Tag: Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Railcam & Watchet Visitor Centre partnership to promote harbour town

Railcam are delighted to be partnering Watchet Visitor Centre, in a project that aims to increase our coverage of the delightful West Somerset Railway, whilst also helping to promote the Somerset harbour town to a wider audience.

The project is kindly funded by Watchet Town Council and Somerset Council to support the promotion of the town, with two cameras situated at the Watchet Visitor Centre/Watchet Boat Museum building. The cameras were installed by the Railcam team, who will manage and maintain them moving forward.

Watchet Camera 1

The camera gives us an excellent view of the approaches to Watchet Station which was originally the terminus of Brunel’s broad gauge that opened to Taunton in 1862. You’ll see trains arriving and departing to Minehead with the camera directly above Minehead bound departing locomotives, providing a unique view over the drivers shoulder as crews prepare for the guards whistle.

Watchet Camera 2

The camera gives us an excellent view along the length of Watchet Station. You’ll see trains arriving and departing to Bishops Lydeard with the camera also providing far reaching views out across the Bristol Channel with the island of Steep Holm clearly visible. Watchet Marina, East Quay and the Goivers Lane foot crossing provide the backdrop of this ancient port of a 1000 years. 

The cameras will be available to watch for free, 24/7 via the Railcam website, Youtube channel & the Watchet Visitor Centre website.

Important Links

Watchet Visitor Centre – Website | Facebook | X/Twitter

Watchet Town Council – Website | Facebook

Somerset Council – Website | Facebook | X/Twitter

West Somerset Railway – Website | Facebook | X/Twitter

Railcam & Saltash Council partnership provides live coverage from Royal Albert Bridge

How could we possibly top the wonderful new Chinley camera, with it’s spectacular view of not one, but two viaducts?

Answer… Find one of the most iconic structures on the UK rail network and install two cameras there.

We present… Railcam Saltash – with panoramic views of Brunel’s famous Royal Albert Bridge, the Tamar Suspension Bridge and the River Tamar below.

As a special treat, we’ve arranged for The Flying Scotsman to pass over the bridge on our launch weekend!!! Well OK, it was already planned to do that, so we pulled-out all the stops to get the cameras installed in time. The NRM’s famous locomotive is due to haul The Royal Duchy – Flying Scotsman on Sunday 30th April. Let’s hope the weather is kind.

Camera 2 will be available to all Railcam members – and will also be on YouTube, from Saturday evening.

Camera 1 is the Railcam Supporter camera (available from 12pm Saturday), focusing more on the railway, with pan/tilt/zoom capability to watch trains cross the bridge.

We would like to thank Saltash Council and the Saltash Station Building Refurbishment Project for working with us on this and allowing us to install our equipment.
Thanks also to our two Andrews, who made the trip down to Cornwall and did their usual excellent job on the install.

A bit of background…
The Royal Albert Bridge has always been right at the top of our list of must-have camera locations. After an option at the other side of the river failed to come to fruition, TV railway historian Tim Dunn suggested that we contact the people at Saltash Station, where he had recorded a programme for his series “The Architecture the Railways Built”. That was in 2021, and a lot of water has gone under the bridge (literally!), but we have finally cracked it!

We are sure you will agree that this is a bit special.