Devon and Somerset Railway

The Devon and Somerset Railway (D&SR) was a cross-country line that connected Barnstaple in Devon, England, to the network of the Bristol and Exeter Railway (B&ER) near Taunton. It was opened in stages between 1871 and 1873 and closed in 1966. It served a mostly rural area although it carried some through services from east of Taunton to the seaside resort of Ilfracombe. From 1988 onwards the route of the line west of South Molton was redeveloped to form the part of the North Devon Link Road. The Act of Parliament that authorised the D&SR received assent on 29 July 1864. Eugenius Birch was appointed as Engineer, but he was replaced by Richard Hassard in 1870. The first section of the line was opened on 8 June 1871, from Watchet Junction (later Norton Fitzwarren) to on the edge of Exmoor. The remaining to Barnstaple opened on 1 November 1873. The line used its own station at Barnstaple (later to be named Victoria Road), some distance from the rival station at Barnstaple Quay. The line was built as broad gauge and operated by the B&ER. The last broad gauge train ran on 14 May 1881, after which the line was converted to and reopened on 18 May. In 1884 the Tiverton and North Devon Railway opened from a junction on the D&SR to Tiverton. The Tiverton services started from and ran over the D&SR as far as where they diverged southwards, and that line was later extended to Exeter. In 1890 the GWR appointed a Mrs Towns as signalwoman at Morebath Junction. She is the only recorded example of a signalwoman on any railway in Britain in the 19th century. In October 1913 the Railway Magazine reported that she was "very proud" of her job after 23 years service and hoped to continue indefinitely. Conversion to standard gauge enabled a connection to the London and South Western Railway at Barnstaple. This was opened on 1 June 1887, after which GWR trains ran through to via Barnstaple and the LSWR. The GWR acquired the Devon and Somerset Railway in 1901.