Читать книгу Railway Day Trips: 160 classic train journeys around Britain - Julian Holland - Страница 17

This day trip is currently only possible on summer Sundays in conjunction with the Dartmoor Sunday Rover Network. Trains from Exeter St Davids station follow the same route as the ‘Tarka Line’ as far as Coleford Junction and then branch off along the route of the former London & South Western Railway’s main line to Plymouth which opened throughout in 1890. This was effectively closed in 1968 with the ending of services between Bere Alston and Okehampton although the latter continued to be served by passenger trains from Exeter until 1972. Fortunately, a single track was retained for ballast traffic from Meldon Quarry and in recent years it has also seen the Dartmoor Railway operating a limited heritage service over a section of the line.

From Coleford Junction the railway skirts around the northern edge of Dartmoor for 16½ miles, passing through Sampford Courtenay station before terminating at the superbly restored Okehampton station, set high above the town. There is a café here, and a Youth Hostel is located in the former goods shed. From the station, the 11-mile Granite Way footpath and cycleway parallels the railway to Meldon before crossing the magnificent wrought- and cast-iron Meldon Viaduct to follow the trackbed of the closed railway around Dartmoor, over Lake Viaduct, to end at Lydford.

DESTINATION HIGHLIGHTS

walking and cycling on Granite Way to Meldon Viaduct, Lake and Lydford; Dartmoor Railway to Meldon; restored Okehampton station; Okehampton Castle; Museum of Dartmoor Life

FREQUENCY OF TRAINS

4 per day (Sun, May-Sept)

25¼ MILES 45 MINUTES

NUMBER OF CHANGES: 0

The tastefully restored station at Okehampton is served by trains from Exeter on summer Sundays.