Exeter St Davids station, built by the Great Western Railway and now operated by Railtrack and served by First Great Western, Virgin Trains, South West Trains, Wales & Borders trains and Wessex Trains, has six platforms, five of which are through lines. Adjacent to the station is a Wessex Trains operated depot, where Classes 150, 153 and 158 units can be found.

Of the main station, platform 1 is a bay facing East and seldom used except for stabling, all other through platforms are bi-directional. Platform 2, technically the principal platform of the station, is mainly used for Waterloo line and Exmouth services, platform 3 is also used for some Waterloo line arriving trains as well as Paignton/Plymouth line stopping trains and the Barnstaple service. Platform 4 is the main line westbound platform, while platform 5 is the main eastbound platform. Platform 6 is used for terminating services, occasional stopping trains and Royal Mail trains.

After departure from Exeter St Davids, the line heads away on an elevation towards Exeter St Thomas, this section offers little in the way of photography viewpoints. Exeter St Thomas station is of a two platform layout and gives a reasonable view, up trains viewed from the down platform are better in the morning and down trains from the up platform better in the afternoon.

The first road bridge to cross the line west of Exeter is at Marsh Barton, adjacent to a council disposal site. The bridge is narrow and leads down to the Exeter Canal. Lineside vegetation in this area restricts the

photographic potential but a picture can be obtained both ways. Going westward, the line is next crossed by what is part of the Exeter ring road at Matford, this very busy bridge offers views both ways but again bush and tree growth has limited the number of views. Walking around the roads in this area can be very difficult, but if you want to visit you are best advised to park in a layby just off Matford roundabout on the Plymouth carriage-way. Up views are quite pleasant here in the late afternoon/evening.

To follow the line towards Powderham, the A379 road runs adjacent to the railway, the first crossing after Matford is a private farm bridge just a few hundred yards west, this is closed off to the public. The next crossing of the line is the M5 motorway, which for obvious reasons cannot be used for photography.

A farm bridge, known as Gissons, offers some good views of the line just slightly west of the motorway, this is accessed from the village of Exminster, with a narrow road leading off from near the church. Ample parking is available next to the bridge and views are possible throughout the day, the best time is probably during the afternoon, when up trains are seen coming away from the site of the long closed Exminster station. At the west end of the village of Exminster (and the end of Exminster by-pass), is a road leading down to an industrial estate and crossing the line at the site of the closed Exminster station. The old GWR signal box remains here and is now a bird observation point. The old station buildings are now in industrial use, but views of the line are

good in both directions, pictures can be taken here at virtually any time of the day depending on light.

West from here the line starts to skirt through Powderham estate and can best be accessed from a footpath from the village church of Powderham, this can be found by following the A379 west and diverging left for Powderham on an angled junction. Parking is possible adjacent to the walkway at Powderham or by parking in the church yard, but please give a little donation if you do, it all goes to help the upkeep of this old and historic building.

The footpath from Powderham runs alongside the line a few hundred yards back towards Exeter before a gated crossing goes over the line. Photography is good along this path of down trains in the afternoon, which can be framed by trees or if you are lucky animals in the fields. The crossing of the line here can be very dangerous so please be very careful. This is a stop, look and listen crossing and please do just that, trains approach fast and often cannot be heard until very close. In the morning, with the light on the east side of the line, a footpath running along the bank of the River Exe towards Turf and Exeter gives some excellent views of down trains passing through the countryside, pictures of up trains are a little more difficult.

Westward from Powderham the road skirts the railway towards Starcross.