The Lynbarn Railway opened in 1995 as a park ride at The Milky Way, a family-based theme park attraction near Clovelly

Clovelly

Clovelly is a village in the Torridge district of Devon, England. It is a major tourist attraction, famous for its history and beauty, its extremely steep car-free cobbled main street, donkeys, and its location looking out over the Bristol Channel. Thick woods shelter it and render the climate so...

 in north Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It was built and operated by enthusiast volunteers working to revive the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway

Lynton and Barnstaple Railway

The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway opened as an independent railway in May 1898. It was a single track narrow gauge railway slightly over long running through the rugged and picturesque area bordering Exmoor in North Devon, England. Although opened after the 1896 Light Railways Act came into force,...

 (L&B) – a nearby historical line running through Exmoor

Exmoor

Exmoor is an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England, named after the main river that flows out of the district, the River Exe. The moor has given its name to a National Park, which includes the Brendon Hills, the East Lyn Valley, the Vale of Porlock and ...

.

Built to the same rail gauge – – as the L&B, but with a considerably smaller loading gauge

Loading gauge

A loading gauge defines the maximum height and width for railway vehicles and their loads to ensure safe passage through bridges, tunnels and other structures...

, the ride made significant contributions to the finances, skills and expertise of the L&B and was substantially extended and improved during 2003/2004.

So they could concentrate on operating at Woody Bay

Woody Bay railway station

Woody Bay, within the Exmoor National Park, is a station on the former Lynton and Barnstaple Railway, a narrow gauge line that ran through Exmoor from Barnstaple to Lynton and Lynmouth in North Devon. The station was situated inland, about 2 km from Woody Bay itself...

 the L&B sold their share in the Lynbarn operation to the owners of the Milky Way, who now operate the ride along with the other attractions.

The "Lynbarn" uses three coaches that were part of a lot bought by the L&B and formerly based at Thorpe Park

Thorpe Park

Thorpe Park is a theme park located in Chertsey, Surrey, England, UK. It was built in 1979 on the site of a gravel pit which was partially flooded, the intention of creating a water based theme for the park. The park's first large roller coaster, Colossus, was added in 2002...

 in Surrey

Surrey

Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

. Four other coaches have been fully rebuilt, and are now carrying passengers at Woody Bay. There are also a number of service wagons, used for maintaining the track.

Motive power was provided by two steam outline diesel locomotives. One of these, Parracombe

Parracombe (locomotive)

Parracombe is the name of a steam outline Baguley diesel locomotive that currently resides on the Groudle Glen Railway in the Isle of Man in private ownership. It has not operated in service on the railway since arriving in 2007 from the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway in Devon, where it had seen...

, was built by Baguley in 1947 for the line at Butlins

Butlins

Butlins is a chain of large holiday camps in the United Kingdom. Butlins was founded by Billy Butlin to provide affordable holidays for ordinary British families....

, Clacton. A scene from that period featured in the closing sequences of a popular TV series Hi-de-Hi!

Hi-de-Hi!

Hi-de-Hi! is a British sitcom that aired on the BBC from 1980-1988. It was set in a holiday camp during the 1950s and 1960s and was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, who had written Dad's Army and It Ain't Half Hot Mum. The title was the phrase used to greet the campers and in early episodes...

(1979-1987). This loco was transferred to the Groudle Glen Railway

Groudle Glen Railway

The Groudle Glen Railway is a narrow gauge railway north of Douglas in the Isle of Man which is owned and operated by members of the Isle of Man Steam Railway Supporters' Association and operates on summer Sundays; May to September and Wednesday evenings in July and August along with a number of...

in 2007.