In early Victorian times, Buckfastleigh and Ashburton were thriving market towns. The former was known for its woollen mills and the latter was a stannary town being a centre for tin mining. Farming was a major industry on the southern slopes of Dartmoor. Although Ashburton was an important stop for stage coaches on the Exeter to Plymouth route, local roads were slow making the movement of goods and people difficult.
To improve things, there is some evidence that plans for a canal on the east bank of River Dart were drawn up in 1792 and 1809. It may have once carried produce between Buckfastleigh and Totnes. All that remains of the canal now are isolated ditch-like features
In the 1840’s attention turned to the railways which were improving transportation around the country and other towns that were railway-connected gained in importance as their transport costs were reduced. Buckfastleigh and Ashburton are said to have declined rapidly due to the competitive disadvantage.
In December 1846 the main line from Exeter to Plymouth reached Newton Abbot and a group of local promoters came up with a plan to link it to Ashburton. In July 1848 a Bill for a ten-and-a-half-mile branch called the Ashburton, Newton and South Devon Junction Railway received Royal Assent. Isambard Kingdom Brunel was asked to be the engineer for the line but with the economy in recession, the plan was dropped three years later.
The Plymouth main line reached Totnes in May 1847 and eventually another scheme was put forward for a link towards Ashburton. It was also to be built to Brunel’s broad gauge but this time along the river Dart. Work on the line started on the single track in 1867 and it was finally opened on 1st May 1872 as the Buckfastleigh, Totnes and South Devon Railway. No link with Ashburton was in the original plan.
Operated by the original South Devon Railway, this company was taken over by the Great Western Railway in 1876. The line, along with all the GWR’s broad gauge lines, was converted to standard gauge over one weekend in May 1892. The Totnes to Ashburton branch never made a profit. In fact, by 1896 it was obvious that the company could not continue, and a liquidator was appointed pending sale. The GWR was the only possible purchaser, and the sale took effect on 1 July 1897. Goods traffic, mainly coal, wool, cider and agricultural items, was the lifeblood of the line. The GWR introduced its railmotor services for passenger trains on the branch, and later push-pull autotrains in both cases reducing operating costs somewhat.
In 1947 there were six return trips on Monday to Friday between Ashburton and Totnes and two extra services on Saturdays. This had increased to eight on weekdays by 1951 with an extra late evening train on Thursdays and Saturdays. Trains were third class only and the journey took 22 minutes. The 1955 ABC Rail Guide shows a third class return fare from Paddington to Ashburton (change at Totnes) of 61 shillings and 4 pence £3.07p).
With the coming of the motor car, takings rapidly declined until 3rd November 1958 when the last passenger train ran. Freight continued until 7th September 1962.
In that year, a group of businessmen came up with a plan to reopen the line as a steam operated branch line and a commercial company, the Dart Valley Light Railway Ltd, was born.
On 2nd October 1965, the first rolling stock arrived: GWR locomotives 4555 and 3205 (see above) and four auto trailers. The first passenger trains ran on the Dart Valley Railway on 5th April 1969, hauled by GWR pannier tank locomotive 6412, the official opening, undertaken by no less than Dr Beeching, followed on 21st May 1969. Sadly, the last two miles of the line to Ashburton was severed to make way for the widening of the A38.
A special event celebrating 150 years of the South Devon Railway will take place between Saturday 30th April and Monday 2nd May 2022. An intensive train service will operate between Buckfastleigh and Totnes Riverside stations with the addition of a vintage bus service linking Buckfastleigh to Ashburton where the original station train shed and associated buildings can still be seen.
Details at www.southdevonrailway.co.uk
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