Buckfastleigh railway station is situated on the
South Devon RailwayThe South Devon Railway Trust is a charitable organization that operates a heritage railway from Totnes to Buckfastleigh in Devon, alongside the River Dart...
, a
heritage railwayA heritage railway , preserved railway , tourist railway , or tourist railroad is a term used for a railway which is run as a tourist attraction, is usually but not always run by volunteers, and often seeks to re-create railway scenes of the past A heritage railway (United Kingdom and Australia),...
in
DevonDevon is a large county in England. The county is also referred to as Devonshire, although that is an unofficial name, rarely used inside of the county itself and often indicating a traditional or historical context. The county shares borders with Cornwall to the west and Dorset and Somerset to...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It serves the town of
BuckfastleighBuckfastleigh is a small market town in Devon, England situated beside the Devon Expressway at the edge of the Dartmoor National Park. It is part of Teignbridge District Council and South Hams District Council and lies within the Totnes Deanery. It has a population of about 5,000...
.
The station was opened by the
Buckfastleigh, Totnes and South Devon RailwayThe Buckfastleigh, Totnes and South Devon Railway built the broad gauge railway line from Totnes to Buckfastleigh and Ashburton in Devon, England.-History:...
on 1 May 1872. The railway was
amalgamatedConsolidation or amalgamation is the act of merging many things into one. In business, it often refers to the mergers or acquisitions of many smaller companies into much larger ones. The financial accounting term of consolidation refers to the aggregated financial statements of a group company as...
into the
Great Western RailwayThe Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835, and ran its first trains three years later...
in 1897 and this in turn was nationalised into British Railways on 1 January 1948.
The station closed to passengers in November 1958 although goods traffic on the line continued until 7 September 1962.
It was re-opened as the
Dart Valley Railway, a
heritage railwayA heritage railway , preserved railway , tourist railway , or tourist railroad is a term used for a railway which is run as a tourist attraction, is usually but not always run by volunteers, and often seeks to re-create railway scenes of the past A heritage railway (United Kingdom and Australia),...
, on 5 April 1969.
Discussion
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Buckfastleigh railway station is situated on the
South Devon RailwayThe South Devon Railway Trust is a charitable organization that operates a heritage railway from Totnes to Buckfastleigh in Devon, alongside the River Dart...
, a
heritage railwayA heritage railway , preserved railway , tourist railway , or tourist railroad is a term used for a railway which is run as a tourist attraction, is usually but not always run by volunteers, and often seeks to re-create railway scenes of the past A heritage railway (United Kingdom and Australia),...
in
DevonDevon is a large county in England. The county is also referred to as Devonshire, although that is an unofficial name, rarely used inside of the county itself and often indicating a traditional or historical context. The county shares borders with Cornwall to the west and Dorset and Somerset to...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It serves the town of
BuckfastleighBuckfastleigh is a small market town in Devon, England situated beside the Devon Expressway at the edge of the Dartmoor National Park. It is part of Teignbridge District Council and South Hams District Council and lies within the Totnes Deanery. It has a population of about 5,000...
.
The station was opened by the
Buckfastleigh, Totnes and South Devon RailwayThe Buckfastleigh, Totnes and South Devon Railway built the broad gauge railway line from Totnes to Buckfastleigh and Ashburton in Devon, England.-History:...
on 1 May 1872. The railway was
amalgamatedConsolidation or amalgamation is the act of merging many things into one. In business, it often refers to the mergers or acquisitions of many smaller companies into much larger ones. The financial accounting term of consolidation refers to the aggregated financial statements of a group company as...
into the
Great Western RailwayThe Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835, and ran its first trains three years later...
in 1897 and this in turn was nationalised into British Railways on 1 January 1948.
The station closed to passengers in November 1958 although goods traffic on the line continued until 7 September 1962.
It was re-opened as the
Dart Valley Railway, a
heritage railwayA heritage railway , preserved railway , tourist railway , or tourist railroad is a term used for a railway which is run as a tourist attraction, is usually but not always run by volunteers, and often seeks to re-create railway scenes of the past A heritage railway (United Kingdom and Australia),...
, on 5 April 1969. The
South Devon Railway TrustThe South Devon Railway Trust is a charitable organization that operates a heritage railway from Totnes to Buckfastleigh in Devon, alongside the River Dart...
took over the running of the line on 1 January 1991.
In 1971 Buckfastleigh became the terminus of the line when the route beyond the station was closed to allow improvements to the
A38 roadThe A38 is a major A-class trunk road in England.Though formally known as the Exeter - Leeds Trunk Road, it actually runs from Bodmin in Cornwall to Mansfield in Nottinghamshire. It is 292 miles long...
. Workshops have since been provided for restoring and repairing the locomotives and rolling stock used on the railway.
The
goods shedA goods shed is a railway building designed for storing goods before or after carriage in a train.A typical goods shed will have a track running through it to allow goods wagons to be unloaded under cover, although sometimes they were built alongside a track with possibly just a canopy over the door...
has been converted to a railway museum and this is the home of Tiny the last remaining
broad gaugeBroad gauge railways use a rail gauge greater than the standard gauge of .- List :For a list see: List of broad gauges, by gauge and country- History :...
locomotive.
Services
The station is served by trains on all operating days of the South Devon Railway. Trains operate daily from late March to the end of October. On most days a single train set operates, providing four journeys a day in each direction. On busy days two train sets may operate, providing more journeys.