Stories and odd facts
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- Trains would sometimes stop to pick mushrooms en route. The engine crew would fry them on a shovel at the end of the journey.
- Notices warned passengers not to pick blackberries while the trains were moving, but trains had been known to stop to allow passengers to pick blackberries and strawberries. When a train stopped, people would sometimes jump off to pick flowers.
- Because the line took so long to build, some sleepers had rotted before the line opened.
- Typical fare was cheap day return from Weston to Portishead 1s. 10d. (9p)
- Many halts had no platforms, so carriages were equipped with steps.
- There were 80 level crossings in total, mostly ungated with cattle grids.
- At Clevedon a man walked in front of the train with a red and a green flag where the train crossed the road at the Triangle.
- In 1908 a train left Clevedon for Weston, missing out several intermediate halts. A angry clergyman had booked to alight at one of these, so they simply reversed the train back along the line several miles to the halt to the amazement of all concerned.
- A fatal accident at Worle in 1903 left two ladies dead and four people injured.
On the right is a report from the Weston-super-Mare Gazette - click to enlarge. See also Accidents.
- The track connecting the WC&P with the GWR at Clevedon was of such a tight radius, that derailment was quite likely, so it was little used.
- A bank manager living at Wick St Lawrence used to travel to Clevedon every day. If he was not waiting on the platform, one of the train’s staff would go to his house to remind him. Sometimes the train would wait for him to finish shaving.
- An elderly lady visiting Clevedon asked a policeman the best way to Weston. He replied she should go on the WC&P following which it is said that she hit him with her umbrella.
- On the inaugural trip passengers remarked that every time the whistle blew, there was a falling off in speed.
- The railway became the butt of jokes such as :
Cow-catchers were fitted at the rear of the train to prevent overtaking cattle from causing damage, and
A farmer used to fix his milking times when no trains were around, because when a train was heard, his cattle would rush to the fence to see it go by.
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