Moretonhampstead and South Devon Railway

1866. Exhibit at the National Railway Museum.

The Moretonhampstead and South Devon Railway was a 7 ft 0¼ in broad gauge railway which linked the South Devon Railway at Newton Abbot railway station with Bovey Tracey and Moretonhampstead, Devon.

The railway opened on 26 June 1866, the last passenger trains ran on 28 February 1959, regular goods trains continuing until 6 April 1964. The last special passenger train ran up to Bovey Tracey on 5 July 1970. Oil and china clay trains continue to operate occasionally on the south section of the line below Heathfield (Devon) railway station.

• 1862 Moretonhampstead and South Devon Railway authorised by Act of Parliament

• 1866 Railway opened

• 1872 Amalgamated with the South Devon Railway

• 1876 South Devon Railway amalgamated with the Great Western Railway

• 1882 Standard gauge Teign Valley Railway opened from Heathfield

• 1892 Broad gauge converted to standard gauge

• 1948 Great Western Railway nationalised into British Railways

• 1959 Passenger trains withdrawn

• 1964 Goods trains withdrawn beyond Bovey

• 1970 Goods trains withdrawn beyond Heathfield

Sources of Information

• [1] Wikipedia