A wonderful GWR branch line scene with 4575 2-6-2T No.5541 basking in the sun at Tavistock South on 2nd May 1961. It had been allocated to Laira since October 1960 and was withdrawn from there in July 1962.


Peter Kerslake adds "5541, now preserved on the Dean Forest Railway, was a regular performer on the Plymouth to Launceston line. It will continue to Plymouth after having worked from Launceston.
Small South nameboards were added to the Tavistock running-in boards in 1949 to avoid confusion with the Southern Region's Tavistock station on its line from Plymouth via North Dartmoor and Okehampton. The large signal box replaced two smaller ones, the old ‘B’ box serving for many years after closure as an office and storeroom.
Brunel's limited influence on the station design shows itself in his overall roof typical of others to his design. In a fire in 1887 which destroyed much of the station the wooden structure of the overall roof survived and was later restored and was in use until the line closed in December 1962."