Portsmouth West

Portsmouth Harbour to Westbury

We're on board one of the hourly GWR services emanating from Portsmouth Harbour which connects with various main lines and towns in the West, avoiding London. Seen from the Driver's cab of a 3 car class 166 networker turbo on a glorious summer's day, we get a perfect view of the line. We follow our train's progress from the stations, trackside, from the air and even from within the various signal boxes.

From Portsmouth Harbour, at first our train heads in an easterly direction to Fratton. There, turning to the north we traverse Portcreek Junction and join the West Coastway line to Southampton, a surprisingly dificult route with its severe curves, in places bringing our speed down to just 20 mph.

The scenic Test Valley line then takes us to the north west and through the City of Salisbury. From there the line skirts the vast Salisbury Plain running into the county of Wiltshire and the market town of Warminster. The final leg takes us to Westbury for connection with the Berks and Hants line.

The history of the piecemeal construction of the route with its various trials and tribulations is in Rob Curling's excellent narration.