Cruise ship visitors at Woody Bay

A large cruise liner, the MS PRINSENDAM, moored off Ilfracombe on Friday, 22 July and 150 of the passengers, mainly from the United States, embarked on four coaches for a visit to Woody Bay Station and a ride on the railway.  Arrival at the station caused some slight confusion when "five" coaches unloaded their passengers. It transpired that the unexpected extra coach contained a group of Swiss railway enthusiasts on a tour of the West Country, thus stretching our facilities somewhat!

Two special trains were run for our overseas visitors, who were able to enjoy a brief glimpse of the beauty of Exmoor, combined with a short talk about our American connection, the Baldwin locomotive LYN and our project to build a replica to run on the new railway. Many of the 762 Club leaflets were handed-out, and hopefully one or two new shareholders might be enrolled as a result. Certainly some of the visitors knew of the Baldwin Locomotive Company of Philadelphia, although none seem to have been aware that a US-built loco was operating in North Devon until LYN was scrapped in 1935. 
 

The visit of the cruise liner to Ilfracombe was also featured on local TV, and in the North Devon Gazette

Words & Photos - Dave Tooke