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3 unusual facts about Newton Abbot railway station


Newton Abbot railway station

It is a useful staging point for freight trains travelling over the steep inclines of Dartmoor on the way to Plymouth as these trains either have to be shorter or use additional locomotives compared with the flat route from Exeter.

An old broad gauge 0-4-0 locomotive, Tiny, was put on display on the station platform to provide a link with the past.

After the decision to switch to diesel traction, in 1962 the site was completely rebuilt to accommodate diesels, including the Warship Class that were used on the Exeter to Waterloo services.


Cornish Riviera Express

Additional slip coaches were added to be dropped from the train on the move at various stations to serve holiday destinations such as Weymouth, Minehead, Ilfracombe, and Newquay, and the train began to run non-stop to Newton Abbot where a pilot engine was added for the climb over the Dainton and Rattery banks, the southern outliers of Dartmoor.

Totnes railway station

The railway approaches from Newton Abbot in the north-east, runs south-westerly through the station, and then swings to the west on a right-hand curve which is the start of the steep climb up to Rattery.


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