Yeovil Junction
The LSWR non-stop services battled with the Yeovil Junction speed restrictions for the best part of half a century, until the company decided to alleviate the situation. The first soil was turned in 1907 and for the next two years, the station was transformed into an affair which was worthy of a main line junction. The two island platform concept remained central to the rebuild, but the new platforms were longer and even more importantly, were separated by four tracks, the two most central of which permitted non-stop services to proceed through at high speed. With the islands came red-brick platform buildings, these of which were protected by copious canopies and linked to the approach road by a enclosed lattice footbridge - the latter stretched no less than six tracks and one island. The canopies and red brick offices were built to the same design as those established at Salisbury. It is thought that the two-storey Station Master's house was provided at this time, to the north west of the platforms, a stone's throw from the goods shed. Siding capacity here was now extensive, six lengthy terminating lines being installed to the north of the goods shed, whilst further lines appeared around the GWR transfer shed, now made possible with its conversion to Standard Gauge. Locomotives could be turned at the site after the rebuilding, a turntable appearing just beyond the transfer shed. The latter survived in its original capacity until 7th June 1937, when the Clifton Maybank branch closed and the exchange of goods between the GWR and the 1923-formed Southern Railway was transferred to nearby Yeovil Town. Despite this, the transfer shed at the junction retained both its tracks for general freight stock storage.
For many years the route via Yeovil Junction was a busy one and at its peak it not only linked London with Exeter, but also connected the two cities with the historic Plymouth (reached in 1890), with a route north of Dartmoor. Alas, however, this popular route was heading for stony ground, the first indications coming when the line west of Salisbury became part of the Western Region on 1st January 1963, as part of regional border changes. Direct trains from Waterloo to Plymouth Friary ceased at the end of the Summer timetable in September 1964, whilst Western Region diesel hydraulics took the helm of the expresses which still went as far as Exeter St David's. Bulleid Pacifics remained on those expresses which terminated at Salisbury. Soon, a number of fine intermediate stations were closed and razed to the ground, Sidmouth Junction and Templecombe to name but a couple, and during 1967 the Salisbury to Exeter route was subject to singling, despite it serving a greater population along its course than the Western Region line via Castle Cary. Singling had been completed come May 1967, which saw the ''down'' island platform of Yeovil Junction go out of use and the truncating of the lattice footbridge to merely link the approach road with the remaining island. Yeovil Town then closed on 2nd October 1967, but a connecting spur between the Junction station and Pen Mill was retained, albeit downgraded from double track to a single line. Although goods traffic to and from the station officially ceased on 5th April 1965, the LSWR goods shed remained in situ, as did a number of adjacent sidings - surprising for a line which the Western Region was trying in earnest to diminish the importance of. The former Clifton Maybank transfer shed and SR turntable also remained in situ - the latter was 70 foot and of 1945 origin, having been produced by Cowans Sheldon as a larger replacement for an existing turntable, to accept the larger Bulleid Pacifics which were then being introduced. The water tower adjacent to the turntable and built of local stone was not so lucky, however, this being brought crashing to the ground during line singling.
Line singling meant that trains were no longer able to pass each other at the Junction, but this situation soon had to be reversed in March 1975 to eliminate conflict of train movements and improve reliability. The native Southern Region Class 33s gradually began fronting Waterloo to Exeter services from 1971 onwards, as Class 42 ''Warship'' diesels started to fall foul to poor availability and British Rail's push to have a nationwide standardisation in favour of diesel-electric locomotives. The Class 33s were somewhat underpowered, especially for the heavy Summer trains, thus the type were required to double-head. More change came with the arrival of Class 50s and Mk 2a stock on the route in May 1980, both formerly of the Western Region and displaced by the deployment of HSTs on services from Paddington. Back at the junction station, the canopy of the former ''down'' island was removed in 1983, but the buildings remained, having been in departmental use since going out of passenger use in 1967. The removal of the canopy saw the red brick building acquire a tiled pitched-roof. When the Civil Mechanical & Electrical Engineers department vacated the ''down'' side in 1993, the threat loomed of the turntable being removed, which would have made the prospect of steam specials much less attractive. Consequently, in that year, a meeting was held by a group interested in preserving the ''down'' side for posterity: this stretched from as far east as the remaining track of the GWR's Clifton Maybank branch, to as far west as the turntable. The ''South West Main Line Steam Group'' took out a 99 year lease on the whole site (excluding the transfer shed), which secured the long-term future of the buildings. The ''Yeovil Railway Centre'', as it became known, went from strength to strength and on 2nd October 1999, a new double-track engine shed was opened, providing much needed covered accommodation. A major acquisition was that of the transfer shed: this was taken out on lease on 1st July 2002, when its departmental function ceased.
Many thanks to Paul Gould for providing the information on the Yeovil Railway Centre.
This London-bound view in October 2002 reveals the cattle pen platform face in the foreground, on
the left, before high fencing was erected here. The scaffolding on the far left marks the position of
the point where the remaining goods sidings fan out. David Glasspool
Another October 2002 view reveals the former ''down'' island and buildings. From 1993 onwards, the
whole ''down'' side area, including the truncated remains of the Clifton Maybank branch, have been part
of the ''Yeovil Railway Centre''. The organisation was established when the future of the remaining turntable
was plunged into doubt. The green building behind the island is the centre's engine shed. David Glasspool
The Grade II listed GWR transfer shed is viewed from across the lines in October 2002. This lost rail
access in 1952 when the ends were bricked up and the building used as a store for the Civil Engineer's
department (later ''Civil Mechanical & Electrical Engineers''). It was taken out on lease by the Yeovil
Railway Centre on 1st July 2002. David Glasspool
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