Buckfastleigh, Totnes and South Devon Railway

In the first decades of the 19th century, Buckfastleigh and Ashburton were important towns in the region. Ashburton was an important stannary and woollen town, while Buckfastleigh had established woollen mills as well as other manufacturing industries. Both towns were on the coaching road from Plymouth to Exeter, and this transport link was important to their success.

When railways in the area began to be proposed, a number of alternative routes between Plymouth and Exeter were put forward, and a line through Buckfastleigh and Ashburton was considered. However, the line actually adopted was the South Devon Railway (SDR) which followed a more southerly course through Teignmouth, Newton Abbot and Totnes. This line opened in 1847, and Buckfastleigh and Ashburton were not close to the new railway. They quickly found that other towns that were railway-connected gained in importance as their transport costs were reduced, and Buckfastleigh and Ashburton declined rapidly due to the competitive disadvantage.

It was clear to local people that the impact on the towns would be seriously negative, as the coach traffic would cease, and Buckfastleigh and Ashburton would be off the contemporary transport network. It appears that Totnes was concerned too, for on 14 June 1845 a public meeting there resolved that "it is most essential to the interest and welfare of this town to be connected by railway with the towns of Buckfastleigh and Ashburton as leading to develop the resources of this important town and agricultural district."

The enthusiasm to vote for the motion seems not to have been carried into urgent action, but on 27 July 1846 the Ashburton, Newton and South Devon Railway Act 1846 (9 & 10 Vict. c. ccxxxviii) authorised the Ashburton, Newton and South Devon Junction Railway from Ashburton to Newton with capital was £130,000, and the engineer was Isambard Kingdom Brunel. At this time getting money was extremely difficult, and it proved impossible to raise the required capital; in 1851 the company was dissolved, with nothing done.

Passenger trains arriving from Ashburton used the down platform at Totnes, and departing passenger trains to Ashburton used the up platform. In post-war operation, the first auto-train from Totnes to Ashburton started from the Down platform at Totnes, but could not convey passengers as there was no locking on the crossover from that platform.

The 1954 Service Timetable shows eight daily return passenger trips, and a goods train each way.

Buckfastleigh had a crossing loop, but the loop line was for goods trains only and was not a running line. Staverton was an intermediate block post but not a staff station.