Dartmouth Steam Railway

A steam train leaving Kingswear railway station

Steam train approaching Kingswear station

The Paignton & Dartmouth Steam Railway operates from Paignton to Kingswear along the former Dartmouth and Torbay Railway line, in Devon, England. It is a standard gauge railway operated as a tourist attraction rather than a heritage railway.

Route

Dartmouth Steam Railway
mi-ch Riviera Line 222-7 Paignton (Queens Park) 222-21 DSR Network Rail 222-23 Sands Road Goodrington Carriage Sidings 222-28 Network Rail DSR 222-66 Goodrington Sands 224-8 Broadsands Viaduct Broadsands Halt 224-41 Hookhill Viaduct Torbay and Brixham Railway 225-4 Churston Greenway Halt 226-31 Greenway Tunnel ( 495 yd 453 m ) 226-44 Greenway Viaduct over River Dart Britannia Halt 227-77 Britannia Crossing 228-64 Kingswear Dartmouth Passenger Ferry across River Dart Dartmouth

Starting adjacent to Paignton main line station, the steam railway runs for about 7 miles in a south-westerly direction. The first half of the journey (from Paignton to Churston) is up-hill along the rocky Devon coastline. The line crosses Broadsands Viaduct, and the larger Hookhills Viaduct before reaching its summit at Churston. From Churston the line turns inland, cuts through Greenway Tunnel, descending along the Dart valley until it reaches Kingswear. From Kingswear, passengers can cross the Dart to the old town of Dartmouth by ferry. Dartmouth Station is unique in that it has never seen a train. In GWR days, passengers would arrive at the station by means of the ferry from Kingswear. The line was originally laid to Brunel's broad gauge, but was converted to standard gauge in May 1892.

Locomotives

Operational steam locomotives

• GWR 7800 Class 4-6-0 No.7827 Lydham Manor - Great Western Green
• GWR 5205 Class 2-8-0T No.5239 Goliath - Great Western Green
• GWR 6400 Class 0-6-0PT No.6435 Ajax - British Railways 'Late Crest' Green

Steam locomotives out of service or undergoing overhaul

• GWR 4500 Class 2-6-2T No.4555 'Warrior'-Awaiting overhaul - Great Western Green
• GWR 4575 Class 2-6-2T No.4588 'Trojan' - Undergoing Overhaul - Great Western Green
• BR standard class 4 4-6-0 No.75014 'Braveheart' - Undergoing overhaul - BR Black

Operational diesel locomotives

• British Rail Class 25 Bo-Bo no. D7535 'Hercules' - Two-Tone Green with Dart Rail logo
• British Rail Class 08 0-6-0 no. D3014 'Samson' - BR Blue with Dart Rail logo
• British Rail Class 03 0-6-0 no. D2192 'Titan' - BR Black, with Red lining with Dart Rail logo

Special Coaches

• Pullman Observation Saloon, originally built for the Devon Belle trains: used regularly on passenger services. It provides a unique view of the railway, although an additional charge is made to ride in it.
• GWR Autocoach "Claire", formerly used as "cocktail" bar coach in the dining train, but more recently as a directors' saloon and board room. The coach has had the driving compartment and guards/luggage area removed but the autogear has been retained; the remainder of the interior has been completely gutted and refurbished with "bucket" seats and a bar counter.
• GWR Autocoach "Charlotte" has had the autogear removed but the controls left in place. The interior of the coach is 'original' with the exception of the glazed windows between the passenger and driving compartments. The coach is fitted with a corridor connection at one end (which is unusual for an autocoach) and was usually marshalled in with the second rake of coaches for the Peak Season Timetable.

Both Autocoaches are now out of use and have been offered for sale along with several wagons.

Images

• 
  Approaching Kingswear
• 
  From Kingswear approaching Greenway tunnel
• 
  Diesel engine in Paignton
• 
  Loading the steam engine with coal
• 
  One of the carriages.

Observations

• Due to the location of this line – at the heart of the English Riviera – it is essentially run as a tourist carrier attracting summer tourists from the resorts of Torbay and transporting them to the historic town of Dartmouth. Steam and diesel gala weekends stopped in the late 1990s when the main organiser, the Devon Diesel Society moved over to the South Devon Railway at Buckfastleigh, and with that the enthusiast and volunteer interest was lost. But the livery of the BR Mk1 Carriages is a stylised version of the GWR livery.
• Semaphore signals have been replaced with colour lights in line with the BR replacement and removal of the signal box at Paignton and control moving to Exeter. This allows for a continual, effective method of allowing mainline charters to visit the line at short notice, and the whole branch being controlled from Kingswear.
• In 1973 and 1993 the LNER Class A3 steam locomotive Flying Scotsman hauled regular service trains on this line throughout the summer seasons.
• In more recent times the line has seen regular visits during the summer season from LNER Class A4 60009 Union of South Africa and GWR King Class 6024 King Edward I on the Torbay Express excursions from Bristol.
• The branch from Churston to Brixham was closed and lifted in the 1960s and is not a part of this line.

External links

• The Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway website