BUDDING railway workers can learn about the opportunities for volunteers at Dartmoor Railway during a special recruitment day being held at Okehampton Station this month. Starting at 10.30am on Saturday June 16, potential recruits will not only enjoy a train ride on the line but also be provided with hot drinks and a snack lunch, the day being run by current volunteers on the Dartmoor Railway. Volunteer Coordinator Jim Rider, a volunteer who will be present on the day, said: ?The Dartmoor Railway desperately needs more guards, ticket office staff, dining train stewards, engine cleaners and firemen, plus rolling stock renovators and cleaners, as well as a host of other interesting jobs.? A brief outline of the 15-mile railway will be given, including a short railway safety talk, while potential volunteers are having coffee and tea. This will be followed by descriptions of the various jobs where help is needed in running the railway, plus the training required and which will be given. Following a snack lunch there will be a return train ride to Meldon station, including a talk about the quarry and its workings. When those attending have decided the particular area in which they wish to help out and have their suitability assessed, their names will be given to the manager of that department for action. Mr Rider said: ?We need men and women of all ages to join us in continuing to make this community railway a success and to help us stride into the future ?Anyone who wishes to be a volunteer but cannot make the June event will always be welcome at Okehampton Station where their details will be recorded and we?ll then contact them.? The Dartmoor Railway and Okehampton station is a small, surviving part of the old Southern Railway route to Plymouth and North Cornwall that was largely closed down in the 1960?s as part of the Beeching Axe of rural railways. It is now known as the ?Withered Arm? by railway enthusiasts. In its heyday, Okehampton once boasted regular rail services to Tavistock, Holsworthy and Bude; Torrington, Bideford and Barnstaple; Launceston, Wadebridge and Padstow. These towns and many other West Country communities were left isolated when the ?Withered Arm? closed, leaving only the 15-mile freight link from Meldon quarry to Exeter for stone traffic. But resurrection came in 1997 via a strong local partnership scheme initiated and led by Devon County Council. This not only saw the restoration of Okehampton Station to its former glory and created a new youth hostel at the station, but also created a cycle and footpath route alongside the track-bed and established regular rail and bus links to and from the station. Now jointly supported and part-funded by Devon County Council, Dartmoor National Park Authority, West Devon Borough and Okehampton Town Councils, national cycle charity Sustrans, Meldon quarry owners Aggregate Industries and ECT (Ealing Community Transport which runs the Dartmoor Railway), the line is now hoping to become one of the Government?s Community Rail partnership lines. Next year, with support from Devon County Council, the Dartmoor Railway is hoping to expand its passenger services to and from Okehampton via a new station at Yeoford, near Crediton, which will link with the Tarka line trains running from Exeter to Barnstaple. This year marks the tenth anniversary of passenger trains returning to Okehampton via the Sunday Dartmoor Rover rail-link between the town and Exeter. During the last decade, the Summer Sunday service has carried well over 80,000 passengers up to Okehampton station and has become an important and popular link for walkers and cyclists, as well as for local people who use the service to go on and return from holidays.
