The Route
From the beginning the "ACE" effectively had five destinations, three in Devon and two in Cornwall.
Plymouth, by far the largest city in Devon, was served via Okehampton and Tavistock. The steep gradients and tortuous nature of the route beyond Exeter meant that it was not possible to compete with the Great Western Railway’s "Cornish Riviera Express" in terms of speed, but it was a useful alternative route, particularly for passengers from the South and South East of England, who could make a connection at Salisbury and thus avoid travelling via London.
Okehampton was the junction for the two Cornish destinations: Bude, a small but growing resort on the most northerly part of the Cornish coast; and Padstow, a fishing port at the mouth of the River Camel and the Southern Railway’s most distant outpost, 260 miles from Waterloo. The two portions of the train normally continued together as far as Halwill Junction, where the Bude carriages were detached and the Padstow section turned south to Launceston, skirting the edge of Bodmin Moor before reaching Camelford. A swift descent to Wadebridge followed, through countryside described by Poet Laureate John Betjeman. The route was completed following the River Camel.
The North Devon portions of the "ACE" followed the route from Exeter Central through Crediton to Yeoford before turning north west and reaching the valley of the River Taw at Lapford. Thereafter the line hugged the river to Barnstaple Junction, the junction for the two North Devon destinations of the "ACE". From here the Torrington portion followed the estuary of the Taw westward to Instow before turning south along the River Torridge to Bideford and its destination of Great Torrington. The portion for Ilfracombe, another port that owes its status as a holiday destination to the coming of the railways, continued northwards. Started from Barnstaple Junction, the branch for Ilfracombe headed north through Barnstaple Town and on to Braunton before climbing steeply to Mortehoe and then descending more steeply to the terminus at Ilfracombe.
Read more about this topic: Atlantic Coast Express
Famous quotes containing the word route:
“A Route of Evanescence
With a revolving Wheel—”
—Emily Dickinson (1830–1886)
“The route through childhood is shaped by many forces, and it differs for each of us. Our biological inheritance, the temperament with which we are born, the care we receive, our family relationships, the place where we grow up, the schools we attend, the culture in which we participate, and the historical period in which we live—all these affect the paths we take through childhood and condition the remainder of our lives.”
—Robert H. Wozniak (20th century)