Barnstaple to Taunton Line

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The Barnstaple to Taunton Line of the Great Western Railway (GWR) ran between Barnstaple Junction on the LSWR route from Exeter in Devon to Norton Fizwarren in Somerset where it joined the main GWR route to London Paddington.

Many through trains ran from places all over the country, including Manchester Picadilly, Wolverhampton Low Level, Cardiff General and London Paddington.

1 History
2 Stations

[edit] History

The Barnstaple to Taunton line was first proposed by the Devon and Somerset Railway in the mid-19th century and received assent on 29 July 1864. However, work was not started until 1870 and a small 7 mi (11 km) section of the branch was opened by 8 June 1871, from Norton Fizwarren to Wiveliscombe on the edge of Exmoor. The 43 miles (69.2 km) line to Barnstaple was not completed until 1 November 1873. Throughout its length the line was cheaply built, with single track, steep gradients of up to 1 in 60, and poorly equipped stations. It was beset with financial problems and operating difficulties and was purchased by the Great Western Railway GWR in 1901.^{[citation needed]}

With the increase in people taking holidays during the 1930s, the line carried heavy weekend traffic, including through expresses to Ilfracombe. After World War II, falling passenger numbers, blamed on the increase in car traffic, made the line uneconomical. Following advice from the Beeching Report, during 1963 the decision was taken to route most trains via Exeter. The line closed on 3rd October 1966,the last trains having run on Friday 1st.The section between Barnstaple victoria and Barnstaple Junction was kept open until 30th May 1970 for freight. The A361 North devon link road was incorporated into sections of the former trackbed between the roundabout with the A39 near Tescos in Barnstaple and the South Molton Station road junction in 1989. However much of the former trackbed is largely intact with most of the station buildings now converted to use as private dwelling.Many relicts still exists if you know where to look for them for instance, the Filleigh station sign still exists and is now located in the car park of the village hall.At the former Venn cross station there is even a set of semaphore signals all that is needed now is some track and you could imagine waiting for a train !