half a mile to the east at a new Exmouth Junction just east of Black Boy tunnel. To the east the line was doubled as far as Broad Clyst in 1864 and throughout to Salisbury by July 1870. At first the station had only a single main platform and a bay road, both on the down side and covered by a two-road train shed, but in 1874 an up platform and up bay were added together with two through roads. The train shed was extended to cover the new lines and became renowned for being smoke-filled, due to the practice of changing locomotives on services in both directions there which resulted in a considerable amount of engine standing and movements under the canopy. At opening the pedestrian entrances to the station were from the north and south sides and not from the road bridges to the west and east as later. As was common practice at major stations at that time there was a ticket collecting platform on the station approaches and this was situated on the down side just east of the Howell Road over-bridge. |
| The southern part of the station crescent on Queen Street in
the late 1970s/early 1980s when the presence of a station existing there was
being down-played. Note the Ford Escort Mk2 driving school car.
photograph by Paul Martin |
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In July 2000 the Southern Railway sign has long since gone but the
station's existence is again being acknowledged, albeit its entrance (5th
and 6th window bays from the left corner of the crescent) is not too
conspicuous.
photograph by Colin Duff |
| The rarely noticed rear of the Queen Street station buildings
on 26th December 2000 showing just how extensive the complex is. Access to the
platforms is along the windowed concrete bridge seen above the flat roofed
extension on the right.
photograph by Chris Osment |
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This page was last updated 3 December 2002
