South Devon Railway

The South Devon Railway is a 6.64-mile heritage railway from Totnes to Buckfastleigh in Devon. Mostly running alongside the River Dart, it was initially known as the Dart Valley Railway. The railway is now operated by the South Devon Railway Trust, a registered charity.
A 10.5-mile railway between Newton Abbot and Ashburton received Parliamentary approval and Royal Assent in 1848. However, with the economy in recession the scheme failed to find sufficient backing. After the Parliamentary approval of construction of the South Devon Railway Company from Exeter to Plymouth, a new Buckfastleigh, Totnes and South Devon Railway scheme was proposed to make a junction with the SDR at Totnes and link it with Buckfastleigh, running alongside the River Dart. It opened as a broad gauge line through to Ashburton on 1 May 1872 and was operated from the outset by the SDR . The last passenger train ran on 3 November 1958 although freight traffic continued until 7 September 1962.

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