THE GLORY OF WESTCOUNTRY STEAM LINES 

by Chris Dugdale.

Here in Paignton we have the Torbay to Kingswear line (for Dartmouth). In the days of the Great Western Railway (and later after nationalisation) Dartmouth Station was the only one into which a train has never steamed. The actual railway line terminated at Kingswear and in my childhood days a wonderful boat called the “Mew” took you from the landing stage at Kingswear station over the river to Dartmouth.

A few miles inland at Buckfastleigh there is the “South Devon Railway” running steam hauled trains over a truly picturesque scene of tranquillity alongside the River Dart to Totnes.

Over the border into Cornwall there is the Bodmin to Wenford Steam Railway, based at the old Bodmin Town Station. Trains run down a steep incline to Bodmin Parkway (previously known as Bodmin Road Station) and in the other direction down to Boscarne Junction. Presently this is as far as the line goes but hopefully in the future it will be restored to Wadebridge.

Somerset has a couple of offerings, one, the West Somerset Railway from Bishops Lydeard (just out of Taunton) takes in some lovely countryside on the edge of Exmoor to the terminus at Minehead on the North Coast.

THE SOUTH DEVON RAILWAY (The Primrose Line)

Based at Buckfastleigh, South Devon, approximately mid-way between the cities of Exeter and Plymouth on the A38 dual carriageway this is a “must” for the railway enthusiast. The SDR which joines Buckfastleigh to Totnes started life back in 1872 and was absorbed into the Great Western Railway in 1897. The line was a branch of the main GWR from Totnes, to Staverton, Buckfastleigh and terminating at Ashburton. The section between Buckfastleigh and Ashburton was closed in 1962 and the trackbed was used for the new A38 dual carriageway.

The old Ashburton Station still exists and is now the “Station Garage”, the building was designed by the great man himself, I.K.Brunel and is a protected building. In recent times a survey has been conducted on the feasibility of rebuilding the line so that Ashburton will perhaps again in the future hear the chuff-chuff of a steam engine.

This is an absolutely glorious line on which to travel as if follows the path of the River Dart to Totnes with outstanding scenery. The line is approximately 9 ½ miles in length and the trip takes about 30 minutes each way.

There is much for the enthusiast to see at Buckfastleigh, rolling stock and locomotives. The engineering workshops have a viewing platform so that you can see on-going work being carried out on various locos, plus bookshop and café. Special events are put on during the season. Over the Easter weekend there is usually a transport weekend with vintage vehicles on display, a similar weekend also takes place in late September. There are also Military Vehicle weekends, Thomas the Tank Engine events and of course, the ever popular Santa Specials at Christmas.

In addition to the lines own locomotives, from time to time visiting engines are in use, a couple of photographs taken on one of my visits, my records say 1992 and accompanying this article, show the famous GWR 4-4-0 “City of Truro”. As far as high speed is concerned this engine was the first in the world to achieve an authenticated maximum speed of 100 mph (probably a little over this) back in 1904. The GWR was renowned for its easy steaming engines and of course its chief engineer George Jackson Churchward. The City of Truro has cylinders of 18 inches and 26 inches and balanced slide valves with a maximum travel of 4.5/8 inches.

The South Devon Railway operates a full daily service from April through to the end of October. During December operation is at weekends (apart from the Santa Specials and the New Year festivities). Trains do not normally run during the months of January and November.

If further information is required their telephone number is 01364 642338, fax 01364 642170, e-mail info@southdevonrailway.org or visit the web site http://www.southdevonrailway.org