West Country Railway Information

General Railway Interest
- Atlantic Coast
Express - our sister site about the famous 'ACE' (under development)
- Colonel Stephens Museum
- dedicated to the light railway 'king' H F Stephens, whose lines
included the Callington Branch and the ND&CJLR.
- GWR E-list
- an E-mail discussion group for Great Western Railway historians and modellers.
- I-Rail - a very useful
directory of railway-related web-sites.
- LocoWatch - news and
information on UK railway subjects (mostly contemporary)
- MarchWeb - information on
UK railway preservation
- Railway Collectors Network
- for those who want to buy or sell their own piece of our railway heritage
- Railway Technical Web
Pages - for those interested in the science, technology, planning, maintenance and
operation of railways
- Railway
Terminology Glossary - under compilation, a glossary to explain all those common
and obscure railway terms
- S&DJR E-list
- an E-mail discussion group for Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway historians and
modellers.
- Signal Box - an excellent
site by John Hinson dedicated to railway signalling matters
- Southern E-Group - a
web-site and E-mail discussion group for Southern Railway historians and modellers.
- Titfield Thunderbolt - all
about that famous film, and also a railway and canal bookshop site
- Trackbed - a
growing comprehensive historical and photographic database of all the fomer railways of
Great Britain
- UK Railways

Railway Historical Societies

Railway Preservation Sites
Heritage Railways
- Avon Valley Railway - located at Bitton station on the ex-MR line from
Mangotsfield to Bath (Green Park), with trains operating over part of the old line. There
is a visitors site for
the railway itself. There is also an enthusiasts site
with historical information about the AVR and other ex-MR lines in the area, but this site
appears moribund now since the death of the webmaster.
- Bluebell Railway
- going wider afield on the Southern Railway, the Bluebell Railway is home to three
ex-L&SWR locomotives and three ex-L&SWR coaches, with the largest collection of
ex-Southern Railway steam locomotives and coaches in the UK.
- Bodmin &
Wenford Railway is based at the ex-GWR Bodmin General station and operates
services to Bodmin Parkway and Boscarne Junction.
- Dartmoor Railway
is operating a tourist service over the freight-only line from Crediton to the restored SR
station at Okehampton and then onwards to Meldon Quarry
(adjacent to Meldon Viaduct).
-
Dartmouth Steam Railway operates trains over the ex-GWR line along the Torbay
coast to Kingswear on the River Dart.
- Dean Forest Railway
- based at Norchard on the old Severn & Wye line, it operates services from Lydney
Junction (on the main line from Gloucester to Newport) to Parkend.
- East Somerset Railway
is based at Cranmore station and operates over part of the ex-GWR branch towards Shepton
Mallet.
- Gartell Light Railway -
a private narrow-gauge line on the trackbed of the former S&DJR main line south of
Templecombe.
- Gloucester Warwickshire Railway
is based at Toddington and is restoring the former GWR line from Cheltenham (Racecourse)
to Stratford-on-Avon.
- Helston Railway
- working to rebuild at least part of this ex-GWR Cornish branch line.
- Isle of Wight Steam
Railway is based at Havenstreet and operates services from Smallbrook Junction to
Wootton
- Launceston Steam Railway
operates narrow-gauge trains over part of the ex-L&SWR North Cornwall line.
- Lynton & Barnstaple
Railway is rebuilding this famous narrow-gauge line in North Devon. Woody Bay
station was re-opened in May 2003 after 68 years of closure and a short section of line is
now operational. Exmoor
Associates are working to secure more sections of the former trackbed
for future use by the L&BR.
- Mid-Hants Railway
("The Watercress Line") runs steam trains "over the Alps" in Hampshire
from Alton to Alresford.
- Plym Valley Railway is
based at Marsh Mills station (near Plymouth) and is restoring part of the southern end of
the ex-GWR branch to Launceston.
- Seaton Tramway
operates a narrow-gauge electric tramway on part of the route of the
ex-L&SWR Seaton Branch in East Devon.
- South Devon Railway
operates steam trains in the spirit of the GWR from Totnes to Buckfastleigh on the former
Ashburton Branch.
- Swanage Railway -
restoring this former L&SWR branch in the Isle of Purbeck, operating steam trains from
Swanage to the Norden park-and-ride site, just north of historic Corfe Castle.
- Swindon &
Cricklade Railway is based at the site of Blunsdon station on the former Midland
& South Western Junction Railway.
- West Somerset
Railway - the longest private railway in the UK, running steam and diesel trains
between Minehead and Bishops Lydeard, with a bus link to Taunton. There is also a site for
the WSR Association, and a superb private site from Stephen Edge with links
to other private WSR-related sites.
- UK Heritage Railways
- information and links for most UK preserved railways.

Webrings