Highlandman Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 (edited) In a posting on BBC Spotlight's Facebook page there is a video report regarding the preparation of plans and funds for a return of the railway to Ashburton station.https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=880625338669632 Edited February 20, 2015 by Highlandman 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted February 20, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 20, 2015 There's ambition - and then there's that. Effectively a brand new railway route from Buckfastleigh, tunnelling under the A38 and then finding its way up the river valley to somewhere in the vicinity of Ashburton. it would be truly remarkable if it happened. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phill Dyson (onslaught832) Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 I believe the first priority is to safeguard Ashburton Station, which is under threat Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianusa Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Good news for Andy's extension for Buckfast! Brian. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Link to the face book photo page https://www.facebook.com/groups/ashburtonstation/photos/ I have quite a few photos (on slides of the station after closure, I thought (but could be wrong) that the Dart Valley railway ran into Ashburton for a short period. All ways great news if the station can be brought back into use as a station Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Kris Posted February 22, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 22, 2015 I thought (but could be wrong) that the Dart Valley railway ran into Ashburton for a short period. It did, only closing this section as the A38 was built. Whilst the ideas behind this scheme are good, I think that the chances of it coming off are very remote. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted February 22, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 22, 2015 Main roads have long been the enemy of railways in rural areas. Westerham's former branch (there is a truly sumptuous model on RMweb) is under the M25, and I'm still unclear how the Kent & East Sussex expect to cross the A21 to regain Robertsbridge. Tunnelling under the A38 sounds brave at best, and £20m does not buy a lot these days. Regeneration here may lack the critical mass that was put behind e.g. the Welsh Highland. I'd love to be wrong. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coombe Barton Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Having said that the infrastructure of Ashburton Station is still all there, with the exception of the Malt House, the replacement of which which may have been built across the tracks. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/40075-ashburton-in-decay/were pix taken in August 2010. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted February 22, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 22, 2015 I believe the first priority is to safeguard Ashburton Station, which is under threat Saving the old station train shed is one thing - getting a railway to it would be something else entirely (and as Ian has said £20M doesn't buy very much nowadays). It all depends whether the locals are prepared to permanently lose various roads and whether or not it would be possible to get the railway leaving Ashburton through a local access onto the A38 - compared to that tunneling under the A38 at Buckfastleigh would seem a comparatively simple task. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coombe Barton Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Actually it wouldn't be an impossible task to relay the station and connect it to a fiddle yard so you get a 12" to the foot BLT. 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pacific231G Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 (edited) hayfield, on 22 Feb 2015 - 07:37, said ":I thought (but could be wrong) that the Dart Valley railway ran into Ashburton for a short period" It did, only closing this section as the A38 was built. Whilst the ideas behind this scheme are good, I think that the chances of it coming off are very remote. According to the South Devon Railway's own history on its website (http://www.southdevonrailway.co.uk/history/full-history) they never did get as far as running service trains into Ashburton though there were works trains incuding a weedkiller train, at least one special, in 1966, and a "Farewell to Ashburton" special in October 1971 just before the line was severed. I did some volunteering, mainly on PW, on the Dart Valley Railway (as it then was) in 1968-69 before it opened to the public in the spring of 1969 and all efforts were on bringing Totnes to Buckfastleigh up to scratch. When I was there that meant replacing rotten sleepers and preparing one of the bridges for inspection. On one day I was also asked to walk the section up to Ashburton to check on its condition - probably to give me something to do on a day when there were no working parties. Even after six years of disuse the last two miles of the branch and the terminus were in pretty good shape, though it would have required work to bring it up to standard for regular service. Though I never saw a train there, even the empty terminus station was utterly captivating; it really was the perfect small branch line terminus and would I think have made the preserved line incredibly popular. I can see why modellers like Peter Denny, who discovered Ashburton during his honeymoon and based his portable version of Buckingham loosely on the terminus, and Cyril Freezer, who was working on an EM version when he moved with RM to Seaton, had fallen in love with the place. I certainly did just from that brief aquaintanceship but, though I did visit the reopened Dart Valley in later years, I'm afraid that Buckfastleigh never quite did it for me. My recollection is that by 1968-69 the plans for the bypass were already fairly firm. There were still hopes of diverting the planned road but the DVR wouldn't have used its limited resources to continue restoration of a section likely to be lost after a couple of seasons. Had they been able to reopen the whole line a few years earlier, without the delay in getting a Light Railway Order, it might have been a different story. With the railway contributing to the tourist economy of Ashburton and the local area the bypass probably could have been designed in a way that accomodated it. Ashburton is of course in Devon but there are some really excellent photos of the station on the Cornwall Railway Society site (http://www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk/ashburton-branch---south-devon-railway.html) Edited February 22, 2015 by Pacific231G 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Joseph_Pestell Posted February 22, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 22, 2015 I can only agree that the Dart Valley has never done it for me as a preserved railway. Without Ashburton, it made little sense. Realistically, it is easy for us to criticise with the benefit of hindsight. Back in the late 60s and the 70s, there was widespread scepticism, even among rail enthusiasts, as to whether preservation railways would succeed in the long term. The extra cost involved in getting the A38 around the railway would not have seemed justified. Restoration to Ashburton does seem a long shot. But so have many other heritage projects that have come off in recent years (e.g. Spa Valley Rly/TWERPS, Huddersfield Canal). Apart from getting under the A38, the rest does not look too difficult. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted February 22, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 22, 2015 Saving the old station train shed is one thing - getting a railway to it would be something else entirely (and as Ian has said £20M doesn't buy very much nowadays). It all depends whether the locals are prepared to permanently lose various roads and whether or not it would be possible to get the railway leaving Ashburton through a local access onto the A38 - compared to that tunneling under the A38 at Buckfastleigh would seem a comparatively simple task. Quite right, Mike. I do think that the preservation of the trainshed and general station environs in such a way as to emphasize the railway history of the town is a worthwhile aim, whether it is in conjunction with a sympathetic development or in it's own right as a stand-alone railway museum, linked perhaps in ownership and/or commercial terms to the SDR. The likelihood of the SDR actually returning to Ashburton as an operational railway, connected right through to Buckfastleigh and the rest of their line, is remote indeed, especially 'in our lifetimes'...! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted February 22, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 22, 2015 I can only agree that the Dart Valley has never done it for me as a preserved railway. Without Ashburton, it made little sense. Realistically, it is easy for us to criticise with the benefit of hindsight. Back in the late 60s and the 70s, there was widespread scepticism, even among rail enthusiasts, as to whether preservation railways would succeed in the long term. The extra cost involved in getting the A38 around the railway would not have seemed justified. Restoration to Ashburton does seem a long shot. But so have many other heritage projects that have come off in recent years (e.g. Spa Valley Rly/TWERPS, Huddersfield Canal). Apart from getting under the A38, the rest does not look too difficult. Posts 'crossed in the post' - don't disagree with what you've said here - Buckfastleigh was never designed as a terminus, and the whole station environs certainly doesn't have the ambience it would have had in it's final days under BR. But if the line to Ashburton had survived to be part of the present-day SDR, you have to ask what alterations and additions would have been necessary to 'make it work' as a preserved railway? Perhaps Buckfastleigh would still have had to have had all the modern development round the loco sheds etc., in order to allow Ashburton to carry on in original form as the terminus. There isn't a lot of extra room up there for loco sheds etc. Having said all that about 'ambience', I do think that Staverton Bridge is charming, and the work being done at the Totnes end is impressive for a volunteer organisation, especially with things like the new signalbox etc. You say 'the rest does not look too difficult' - that may be correct in civil engineering terms, but it won't be cheap... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivercider Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 I remember visiting Ashburton in around 1969/70 and walking around the deserted station, and would love to see the line restored. I like my preserved railway journeys to take me somewhere and extending would in my mind greatly improve an already good trip. It will be possible to work out roughly how much it will cost, but much more difficult I imagine to work out how much benefit it will bring to the SDR and wider community. For example would the pubs hotels and restaurants of Ashburton gain more in additional revenue than the businesses of Buckfastleigh stand to lose? When I travel the line, from the Totnes end. I normally get no further than looking around the station at Buckfastleigh and maybe a cup of tea, only on one occasion have I been into Buckfastleigh for a drink and something to eat there. If there is enough goodwill locally I can see that somewhere in the future it may happen, but I agree this certainly will be neither quick nor cheap. cheers 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Kazmierczak Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Actually, the idea of a museum at Ashburton (with a short section of working line where a 14XX and autocoach could shuttle back and forth like Didcot), might work. Maybe a connection to Buckfastleigh, by a heritage bus service, would give the South Devon Railway a fitting destination. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim V Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 I walked around the yard at Buckfastleigh after a ride in 1970. The destruction of the station for the expressway was phenomanal. A great pity. Why they didn't stick with Kingsbridge is a great regret. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad_Hatter Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 I walked around the yard at Buckfastleigh after a ride in 1970. The destruction of the station for the expressway was phenomanal. A great pity. Why they didn't stick with Kingsbridge is a great regret. If I am correct the Kingsbridge Branch was going to be taken over by the GWS, and when they were talking to one BR department another BR department had the track removed. http://southhamsrailways.co.uk/#/the-kingsbridge-branch/4550922241 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted February 24, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 24, 2015 If there is enough goodwill locally I can see that somewhere in the future it may happen, but I agree this certainly will be neither quick nor cheap. Well, I would certainly consider using the train, driving from Brent to Buckfastleigh and changing to a train to Ashburton, to pick up a Chinese takeaway from Yaus, which isn't much of a walk from Ashburton station... Trouble is, the food would either have gone cold, or more likely been eaten, by the time I got home... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highlandman Posted February 24, 2015 Author Share Posted February 24, 2015 With the funding possibilities available today to volunteer and heritage organisations a lot more things are possible. You've only got to look at Tornado, the new P2 locomotive and the GCR 'Bridge to the Future' project. While it might not be possible to reinstate the link to Buckfastleigh, as great as that would be. It must surely be feasible to create a museum site at Ashburton and preserve the infrastructure that is still there. Even as Peter says above run a short demonstration line with a bus link between the two sites. When my parents moved to Devon in the early 80's a meeting was held in the auction rooms at Kingbridge to talk about the history of the 'Primrose Line' and the possible reinstatement of the track bed. What a shame that did not happen or that the line was not originally chosen over the Dart Valley line. Just think, a mainline connection with it's own platform face, three intermediate stations and a terminus five minute walk from the town centre and ferries to Salcombe. The site was ripe for it and I can only think that there was something underhand going on while discussion were going on between the preservationists and BR. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coombe Barton Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 One problem with Ashburton is there there are a number of businesses occupying the goods shed and engine shed. The engine shed looked to be in serious need of some stabilising work. Is the garage threatening not to be? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Kazmierczak Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 In my day job I have dealings with the Heritage Lottery Fund. I get the feeling that they on the side of most who apply for funding, providing it's well thought through and not just someone's pet project. One of their main criteria for supporting a project are the outcomes. - a legacy that can be built on. This might be volunteers learning new skills in preserving a noteworthy structure, community engagement in helping run the museum, educational aspects showing children how life was like in the past and how it can be related to the future, and working in partnership with other organisations (eg National Park, South Devon Railway, local council. I feel that an Ashburton Station Renaissance would tick a lot of boxes. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium phil-b259 Posted February 25, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 25, 2015 (edited) According to the South Devon Railway's own history on its website (http://www.southdevonrailway.co.uk/history/full-history) they never did get as far as running service trains into Ashburton though there were works trains incuding a weedkiller train, at least one special, in 1966, and a "Farewell to Ashburton" special in October 1971 just before the line was severed. I did some volunteering, mainly on PW, on the Dart Valley Railway (as it then was) in 1968-69 before it opened to the public in the spring of 1969 and all efforts were on bringing Totnes to Buckfastleigh up to scratch. When I was there that meant replacing rotten sleepers and preparing one of the bridges for inspection. On one day I was also asked to walk the section up to Ashburton to check on its condition - probably to give me something to do on a day when there were no working parties. Even after six years of disuse the last two miles of the branch and the terminus were in pretty good shape, though it would have required work to bring it up to standard for regular service. Though I never saw a train there, even the empty terminus station was utterly captivating; it really was the perfect small branch line terminus and would I think have made the preserved line incredibly popular. I can see why modellers like Peter Denny, who discovered Ashburton during his honeymoon and based his portable version of Buckingham loosely on the terminus, and Cyril Freezer, who was working on an EM version when he moved with RM to Seaton, had fallen in love with the place. I certainly did just from that brief aquaintanceship but, though I did visit the reopened Dart Valley in later years, I'm afraid that Buckfastleigh never quite did it for me. My recollection is that by 1968-69 the plans for the bypass were already fairly firm. There were still hopes of diverting the planned road but the DVR wouldn't have used its limited resources to continue restoration of a section likely to be lost after a couple of seasons. Had they been able to reopen the whole line a few years earlier, without the delay in getting a Light Railway Order, it might have been a different story. With the railway contributing to the tourist economy of Ashburton and the local area the bypass probably could have been designed in a way that accomodated it. IIRC the delay in getting a LRO was precisely because the preservationist wanted to include the section onwards to Ashburton. As with the KESR the roads dominated ministry effectively said the LRO would never be granted unless all references to Ashburton were dropped (with the KESR it was the section into Robbertsbridge over the planned A21 by-pass that was the issue - hence the eventual decision to stop the LRO at Bodiam). The preservationists made a fuss of course but in the end had to settle for Buckfastleigh - Totnes or lose the lot. Westerham was another case where Kent CC ensured (no doubt with plenty of Whitehall support) that it was nigh on impossible that the preservationists would disrupt the ministries M25 scheme by demanding a massive amount of money for a bridge to take the line under the authorised Sevenoaks by-pass. Fortunately these days those in power can occasionally be more accommodating but even then they won't spare a railway formation on a whim. As an aside the issue with the KESR and Robbertsbridge is not so much the crossing of the A21 - given dualing it all the way to Hastings seems to have finally been ruled out a level crossing is feasible - it's more the fact that Level crossings are seriously frowned upon by the DfT (hence they have all been got rid of on the reopened Waverley route for example). It doesn't help that the A21 is a busy road so the risk factors are much higher than on some of the other crossings the KESR will need to reinstate either. Edited February 1, 2018 by phil-b259 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted February 25, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 25, 2015 (edited) When my parents moved to Devon in the early 80's a meeting was held in the auction rooms at Kingbridge to talk about the history of the 'Primrose Line' and the possible reinstatement of the track bed. What a shame that did not happen or that the line was not originally chosen over the Dart Valley line. Just think, a mainline connection with it's own platform face, three intermediate stations and a terminus five minute walk from the town centre and ferries to Salcombe. The site was ripe for it and I can only think that there was something underhand going on while discussion were going on between the preservationists and BR. I think that the loss of the Kingsbridge line has been explained in the Oakwood history of the line, seemingly a case of one part of BR not talking to the other part... However, even if the line had been saved, I doubt that this would necessarily have saved Brent main line station from closure. Given that the area once occupied by the goods yard and branch platform now forms an extremely useful local car park and also access to various businesses (ie. local employment), I can see that had the branch actually survived, the preservationists would probably have come under increasing pressure from the local authority in the late 1960s and 1970s to cut the branch back to the outskirts of the village. Then there was the construction of the A38 across the formation to the south of Brent in the early 1970s..... Edited February 25, 2015 by Captain Kernow Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Londontram Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 With respect guys get real, this is never going to happen, look at some of the previous ideas like Peak rail to Buxton where most of the track bed was still in place or The Midland railway center who once spoke of going to Ambergate until the A38 was built and made a virtual impassable barrier. Even one of the biggest preserved railways has taken the best part of 30 years to get to the stage where they could be able to cross the gap at loughborough. Where talking about miles of what is basically a green field site and having to build cuttings, embankments and bridges etc in fact everything from scratch even if they could get the land. Seriously guys there all nice dreams but this like so many others is just not feasible 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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