Bristol and Exeter Railway

1848 – branch opened from Tiverton Junction to Tiverton

1849 – took over its operations (trains had been worked by the GWR up to now) and opened carriage workshops at Bridgwater

1851 – started working trains over the Exeter and Crediton Railway; locomotive workshops built at Bristol

1853 – branch opened from Durston to Hendford (Yeovil)

1854 – headquarters building at Bristol completed; started working trains over the Somerset Central Railway from Highbridge to Glastonbury

1857 – Yeovil branch extended to junction with the GWR at Yeovil Pen Mill

1858 – Somerset Central Railway extended from Highbridge to Burnham-on-Sea

1859 – Somerset Central Railway extended from Glastonbury to Wells

1861 – Somerset Central Railway takes over its own operations

1862 – London and South Western Railway arrives at Exeter St Davids; B&ER branch opened from Taunton to Watchet

1866 – branch opens from Taunton to Chard

1867 – branch opens from Bristol to Portishead; mixed gauge laid from Durston to Yeovil and Highbridge

1869 – branch opens from Yatton to Cheddar

1870 – branch extended from Cheddar to Wells Tucker Street

1871 – branch opened from Taunton to Wiveliscombe

1873 – branch extended from Wiveliscombe to Barnstaple

1874 – Watchet branch extended to Minehead

1875 – mixed gauge laid from Bristol to Taunton and on the Weston-super-Mare and Wells branches

1876 – amalgamated into the Great Western Railway

Formation and construction

The Great Western Railway (GWR) obtained its authorising act of Parliament, the Great Western Railway Act 1835 (5 & 6 Will. 4. c. cvii) in 1835, to build its line between London and Bristol. The merchants of Bristol were anxious to secure a railway route to Exeter, an important commercial centre and a port on the English Channel, giving easier shipping connections to continental Europe. They promoted the Bristol and Exeter Railway, and when they issued a prospectus on 1 October 1835 they had little difficulty in securing subscriptions for the £1.5 million scheme.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel was appointed engineer (he was also engineer to the GWR) and his assistant William Gravatt surveyed the route, leading to presentation of a parliamentary bill for the 1836 session. The bill had an easy passage and was enacted as the Bristol and Exeter Railway Act 1836 (6 & 7 Will. 4. c. xxxvi) on 19 May 1836. The act did not specify the gauge of the track; branches at Bridgwater and to Tiverton were authorised. Notwithstanding the apparent family connection to the neighbouring GWR, none of the B&ER directors was also a GWR director at this time. This was more than two years before the first section of the GWR was opened in June 1838.

The early euphoria turned to great difficulty in raising finance for construction. 4,000 of the 15,000 subscribed shares were forfeited for non-payment of calls before the line was built. A contract was let for the first part of the line, from a temporary terminus at Pylle Hill, west of the New Cut (an arm of the River Avon). The position improved somewhat in 1838, and indeed the company obtained powers in the Bristol and Exeter Railway Act 1838 (1 & 2 Vict. c. xxvi) for four short branches but only the one to Weston-super-Mare was actually built. The company only adopted the broad gauge at a meeting on 5 March 1839.

In the autumn of 1839, the directors informed the half-yearly meeting of shareholders that it was now planned to make a priority of forming the line from Temple Meads (connecting with the GWR there) to Bridgwater in order to generate some income. Five locomotives were ordered from Sharp, Roberts & Co but by the end of 1839 the directors had decided to avoid the cost of buying locomotives and rolling stock by arranging with the GWR to operate the line for them. By this time three directors were also directors of the GWR, and the alliance was beginning to strengthen. The proposal to lease the line to the GWR was ratified by shareholders at a special meeting in September 1841. The lease was to commence on the opening of a double line from Bristol to Bridgwater and Weston-super-Mare, at a rent of £30,000 annually and a toll of a farthing per passenger-mile and per ton-mile of goods and coal (but no toll for mails, parcels, horses, carriages or cattle). The rent was to increase proportionally with the completion of the system, and the lease was to remain in force for five years after completion of the line to Exeter.

Opening the main line

The company intended to open to Bridgwater on 31 May 1841 but the Board of Trade inspecting officer found deficiencies in the permanent way and refused permission. The directors then planned a private train to take them and shareholders to Bridgwater for an opening ceremony on 31 May but this was put off until 1 June when the locomotive was damaged during a test run on May 30. The director's special was hauled by GWR Firefly Class Fire Ball.

The first section of the line eventually opened between Bristol and Bridgwater on 14 June 1841, a couple of weeks before the GWR completed its line from London to Bristol. It was 33 miles 30 chains (53.7 km; 33.38 mi) in length and double track, with a 1 mi 38 ch (2.4 km; 1.48 mi) single-track branch to Weston-super-Mare. There was no B&ER station at Bristol but trains were to run through from London using the GWR's station which involved them reversing between Bristol Harbour Junction and the platform, however even this was not possible for the first few weeks. The only access between the two lines was by turning the stock one vehicle at a time on turntables until the junction was completed.

The stations on opening were Bristol, Nailsea, Clevedon Road, Banwell, Weston Junction, Highbridge and Bridgwater on the main line. Weston-super-Mare was the only station on its branch, which was operated by horse traction.

Money was slightly easier to come by in 1841 and contracts were let for the completion of the line, which was opened onward from Bridgwater in stages:

1 July 1842: Bridgwater to Taunton, 11 mi 45 ch (18.6 km; 11.56 mi)

1 May 1843: Taunton to a temporary terminus on the Exeter Turnpike at Beam Bridge, 8 mi 40 ch (13.7 km; 8.50 mi)

1 May 1844: Beam Bridge to Exeter, 22 mi 23 ch (35.9 km; 22.29 mi)

A special train from London Paddington to Exeter to mark the opening of the line was driven by Daniel Gooch. Firefly Class Actaeon hauled six carriages, taking 5 hours for the journey down and 10 minutes less for the return. The goods shed at Exeter was used for the celebratory dinner. This completed the B&ER main line, and with the GWR formed a broad gauge railway from London to Exeter with a continuous line of almost 194 miles, far longer than any other line at the time. The directors were able to report that the whole construction had been carried out for the £2 million originally authorised, "a most unusual experience in those days".

The B&ER subscribed to other broad gauge railways that were projected west of Exeter. It bought £200,000 of shares in the South Devon Railway Company (SDR) in 1844 and provided 5 of the 21 directors. A subscription was offered to the Cornwall Railway jointly with the Great Western Railway, South Devon Railway and the Bristol and Gloucester Railway who together were known as the 'Associated Companies', and the B&ER eventually bought £112,000 of shares when they were made available in 1852. In 1861 the Associated Companies (now just the B&ER, GWR and SDR) leased the Cornwall Railway and in 1867 they took over the West Cornwall Railway. The first section of the SDR opened from the B&ER station at Exeter to Teignmouth on 30 May 1846 and was completed to Plymouth Millbay in 1849. The Cornwall Railway opened from Plymouth to Truro in 1859 where it made a connection with the West Cornwall Railway to Penzance, albeit with a break of gauge until 1866.

In the early part of 1844, with the main line nearly complete, the B&ER promoted a branch from near Taunton to Yeovil and Weymouth on the south coast. The B&ER obtained authorisation in the Bristol and Exeter Railway Act 1845 (8 & 9 Vict. c. clv) for three branches to Yeovil (not all the way to Weymouth), Clevedon, and Tiverton. The same act authorised a new line at Bristol, continuing straight through the GWR's terminus, across the river and joining the existing B&ER line at Bedminster. This would have removed any need to shunt in and out of the GWR's terminal platforms and a direct junction line at Bristol connecting its line with the GWR but was never built as the GWR and Bristol and Gloucester Railway declined to contribute towards the costs. A wooden 'express platform' was built in 1845 alongside the curve that connected the two railways. Although it was alongside the London-bound track, it was also used by trains going towards Exeter. Work also started on the B&ER's independent station in 1845 which was at right angles to the GWR station. It was a simple wooden structure, very different to the GWR's grand terminus, and completed in just six months. It was sometimes referred to as 'The Cow Shed', possibly because of its proximity to the city's cattle market. Unlike the GWR station, it had a refreshment room for passengers.

The Clevedon branch line opened to traffic on 28 July 1847. It was (3 mi 45 ch (5.7 km; 3.56 mi) long and ran Clevedon Road which was now renamed Yatton. The Tiverton branch, which had been authorised at the same time opened on 12 June 1848. It ran from Tiverton Road station which was renamed Tiverton Junction. The branch passed under the Grand Western Canal where Brunel constructed Halberton aqueduct to carry the canal over the railway.

LSWR encroaches on B&ER territory

The rival London and South Western Railway (LSWR) had its main line from London to Southampton, and was planning to extend through Exeter and into Cornwall. The GWR wished to prevent this by promoting its own lines in the region. At this period Parliament considered that only one line was appropriate to serve any particular area, and naturally each company wished their own allies' lines to be authorised. The LSWR was a 'narrow gauge' railway (later referred to as 'standard gauge') and the GWR and B&ER were 'broad gauge' lines; the intense rivalry to secure territory was often referred to as a 'Gauge War'.

A Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway (WS&WR) was promoted by the GWR in 1845. The GWR now saw it as a way to prevent the LSWR from expanding to Exeter, and as this would harm the position of the B&ER the GWR offered to purchase the B&ER company, which it was leasing. This was put to a B&ER shareholders' meeting and rejected by a considerable majority. Believing that it had acted in good faith, the GWR now promoted a modified version of the Wilts, Somerset & Weymouth scheme known as the Exeter Great Western, from Yeovil to Exeter via Crewkerne and Axminster. The B&ER felt alienated from the GWR. Brunel saw that his position as Engineer to both companies was compromised, and resigned from the B&ER at the end of September 1846, being succeeded by Charles Hutton Gregory.

The B&ER naturally opposed these schemes, joining with the LSWR in doing so, and in the 1846 parliamentary session they were rejected. The Exeter Great Western proposal was presented again in the 1847 session, and the B&ER again opposed the scheme, itself promoting a branch from Durston (east of Taunton) to Castle Cary (on the WS&WR). The Exeter Great Western scheme was again rejected, but the B&ER Castle Cary line was approved in the Bristol and Exeter Railway (Taunton and Castle Cary Branch) Act 1848 (11 & 12 Vict. c. lxxxii). However, by now the financial collapse following the "Railway Mania" had occurred, and the B&ER never proceeded with that scheme.

The LSWR too had experienced difficulty in making its proposed line to Exeter, and, in continuation of the struggle to exclude the narrow gauge company, the GWR and B&ER jointly promoted a 'Devon and Dorset Railway' to link Dorchester and Exeter in 1852. It would have been built from Maiden Newton on the WS&WR line (which was not yet completed) via Axminster to join the B&ER at Stoke Canon. This line was designed to block the LSWR and tap into local traffic; the journey from London to Exeter would have been ten miles than by the existing line via Bristol. This was presented in parliament in the 1853 session, and became part of a bitter fight for the so-called 'coast line': LSWR trains now reached a terminus at Dorchester and some shareholders in that company proposed its own line. Witnesses for and against the respective lines appeared before the parliamentary committee but the B&ER were absent. The proposed broad gauge line was rejected on 30 June and an LSWR route from Salisbury was built instead, reaching a station at Exeter Queen Street on 19 July 1860.

The LSWR needed to push further west and did this through independent lines that had already been constructed before it had reached Exeter. The Exeter and Crediton Railway Act 1845 (8 & 9 Vict. c. lxxxviii) authorised the Exeter and Crediton Railway (E&CR), a 5 mi 60 ch (9.3 km; 5.75 mi) line from Cowley Bridge, a short distance north of Exeter. Another railway had already been authorised in North Devon: the short 'Taw Vale Railway and Dock' at Barnstaple. Little had been done there until 1845, when the proprietors obtained authorisation in the Taw Vale Railway and Dock Act 1845 (8 & 9 Vict. c. cvii) to revive their powers and build the line; they hoped to sell their enterprise, now called the 'Taw Vale Extension Railway', to another company, the 'North Devon Railway' which was intending to seek an act of parliament for a Barnstaple to Crediton line in 1846.

Meanwhile, competing proposals were submitted to the 1846 session of parliament for railways to connect Barnstaple to the network. The B&ER wished to make a line from their (proposed) Tiverton station, but that was rejected in favour of the Taw Vale Railway Extension and Dock Company, from Barnstaple to join the Exeter and Crediton line at Crediton. This scheme was supported by the LSWR. The Exeter and Crediton line and the North Devon line had been expected to be built on the broad gauge and naturally to fall into the B&ER camp; lease terms had been provisionally agreed. However, the LSWR encouraged friendly relations with the companies. At an E&CR shareholders' meeting on 11 January 1847 the provisional lease to the B&ER was rejected, and this was quickly followed by rejection of the TVER lease; more favourable leases to the LSWR were negotiated and ratified by shareholders in January and February 1847. The B&ER had lost control of the Crediton and Barnstaple lines. J. W. Buller of the B&ER was chairman of the E&CR board, and despite the very large shareholder opinion, he attempted to keep the E&CR within the B&ER family, and personally signed a two-year contract with George Hennett to work the line on 7 April 1847. However at an extraordinary general meeting on 12 April 1847, Buller and three other B&ER directors were removed from office amid angry scenes. The E&CR had been built on the broad gauge and a lease was agreed in February 1851 that the B&ER would work the line and install the junction with their own line at Cowley Bridge at the expense of the E&CR. The E&CR opened on 12 May 1851, for the time being effectively a branch of the B&ER.

The LSWR's Queen Street station was in a more central location than the B&ER station and much at a higher elevation. Earlier thoughts were for an independent line crossing above the B&ER line to reach the Crediton line, but eventually an accommodation with the B&ER was reached. The London and South Western Railway (Exeter and North Devon) Railway Act 1860 (23 & 24 Vict. c. ciii) was obtained for a connecting line descending from Queen Street to St Davids, and the addition of narrow gauge rails to the line from there to Crediton, making that section mixed gauge. The LSWR service started on 1 February 1862.

The B&ER station at Exeter had been built in a one-sided arrangement with separate up and down sections. The increase of traffic and the arrival of LSWR trains made this very difficult to operate; in 1862 work was started on a new conventionally arranged station, and this was opened in July 1864. Taunton station received a corresponding treatment in August 1868. At Weston-super-Mare, the terminus was modernised and expanded, and the branch line doubled, in 1866. At Bristol, the project was much more difficult; work started in March 1871 but was not completed until 1 January 1878, after amalgamation of the B&ER and the GWR; the new station was joint with the Midland Railway.

Independence and expansion

The lease to the GWR expired "five years after opening to Exeter" and so the B&ER took over the working of its own lines on 1 May 1849, the 75-mile-58-chain (121.9 km; 75.73 mi) main line from Bristol to Exeter and the three branch lines to Clevedon, Weston-super-Mare and Tiverton which totalled 9 mi 63 ch (15.8 km; 9.79 mi). The two companies, B&ER and GWR, were completely distinct and once again there was no common directors, but through trains saw with goods and passenger stock from both companies working onto each other's lines.

Plans for a headquarters building at Bristol in 1852. The contract was awarded to local architect Samuel Fripp and work was completed in October 1854. It was built at road level beside the B&ER station in Jacobean style with three storeys. The lower floor was raised up 10 feet (3.0 m) above ground level with steps up to the door, but the ceiling height was reduced from 18 ft (5.5 m) to 15 ft (4.6 m) so that the first floor would be only slightly above the level of the station's platform. The boardroom at the west end of the first floor had a large Oriel window.

J. B. Badham was appointed as secretary and general superintendent, and after a false start, James Cresswell Wall was appointed Traffic Superintendent, transferring to Chief Goods Agent on 1 January 1855; Henry Dykes succeeded him as Traffic Superintendent. C. H. Gregory remained Chief Engineer until the post was abolished in June 1851. In June 1850 James Pearson took over the locomotive department; at first his workshops were in Exeter, but they were removed to Bristol towards the end of 1851.

The Bristol and Exeter Railway was a considerable financial success, and between 1844 and 1874 paid an average annual dividend of 4.5%. With money now coming in, and in anticipation of independent operation, the company had built a carriage works and coke ovens at Bridgwater. George Hennet had arranged to cast pipes at Bridgwater for the atmospheric system on the South Devon Railway, and the Bristol and Exeter Railway built their works next to Hennet's premises. Hennet's works continued to build wagons for the B&ER and other companies until 1878 by which time it was known as the Bridgwater Engineering Company.

The company installed the electric telegraph throughout its main line in 1852. It was the first substantial British railway to operate the block system.

The shorter branch lines generally operated with a single locomotive although some had through trians from Bristol. The Somerset Central Railway saw six trains on weekdays and two on Sundays when it opened in 1854. The extension to Burnham-on-Sea was operated separately with a short train from the junction at Highbridge.

There were some small changes when the GWR took over in 1876. The new mixed gauge on the main line allowed local trains to be operated by narrow gauge stock. A new express passenger train was put on between London and Plymouth in 1877 named the Zulu, suuplementing the existing Flying Dutchman. Further new broad gauge expresses to and from London were the Jubilee from July 1887 and The Cornishman from June 1890. The gauge conversion west of Exeter in 1892 enabled through carriages from Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds to reach South Devona nd Cornwall. The biggest change came in 1906 when the Castle Cary cut-off opened a shorter route between Taunton and London which avoided the 'Great Way Round' through Bristol.