X-Nico

2 unusual facts about South Devon Railway


Millbay

Isambard Kingdom Brunel was engaged to design new docks; both he and Gill were involved in the South Devon Railway, so it is no surprise that the first railway station in Plymouth was opened nearby in 1849.

South Devon

Another notable feature is the coastal railway line between Newton Abbot and the Exe Estuary: the red sandstone cliffs and sea views are very dramatic and in the resorts railway line and beaches are very near.


Dartmouth and Torbay Railway

The Dartmouth and Torbay Railway was a broad gauge railway linking the South Devon Railway branch at Torquay with Kingswear in Devon, England.

South Devon Banks

Isambard Kingdom Brunel, in surveying the South Devon Railway, opted to push a line along a coastal strip between the Exe and Teign valleys, and then to climb the southern outliers of Dartmoor making for the head of the Plym estuary.

In broad gauge times trains changed engines at Newton Abbot with 4-4-0 saddle tanks of the South Devon Railway and later 2-4-0 saddle tanks of the GWR hauling trains over the steep gradients to Plymouth.

Thomas Abel Brimage Spratt

He published his research in 1856 and was congratulated for the clarity and practicality of his work by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who was building the South Devon Railway at the time.


see also

Buckfastleigh, Totnes and South Devon Railway

The Buckfastleigh, Totnes and South Devon Railway built the broad gauge railway line from Totnes to Buckfastleigh and Ashburton in Devon, England.

Exmouth branch railway

The first stages of constructing the line were proceeding and on 1 August 1857 the directors of the company announced that they had arranged with the Bristol and Exeter Railway and the South Devon Railway to lease their line for ten years at £3,000 per annum.

GWR Haigh Foundry locomotives

:Between 1846 and 1851 it carried a different name, Teign, while working on the South Devon Railway, after the River Teign; it reverted to Viper when it returned to the Great Western Railway.

South Devon Railway Company

The South Devon Railway Company built and operated the railway from Exeter to Plymouth and Torquay in Devon, England.