The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway (L&BR) was
a famous narrow-gauge railway line in North Devon, England. It was opened as an
independent railway on 11th May 1898, taken over by the Southern Railway in 1923, and closed completely on
29th September 1935. However the memory of the line lives on, and much of the route
survives, as do most of the original station buildings. It is now the subject of an active
restoration project, and the
first part was re-opened at Woody Bay station on 11th May 2003, 105 years
to the day after the original opening.
The L&BR was
constructed as a 1' 11½" gauge single-track line from Barnstaple Town
station (which it shared with the Ilfracombe line of the London
& South Western Railway (L&SWR)) across the western end of Exmoor to
a terminus at Lynton. This terminus served both Lynton and Lynmouth.
Passing-loops were provided at the four main intermediate
stations on the line, namely Chelfham, Bratton Fleming, Blackmore
(later re-named Blackmoor) and Wooda Bay (re-named Woody Bay in 1901).
Halts were added later at Snapper (1903), Parracombe
(1899) and Caffyns (1907).
On the outskirts of Barnstaple, about a quarter of a mile from the Town station, the
L&BR had their locomotive and carriage works at Pilton Yard (also
known as Pilton Bridge or just Pilton). A signal-box and passing-loop were provided here
also and these form the subject of a separate page in RailWest.
A prominent feature on the line was Chelfham viaduct, the largest structure on a narrow-gauge railway in
the UK. This viaduct still stands today and was restored extensively in 2000 - hopefully
it will carry trains again one day soon.
Looking north across Chelfham Viaduct circa-1900
The railway started life with three
Manning Wardle 2-6-2T locomotives, named 'Yeo' 'Exe' and
'Taw' after local rivers, but shortly after opening they purchased a
fourth locomotive 'Lyn'. Because of supply problems at Manning Wardle
this locomotive was a 2-4-2T bought instead from Baldwin in America. In later years the
Southern Railway ordered 'Lew' from Manning Wardle and this was similar
to the original three engines. The passenger and goods rolling-stock was of distinctive
design and built by the Bristol Wagon and Carriage Works Company. Click here to see a picture of Brake
Van No 23 nearing completion of restoration in 2003.
Further details will be added to this page in due course, but in the meantime please
see the Minor Railways Index for details of
other L&BR-related pages already on RailWest.
For more detailed information about the history of the line, and the progress of current
efforts to re-open it, please visit the web-site of the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway,
and also Exmoor
Associates who are working to secure more sections of the former trackbed
for future use by the L&BR.
© Chris Osment 2003
Map based on original courtesy Tony Nicholson, 'Yeo' photograph courtesy Lens of
Sutton
