This board is for "London to the West - Services to and from Westbury, Taunton, Exeter, Newton Abbot, Totnes, Plymouth and Cornwall (Other operators services to Exeter and Plymouth - posts welcome)", but what would you call that line?

It was suggested in another thread that I was confusing people by calling it the "West of England Main Line" because that name rightly applies to the line used by the regional trains from Exeter via Cranbrook, Crewkerne and Clapham Junction to Waterloo.   So I thought I would have a look at an old reference book.  But, alas, that turned out to have no name for it. I have heard the name "Great Way Round" applied to the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) line from London via Bristol to the West Country - clearly it's not that line. It's not the Great Western Main Line either, as that runs via Swindon.   Problem - so let's have a poll.

But if it goes via Bristol it does not go via Pewsey. Unless it takes a very obscure route!

Regional trains my ar*e

The 159s be the proud successors to the West Country and Merchant Navy Pacifics of the bleddy glorious West of England Main Line from Waterloo to Exeter - and one day soon to Plymouth via Okehampton

A pox on yer Kings and Castles and yer Berks and Hants - the Southern will return (and we be starting from Woody Bay, so watch yer backsides).

Umberleigh will be two track once more!!!

Errr, nurse, where’s my medicine....?

Although it is the route most trains take, I wouldn't regard it as a single line.  The "Main Line" from Paddington to Penzance has always been via Bristol and even after the Berks and Hants route was completed in 2006, via Bristol was still "Main Line" and this is where the ELR "MLN" came from.  The names of the route from Reading to Cogload Junctions reflect the way it was cobbled together: 

Basisngstoke Branch - Reading to Southcote Junction.

Berks and Hants Line - Southcote Junction to Stert Junction.

Stert and Westbury Line - Stert Junction to Westbury.

Weymouth Line - Westbury to Castle Cary.

Castle Cary and Langport Line - Castle Cary to Cogload Junction.


The use of such names these days would be confusing to the public but I think does help explain why the route to Penzance via Westbury has never been given an official name.  I'd tend to just say Great Western Main Line to Reading, Berks & Hants* to Cogload Junction and Great Western Main Line again to Penzance.


*Although the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) line only covered the section of the route from Southcote Junction to Stert Junction, it has for as long as I can remember been used to describe the route from Reading to Cogload Junction.

As for "West of England Main Line" I do seem to remember it used in conversation for Paddington to Penzance (although this may have included both via Bristol and Westbury) many years ago before South West Trains (or maybe Network SouthEast) decided to use it as a brand for the route from Waterloo.

The Cream on first before Jam line 

Actually, no. It was just a silly choice of what I once heard described as the most un-sexy name to give to a boy child. I did wonder about suggesting a girl's name too ...

I voted for Plymouth main line, reluctantly since West of England main line would IMO^▸ (in my opinion) be more suitable, but has already been used for the Waterloo to Exeter route.
It is debatable if the Waterloo to Exeter service is worthy of such a grand name, it kooks to me like a single track branch, worked by regional DMUs^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit).

I am very much aware of the Southern v Western rivalry between the two lines from London to Exeter.

Sadly (for I was brought up Southern) the old LSWR^▸ (London South Western Railway) route via Salisbury and (de facto) has been degraded from a true main line to a secondary main line, or a regional railway.  I would not go so far as to categorise it as a "branch", though on days that the only services operating terminate at Yeovil Junction with nothing on to Exeter, then it is a branch.  I also question "full main line" status for a line capable of handling less that 2 trains each way per hour.

Undoubtedly, the Southern route to Exeter and Plymouth once was a true main line. And undoubtedly the closure of a significant section in the middle, eliminating its ability to provide an alternative route to the major city of Plymouth, was a poor decision in hindsight - a closure too far, and a closure that was decided on based on cold logic, but rather on dogma and / or the heart of the Western victor in the battle for rails to the west.

None of which provides an answer to "what do we call the line via Pewsey?".   Many thanks for your suggestions and comments so far.