South Brent station.

South Brent station was opened in 1848, initially just serving the small town of South Brent. It became a junction in 1893 when the line to Kingsbridge opened.

The station comprised of an island platform on the down side serving the main line and the Kingsbridge branch. The signal box was set on this platform. The goods yard was also on the downside. The up platform served housed the main station building.

In 1963 the line to Kingsbridge closed sounding the death bell for South Brent station which closed in 1964.

Today much of the station has gone. The signal box is out of use but still standing, and the goods shed houses a dentists practice.

The bridge at the west end of South Brent station. 

Looking under the bridge at the East end of the station. The remains of the island platform can be seen on the left. The Kingsbridge branch curved away to the right just beyond the bridge.

The South Devon main line

The main line running through the southern part of Devon included what is possibly the best scenic railway journey in the country as the line travels between Exeter and Newton Abbot along the sea wall between Dawlish Warren and Teignmouth.

Parsons Tunnel
Photo by Geof Sheppard(www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)via Wikimedia Commons

Beyond Teigmouth the line follows the Teign estuary to Newton Abbot. On leaving Newton Abbot the line enters the Southhams, twisting and turning its way through the hilly South Devon countryside and at times hugging the edge of Dartmoor passing through the stations at Totnes and Ivybridge on the way to Plymouth.

The line first opened in the late 1840's having been designed by I K Brunel. It was intended that the line was to be operated by atmospheric pressure, in theory a good idea but in practice beset by problems. The atmospheric trains never reached Totnes but the engine house for them was built and part survives in the old dairy buildings beside the current station. Atmospheric trains would have been much lighter than their steam counterparts so gradients were less critical, but once the atmospheric system was abandoned the steam trains had to contend with the fearsome gradients.  

More about South Brent station today 

The Kingswear Branch

The branchline (or should that be mainline) running from Paignton to Kingswear takes in some of the spectacular South Devon scenery.

This section of line was opened in August 1864 as an extension of the main line running from Newton Abbot to Paignton. Many would say that the line goes to Dartmouth but this is not the case. There was a station built in Dartmouth but this never had tracks to it, the passengers being required to take a boat across the river Dart to the station at Kingswear. I suspect that this might have come as a surprise to some tourist's who stepped off the train looked up and saw the Kingswear station signage rather than Dartmouth.

Dartmouth Station building, now a restaurant.
Photo © Copyright Derek Harper and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Holiday and fish traffic played a major role in the life of the line with significant numbers of trains arriving in Kingswear from London, the Midlands and the North of England. During peak summer months the influx of tourists was so great that the station and coaching sidings became extremely congested. A further source of traffic was the naval academy in Dartmouth. It was this that lead to the station master at Dartmouth being paid more than the one at Kingswear despite the aforementioned lack of track.

In 1972 British Rail closed the line between Paignton and Kingswear, it was however immediately taken over by the Dart Valley Railway (the same company that was running the Totnes to Buckfastleigh line). They reopened the line in 1973 for tourist traffic. The line is still in operation today using steam hauled services, but focusing on tourism rather than preservation. Dart Valley Railway website. If you are in the area the line is well worth a trip on.

One of the Dart Valley Railway's locomotives (Manor No 7827) approaching Kingswear station.
Photo © Copyright K Buxton Dean

The line was built to allow the heaviest locomotives running on the Great Western and regularly saw Kings taking trains up and down.

At the Churston station there was a branch off the line that went to Brixham. This may be covered in a separate article.

Narrow Gauge Lines

South Devon was not a hive of activity for narrow gauge railways but there were some. These lines were mostly on Dartmoor and used for carrying minerals and goods rather than passengers.

 Shipley Bridge Naptha works. These were later used for China clay.
These works were served by the Zeal Tor tramway line from Red Lake.
Photo © Copyright Richard Knights and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

The Zeal Tor tramway was a short line running from Shipley Bridge to Red lake. This line was horse drawn. Much of the line has disappeared now. This line was used between the late 1840's until the 1880's

The Redlake line ran from Cantrell, between Bittaford and Ivybridge, up to Redlake. This line never carried the china clay from the pits at Redlake or Left lake, but was used to carry the coal, oil and other goods needed to run the pits. The line also carried the workers to and from the pits. This line was completed in 1912. The works closed and the line was lifted in 1932. It is still possible to walk the route of this line.

The Avon dam line. During the construction of the Avon reservoir a narrow gauge line was used. Short sections of this line are still visible including one with a little section of rail.  

The Ashburton Branch

The line from Totnes to Ashburton was opened in 1872 linking the towns of Ashburton and Buckfastleigh to the GWR main line at Totnes. Initially the line was run by an independent company,  The Buckfastleigh, Totnes and South Devon Railway. By 1897 the GWR had taken over the running of the line. Passenger services carried on until 1958 with freight hanging on for a further 3 years.

Closure was not the end of the story for this line. In 1969 the Dart Valley railway took over the running of the line. In 1971 the development of the A38 meant that the line from Ashburton to Buckfastleigh was lost but the remaining line is still operational and going from strength to strength. This line is now operated by the South Devon Railway as a tourist steam line. http://www.southdevonrailway.co.uk/

Ashburton Station.
This work has been released into the public domain by its author, Rosser1954 at the wikipedia project. This applies worldwide. In case this is not legally possible: Rosser1954 grants anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law.

The Yealmpton Branch

The Yealmpton branch line ran from Plympton to Yealmpton. The initial act of Parliament was passed in 1865. Built by the GWR it required access to the LSWR line at Cattewater, resulting in a conflict not resolved until the LSWR granted running powers in 1894. Construction of the GWR section started in December 1895, with the line opening to traffic on January 17th 1898.
Never the most successful line it closed to passengers twice during its lifetime, first in July 1930. The line was still used for goods during the 30's, but the WW2 blitz of Plymouth brought new passengers with residents of Plymouth leaving town at night to escape the bombing. This alone was not enough to keep it going when the bus services returned to normal after the end of hostilities, the line closing in October 1947
When first conceived under the South Hams Devon Railway Act of 1864, it was envisaged that the line would continue to Modbury and possibly to Kingsbridge. There were also plans for one or two short branches off the line. None of the extra schemes were ever built.

Brixton Road Station, Yealmpton Branchline. April 1964
© Copyright Ben Brooksbank and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

The Kingsbridge Branchline.

The Kingsbridge branch line ran from South Brent to Kingsbridge passing through three intermediate stations: Avonwick, Gara Bridge and Loddiswell.

The first act of parliament for its construction was raised in 1863 but monetary problems and the  usual issues with contractors meant the first foundation stone was laid on the first bridge 2 miles above Loddiswell in August 1867. Despite this it was not completed until  December 1893, at a cost of £180000 and only because the GWR bought out the original shares! As was often the case with these local schemes not many of the original shareholders saw a return on their investment.

The line had regular passenger services with most trains stopping at all stations. The line saw through coaches from Paddington on summer Saturdays.

Freight traffic was also profitable, particularly crab, lobster, milk in churns, livestock and rabbits.

The line also played an important part in both world wars. Many men and horses were sent to the trenches in the First World War. Some of the men and most of the horses never saw Devon again. In the 1939-45 war the areas value as a training ground for the invasion forces who would eventually liberate Europe, combined with the dispersal of key government and military administration staff, saw the line at its busiest. The peak tonnage for goods standing at nearly 40,000 tonnes in 1944-45. Many local people were also moved from their homes for the training area and evacuees were also sent down the branch from Bristol and elsewhere.

The British Railways period saw heavy traffic of goods until 1955, with average passenger receipts still close to pre-war levels. This was in part due to continuing fuel rationing until 1950 but the poor state of many roads in the area, despite the military traffic, kept the railway busier. Sadly as with many other branch lines, even ones in holiday areas, the increase in private car ownership and the poor marketing of freight services, as well as road haulage competition began to hurt the branch. By the time of the Beeching Report traffic had declined to a point deemed "uneconomic" by the standards set down.

The line closed in 1963. There was an attempt to preserve the line but the contract for the demolition was signed just days before the preservationists’ money was ready. The authorities refused to go back on their arrangement with the scrap men so the track was lifted and many smaller structures demolished.

Kingsbridge station underbridge.

This bridge carried the approach pointwork for the station.

Today some parts of the track bed remain open for walking, even the odd bit of metalwork, such as the crossing gate hinge opposite, can be found, stubbornly clinging on in the undergrowth. The station building in Kingsbridge was shamefully demolished in 2009, despite sporadic local action to save it. Structures such as bridges and tunnels also remain, many on private land and some damaged or removed to make way for roads. For more detailed history, local stories and pictures, see the link below to the " Loddiswell Station " site.

http://www.loddiswellstation.org/