THE SOUTH DEVON RAILWAY Buckfastleigh - Staverton - Totnes Devon, England Running for 7 miles (11km) along the beautiful Dart Valley in South-West England, the South Devon Railway is one of Britain's preserved country branch lines. The line is maintained and run by a charitable trust: there are about half a dozen paid employees, so the vast majority of the line's restoration and running work is done by volunteers. Visitors will find this a "proper" railway: from authentic card tickets to signal-posts and engines, everything is done to Great Western tradition as far as possible. The railway is about halfway between Exeter and Plymouth. A brief history The line you travel on today is a truncated version of the Great Western Railway's Ashburton branch, beloved by railway modellers. Isambard Kingdom Brunel's broad-gauge (7ft 0.25 in) South Devon Railway was being put through the hilly country south of Dartmoor in the late 1840's, originally using his "atmospheric" system of traction. The steep banks (grades) defeated Brunel's invention, and conventional steam traction had to be used. Once the main line was open from Exeter through Totnes to Plymouth, the small market towns of Buckfastleigh and Ashburton lost much of their trade. So in 1872 the branch line was built from Totnes, through Staverton to Buckfastleigh and on to Ashburton, the railhead for the Dartmoor farmers. The broad-gauge single track opened up new prospects for the woollen mills of Buckfastleigh - and the rural population around. For the first time they could travel with ease to Exeter, or even to London. It was never a financial success: The Great Western (successor to the original SDR) took over the working in 1876, and formally amalgamated with the branch company twenty years later. Along with the main line, it was converted to standard gauge (4ft 8.5 in) over one weekend, and from then on it settled into the quiet life of a rural backwater: older coaches, push-pull trailer trains ("Auto-train" in GWR language) and freight for farmers and country industries. The routine of schoolchildren, travelling salesmen, farm produce and some mineral traffic, was only disrupted on Ashburton Fair day, when cattle trains would use every possible siding. World War Two brought some reflected glory, when King George VI's Royal Train was stabled for safety at night on the branch on a number of occasions. But the post-war rise of the bus, lorry and private car meant the end of the rural idyll. Passenger services ended in 1958, and the last freight ran in 1962. Resurrection - Part One The line lies in prime tourist territory, and in 1962 a group of businessmen negotiated to buy it from British Railways, aiming to run a GWR-style steam branch as an profitable attraction. So in 1965 The Dart Valley Light Railway Company (DVLR) took over, supported by a volunteer group the Dart Valley Railway Association. First trains ran in 1969, but only over the section from Buckfastleigh to Ashburton Junction at Totnes. (At the south end there was no agreement with BR to allow through running into Totnes station. At the North, construction of the dual- carriageway A38 road meant the route into Ashburton was to be obliterated.) So Buckfastleigh became the main station, works and visitor site. To avoid the ungainly sight of the line ending apparently in a field, just across the wire from BR, DVRA volunteers combed England and eventually found an ex-GWR station to form a new southern terminal, now known as Totnes (Littlehempston) Resurrection - Part Two In 1985, BR offered the railway through running into Totnes main line station. The option was taken up for three seasons, but proved too costly to be sustainable, so services reverted to terminating at the Littlehempston site. However, by now the DVLR had also bought the Paignton- Kingswear line from BR, and they found it a more profitable concern. So in 1990 they decided to give up the branch. Faced with closure, or conversion to a narrow-gauge tourist line. DVRA members decided to take the line on as a volunteer-run railway. (The DVLR still operate the "other" Dart Valley line.) In it's new guise as the South Devon Railway, the branch started operations in 1991. It is now operated by the South Devon railway trust (SDRT) an educational charity, and the mainstay of support and operational staffing is the South Devon Railway Association (SDRA) The stations - Totnes Totnes (Littlehempston) is a "station that never was". Originally, branch trains ran into Totnes's GWR mainline station. But when the preservation movement took the line on, the decision was made to construct a GWR station at the Totnes end of the branch. Volunteers found a suitable building 100 miles away in Dorset, where Toller Station was quietly falling down after the closure of the Bridport Branch. They dismantled it, took it to Devon, and over 14 years rebuilt it. What you now see may look as if it's always been there - but it was only handed over to the SDR Trust in May 1995! The platform also boasts a GWR metal hut from Bovey Tracey, a large canopy from Axbridge - and a toilet block which is entirely new build, although it looks to be GWR. At present there is one platform road in use, with a run-round loop: plans are afoot for Platform 2 to be brought into use. Public access is by a short stroll from BR Intercity and Regional Railways services at Totnes, by a footpath and bridge over the Dart. The ancient Devon town has a wealth of small shops, and with it's castle and riverside area, is a town well worth a visit. It is possible to continue your journey down the river by boat to Dartmouth on most days (tides permitting) The stations - Staverton Staverton is everyone's dream country wayside station: a single platform, level crossing, small goods shed and sidings. In normal service all trains stop here, and many passengers admire the painstaking re-creation of the old days - porter's barrows, milk churns and neat station gardens. Volunteers are restoring freight wagons here, and a "new" signalbox has been installed to allow trains to pass just North of the station. The station staff generally keep a proper coal fire blazing in the ticket-office, and every train's passing involves a disruption to local road traffic as the stationmaster closes the crossing gates. Country-lovers can alight to walk over to the ancient packhorse bridge over the Dart or head off to the village's famous "Sea Trout" pub. The stations - Buckfastleigh As the operating headquarters, Buckfastleigh has much to offer: the loco stock sheds can be visited, the footbridge offers excellent views of the sheds, platform roads, water-tower and all the other ingredients of the steam scene. There are two signalboxes. The old Goods Shed now contains a museum, the highlight of which is "Tiny", a genuine broad-gauge engine. "Tiny" is a "coffee-pot" vertical boilered engine and the only surviving locomotive from Brunel's era. The museum also has a relic from the "other railway" (the London and South Western, which was the GWR's great rival) in the form of Beattie well-tank 3298, a design from the 1870's which survived in daily use until the mid 1960's in Cornwall. There are hundreds of other railway relics and artefacts in the museum. A cafe and shop are adjacent to the station, as is the Buckfast Otter Sanctuary and Butterfly Farm. Buckfast Abbey is about 0.75 miles away. Buckfastleigh station has a large free car park just off the main A38 trunk road between Exeter and Plymouth. Locomotive stock The Buckfastleigh sheds contain more than a dozen engines: some in running order, others under restoration. Pride of the line is 1369, a GWR dock tank used on auto-trains. 1420, of the GWR class used for years on the line, is currently away being returned to active working order The SDR has two "military" engines: WD 132 "Sapper" and 68011 "Errol Lonsdale" are J94/Austerity 0-6-0 saddletank engines with British Army links: "Sapper" runs in War Department green, while "Errol" is in British Railways colours. A visiting GWR 0-6-0 pannier tank will be a mainstay of 1996 passenger services. 80064 is a BR "Standard" 2-6-4 tank engine of the 1950's period GWR 4-6-0 4920 "Dumbleton Hall" is owned by the SDR, but is hired out to other railways. Diesel enthusiasts will find class 20 on shed and in use as standby/diesel power when required. A full stock list is on sale at all stations. Passenger and freight stock The branch train was nicknamed "Bulliver" by locals, probably after the tramp steamer in Kipling's poem "The ballad of the Bolivar". Normal passenger trains will be steam hauled, and some will be GWR Auto-trains. For a small extra charge, you can (on certain trains) travel in "King George" a luxury Pullman-style saloon built in 1931 for the GWR's transatlantic Ocean Liner trains between Plymouth and Paddington The SDR has an excellent collection of ex-GWR freight stock, which is used for demonstration runs on gala days, and can be inspected at Staverton or Buckfastleigh. The fleet includes 9 GWR box vans, 2 "Toad" brake vans, fruit vans, a china-clay hood wagon and an 1893-built hand crane wagon. Train services Generally, steam trains run daily from Easter until October. The single journey lasts about 25 minutes. In "shoulder season" and off-peak days there will be four round trips a day (you can start from either end), increasing to five and six round trips as the season gets busier. A full timetable is available from Buckfastleigh station office. The current adult round-trip fare is GPB 5.90, with reductions for senior citizens, children, etc. Membership of the SDR Association is open to all interested: even if you can't get to the line you give valuable moral and financial help by belonging. You also receive four editions a year of "Bulliver" - one of the preservation movement's most informative and chatty magazines, with numerous pages of photographs as well as updates on restoration, anecdotes on running incidents, etc. Members travel at reduced rates. Membership for an adult is GBP 9.00 for 1996 1996 SERVICES Shoulder season dates: Trains will run on February 11, 13,14,15 and 18. March services run on 17, 23 and 24, 30 and 31 Trains run daily from March 30 to April 14. During April and May, trains run Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, plus Bank Holidays. Full daily running starts Saturday May 18 and continues until October 6th Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday trains run for the rest of October, with daily trains October 21st to 27th. Santa Specials will run on certain dates between December 7th to 23rd - details of dates from the office Special Events 17 March HALF PRICE - MARCH HARE SPECIAL: with primroses in bloom along the embankments 23/24 March BRANCH LINE WEEKEND, with auto-train and dock tank working local freight 7/8 April STEAM GALA and CLASSIC ROAD VEHICLES, at least three engines in steam, with six trains each way both days 5/6 May THOMAS THE TANK ENGINE AND FRIENDS WEEKEND. See the Fat Controller in his white spats shouting at the engines 26/27 May SPRING STEAM GALA: at least three engines in steam,with six trains each way both days 20/21 July MILITARY WEEKEND: period vehicles and displays, plus WD locos on the line. 25/26 August SUMMER STEAM GALA: at least three engines in steam, with six trains each way both days 22 September CLASSIC AND VINTAGE VEHICLE RALLY 12/13 October BRANCH LINE WEEKEND, with auto-train and dock tank working local freight 19/20 October THOMAS THE TANK ENGINE AND FRIENDS WEEKEND. See the Fat Controller in his white spats shouting at the engines again 27 October HALF PRICE - end of season special To find out more: The South Devon Railway postal address is: The Station, Buckfastleigh, Devon TQ11 0DZ England. Telephone +44 1364 642338 (0900-1700 GMT/BST) Stephen Lynas, who contributed this file, will happily answer any on-line queries, though he stresses he is an ordinary member of the SDRA and not an official of the railway or expert on specific detail. Email Stephen at 100544,3232 on CompuServe 3