Yeovil Junction

This station has for long been an interesting spot, both in terms of physical railway connections and the range of motive power which has served it. The first station in the area was that at Hendford, situated at the end of the Bristol & Exeter Railway's Broad Gauge branch emanating from what became the GWR's main line to the South West, just east of Taunton. Opening on 1st October 1853, it was followed by the delightful Yeovil Pen Mill on 1st September 1856, the latter situated at the end of a branch line spurring off the GWR's main line at Castle Cary. The London & South Western Railway was the last to arrive on the scene, with a single-track extension from Salisbury to the town opening on 1st June 1860 - this terminated at the GWR's existing Hendford station. Construction of the line from Salisbury had previously begun on 3rd April 1856 by a nominally independent concern instigated by the LSWR: the ''Salisbury and Yeovil Railway Company''. The concern had been formed in 1854 when Parliamentary permission was received for the building of the forty-one mile extension to Yeovil as part of the push to Exeter. The original concept outlined a coastal Salisbury to Exeter route via Dorchester; that via Yeovil was approved above this in light of its more direct course and the avoidance of a succession of steep gradients. Comparatively speaking, the line was fairly inexpensive to build, in light of the flat terrain and cheap land.

A station christened ''Yeovil Junction'' was opened on 19th July 1860, when the LSWR completed an extension from the town to Exeter Central. Hendford remained open to passengers for little under a year thereafter, when it was ultimately replaced by a joint GWR and LSWR station on 1st June 1861 - Yeovil Town. The junction station provided a passing place on the single-track Salisbury to Exeter section of the main line from Waterloo: two island platforms were in evidence, but separated by only one track, which certainly gave rise to some unusual operating conditions. The central line was in fact used by shuttle trains from Yeovil Town, whilst the outer faces of the two islands were served by ''up'' and ''down'' passing loops - these then became dedicated through lines on the doubling of the route in 1870, completion of this coming in July of that year. Doubling of the line certainly had its advantages, those being the increasing in service frequency and reduction in journey times, but at the junction station there remained a problem. Non-stop services were subject to the tight curvature of the outer platform faces and as a consequence of this, severe speed restrictions were imposed on the passing lines, perhaps to the extent that the through traffic may as well have stopped! Goods facilities had been provided to the north west of the platforms; a shed for such traffic was in evidence, although no track actually intercepted the building. Instead, it was positioned parallel with the building and shadowed by a canopy.

The GWR arrived at Yeovil Junction on 13th June 1864 with a Broad Gauge goods line extension spurring off the Pen Mill line (which had since been extended to Weymouth, traffic commencing to the coastal town on 20th January 1857), the company building a transfer shed to the south of the platforms. Freight traffic here was exchanged between the two companies and conveyed away on their respectively gauged lines; despite the conversion of the GWR branch to Standard Gauge on 25th June 1874 (Broad Gauge having previously been withdrawn on the 18th of that month), the transfer shed remained intact and kept two operational terminating lines. Gauge conversion also allowed a physical connection between GWR and LSWR tracks at the site.

In August 1990 No. 50044 ''Exeter'' was witnessed at Yeovil Junction with a Network SouthEast

service bound for its namesake. The lattice footbridge now just crosses a single line, having been

severely truncated on singling of the route in 1967. Despite the degrading of the route, the presence

of locomotive-hauled trains, such as the one depicted here, certainly allowed the line to retain much

interest. Mike Glasspool

On Western Region territory behind a Western Region locomotive: No. 6024 is seen puffing away

along the picturesque single-track branch to Weymouth, having just departed Yeovil Pen Mill, 4th

June 2005. The Pen Mill line actually became part of the Southern Region on Nationalisation in 1948,

but then passed to Western Region control with the Salisbury to Exeter line in 1963. This view is of

interest because it shows the single-track connecting spur with Yeovil Junction veering off to the right.

David Glasspool

Ominous clouds gather over Yeovil Junction as the splendid semaphore signal gantry protecting the

connecting spur is viewed from the Pen Mill line, on 4th June 2005. The Junction signal box is observed

on the left, whilst the former GWR traverser shed can be picked out just left of centre. David Glasspool

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