Newton Abbot railway station
Encyclopedia
Newton Abbot railway station serves the town of Newton Abbot
in Devon
, England. It is 193.75 miles (312 km) from London on the Exeter to Plymouth line
via the Reading to Taunton line
, at the junction
for the branch to . For many years it was also the junction for Moretonhampstead
and the site of a large locomotive workshop. It is operated by First Great Western
.
on 30 December 1846 when its line was extended from Teignmouth railway station
. It was opened through to on 20 June 1847 and a branch to Torquay
was added on 18 December 1848. The Moretonhampstead and South Devon Railway
opened its branch line on 26 June 1866. All these railways used the broad gauge
.
Approaching the station from the town along Queen Street, people first saw the large goods shed. On the opposite side of the line was the pumping house
for the atmospheric railway
system that powered the trains for a short while. The passenger station was situated to the south of these buildings. It originally consisted to two – later three – small train shed
s covering separate platforms
for trains running in each direction to Exeter
, Plymouth
, and Torquay
. It was rebuilt in 1861 as a single station with a larger train shed covering all three platforms.
On 1 February 1876] the South Devon Railway, which had already amalgamated
with the Moretonhampstead company, was amalgamated into the Great Western Railway
. The station was originally known as just "Newton" but this was changed to "Newton Abbot" on 1 March 1877.
The last broad gauge train ran on 20 May 1892, after which all the lines in the area were converted to standard gauge
over the space of a weekend.. The workshops at Newton Abbot played a part in converting broad gauge locomotives, carriages and wagons to standard gauge over the following months.
Plans were put forward to rebuild the station with four platforms, but World War I
delayed the plans. The goods facilities were moved onto the Moretonhampstead branch line on 12 June 1911, and some sidings were laid at Hackney on 17 December 1911 to replace those near the engine shed. These alterations paved the way for the expansion of the station following the war, the rebuilt station finally being opened by Lord Mildmay of Flete on 11 April 1927. The station now faced the town along Queens Road, rather than the old wooden goods shed.
An old broad gauge
0-4-0
locomotive, Tiny, was put on display on the station platform to provide a link with the past.
The southbound platform had to rebuilt again following an air raid on 20 August 1940, during the World War II
. Six bombs were dropped killing 14 people, although one failed to explode.
The Moretonhampstead line lost its passenger trains on 28 February 1959. Goods trains were cut back to Bovey railway station
from 6 April 1964 and from 6 July 1970 were run no further than Heathfield
. The final regular traffic ran in 1996.
The publisher David & Charles
occupied part of the station buildings from 1960.
Some of the signalling equipment was taken to the Newton Abbot Town and GWR Museum where it forms part of an interactive display that shows how the railway shaped the town. It was also at about this time that Tiny was removed from its position on the platform and moved to Buckfastleigh railway station
where it is displayed in the museum of the South Devon Railway Trust
.
The remaining section of the Moretonhampstead line was taken out of use in 2009 when 'temporary stop blocks' were placed on the line 53 chains (1.1 km) from the junction at Newton Abbot.
Up until December 2009, South West Trains
ran services between London Waterloo to Plymouth
and Paignton
before withdrawing services west of Exeter to form an hourly service from Exeter St Davids to London Waterloo.
was derailed and Switchman Bidgood had to pay one pound towards its repairs.
The investigation into a collision in August 1875 revealed that it was normal practice at Newton to ignore the signal controlling movements from the siding to the main line, as a result of which it was decided to interlock the signals and points here, one of the first such installations to be authorised on the South Devon Railway.
On 21 October 1892 an engine shunting the siding at Aller Junction derailed and fell on its side.
In more recent times, a collision occurred on 25 March 1994, when a Class 158
DMU
working a to Cardiff
service ran into the back of a Class 43
standing in the platform with a to Edinburgh
train.. Then in June 1997 a similar train from London was derailed by a broken axle as it was slowing down on its approach to the station.
There are now just three tracks in use for passenger trains. The platform nearest the entrance (Platform 3) is used by most trains running beyond Exeter to London, the north of England and Scotland
. A wide footbridge, which is served by both stairs and lifts, leads to the southbound platform. The track on the west side (Platform 2) is mainly used by trains to and Penzance, while the east side (Platform 1) is mainly used by trains to and from Paignton.
Trains from Paignton can use either side of the station, long distance services are generally switched to the main line south of the station so use the same platform as trains from Plymouth while local trains to Exeter and tend to run the "wrong way" through the same platform that they use when running to Paignton and then join the main line north of the station. Similarly, trains to Paignton often use the Plymouth platform if another train is blocking the usual Paignton platform.
The industrial area opposite the station was the site of the South Devon Railway workshops, its engine shed
being situated a little to the north of the station. Beyond this was established Hackney marshalling yard, where goods trains were – and indeed still are from time to time – reformed for the journey over the hills towards Plymouth.
A new marshalling yard was opened at Hackney, just north of the station, on 17 December 1911. It is a useful staging point for freight trains travelling over the steep inclines
of Dartmoor
on the way to Plymouth as these trains either have to be shorter or use additional locomotives compared with the flat route from Exeter.
The sidings were closed to scheduled traffic on 10 January 1971. They have now been refurbished, although the number of sidings is greatly reduced. They were temporarily used for off-loading stone traffic during the 1990s but now see regular cement trains to on the Looe branch
in Cornwall
. These are split into two portions, one being left here while the Freightliner
locomotive takes the first section forward before returning later in the day for the remaining wagons. The sidings are also used for stabling railway engineers' vehicles.
Located at 50.53061°N 3.59807°W
The first engine shed
was established to the north end of the station opposite Tucker's Maltings. A workshop for the locomotive contractors was also established opposite the station and this was expanded over the years to include facilities for maintaining the railway's carriages and wagons. An old 0-4-0
locomotive, Tiny, was installed in the workshops to power the machinery. When it was no longer required for this role it was restored and put on display on the station platform. It has since been moved to the railway museum at and is the only original British broad gauge
locomotive that survives.
The original engine shed was closed in 1893 and a new shed provided within the workshops complex. In 1962 the site was rebuilt to accommodate diesels, including the Warship Class
that were used on the Exeter to Waterloo
services. The main repair shed or ‘factory’ was reformed to provide four ‘roads’ with servicing pits and cab level platforms. This provided facilities to repair eight locomotives at the same time. These locomotives could be put into the servicing roads by means of a traversing table at the East (London) end of the factory. A daily servicing and fuelling point was built beside the old steam shed and it was this which provided the main facility after the factory closed in 1970.
Coaches were maintained at the depot where cleaning was carried out on tracks between the station and the locomotive sheds. Diesel multiple units were also serviced in another open ended shed next to the carriage cleaning tracks. This shed was subsequently used to repair the electric train heating and air conditioning on the new Mark 3 and Mark 4 coaching stock.
The last British Rail steam engine to be overhauled in the workshops was ex-GWR 4500 Class
number 4566, outshopped on 15 July 1966. Although some steam engines belonging to the private Dart Valley Railway company were overhauled in the factory after it had to closed and the old steam shed was also used to do some work on these privately owned engines.
The diesel repair sheds were closed in 1970, although a locomotive and coach servicing/fuel facility remained until 1981 when servicing was transferred to Laira Traction Maintenance Depot where the new High Speed Trains
were maintained. An industrial estate now occupies the site but some original buildings are still standing.
The branch to Torquay originally left the main line in the station area and ran parallel with the Plymouth line for 1 miles (1.6 km) before the latter swung off into the hills at Aller. A proper junction, known as Torquay Junction, was put here on 29 January 1855 as the two single lines had now become part of the double-track line from Newton to Totnes, trains on the single-track Torquay branch running on the correct line between the junction and the station.
In 1874 the branch was extended to the station, running parallel with the Plymouth line as it had done before 1855. There were now three tracks on this section but on 22 May 1876 the branch was doubled as far as , which meant a fourth track was added. The tracks were (from east to west) down branch, up branch, down main, up main.
In 1914, along with the rebuilding of the station, it was proposed to install a flying junction at Aller to speed up the passage of trains coming off the branch. The plans were shelved due to the war
, but on 24 May 1925 a junction was once again installed where the two lines diverged, now known as Aller Junction. The four tracks were now grouped by direction of travel – down relief, down main, up relief, up main. Trains for either line could use either track between the junction and the station but trains to and from the branch generally used the "relief" lines. This meant that trains coming off the branch had to cross over the line used by trains going towards Plymouth which could cause delays at busy times. The junction was moved during the 1987 resignalling to a new position about 0.5 mile (0.80467 km) closer to the station. Trains can now run to and from the branch on a single line connection with their own platform, or cross over to the Plymouth–Exeter tracks on either side of the station as may be convenient.
A private siding was opened on the Torquay branch in 1866 for sand traffic from a nearby pit. It was removed in 1964.
, and from Paignton on the Riviera Line
. The main line service to London Paddington station is operated by First Great Western
, along with local trains to Exeter and Exmouth. The London services include the overnight Night Riviera
and daytime Cornish Riviera Express
to Penzance, and the midday Torbay Express
to Paignton. CrossCountry
operate trains through Birmingham to Manchester, the north east of England, and Scotland.
Newton Abbot
Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parish in the Teignbridge District of Devon, England on the River Teign, with a population of 23,580....
in 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. It is 193.75 miles (312 km) from London on the Exeter to Plymouth line
Exeter to Plymouth Line
The Exeter to Plymouth line is a central part of the trunk railway line between London Paddington and Penzance railway stations in the southern United Kingdom. It is a major branch of the Great Western Main Line and runs from Exeter, to Plymouth, from where it continues as the Cornish Main Line...
via the Reading to Taunton line
Reading to Taunton line
The Reading to Taunton line also known as the Berks and Hants is a major branch of the Great Western Main Line that diverges at Reading, running to Cogload Junction near Taunton, where it joins the Bristol to Exeter line....
, at the junction
Junction (rail)
A junction, in the context of rail transport, is a place at which two or more rail routes converge or diverge.This implies a physical connection between the tracks of the two routes , 'points' and signalling.one or two tracks each meet at a junction, a fairly simple layout of tracks suffices to...
for the branch to . For many years it was also the junction for Moretonhampstead
Moretonhampstead railway station
Moretonhampstead railway station was the terminus of the Moretonhampstead and South Devon Railway at Moretonhampstead, Devon, England. It was opened on 26 June 1866....
and the site of a large locomotive workshop. It is operated by First Great Western
First Great Western
First Great Western is the operating name of First Greater Western Ltd, a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that serves Greater London, the South East, South West and West Midlands regions of England, and South Wales....
.
Broad gauge
The station was opened by the South Devon Railway CompanySouth Devon Railway Company
The South Devon Railway Company built and operated the railway from Exeter to Plymouth and Torquay in Devon, England. It was a broad gauge railway built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel-Chronology:* 1844 South Devon Railway Act passed by parliament...
on 30 December 1846 when its line was extended from Teignmouth railway station
Teignmouth railway station
Teignmouth railway station is on the Exeter to Plymouth line and serves the town of Teignmouth, Devon, England. It is operated by First Great Western.-History:...
. It was opened through to on 20 June 1847 and a branch to Torquay
Torre railway station
Torre station is a suburban station on the Riviera Line in Torquay, Devon, England. The station is operated by First Great Western but is not staffed; except for one evening train it is only served by local services.-History:...
was added on 18 December 1848. The Moretonhampstead and South Devon Railway
Moretonhampstead and South Devon Railway
The Moretonhampstead and South Devon Railway was a broad gauge railway which linked the South Devon Railway at Newton Abbot railway station with Bovey Tracey and Moretonhampstead, Devon, England.-History of the line:...
opened its branch line on 26 June 1866. All these railways used the broad gauge
Broad gauge
Broad-gauge railways use a track gauge greater than the standard gauge of .- List :For list see: List of broad gauges, by gauge and country- History :...
.
Approaching the station from the town along Queen Street, people first saw the large goods shed. On the opposite side of the line was the pumping house
South Devon Railway engine houses
The South Devon Railway engine houses were built in Devon, England, to power the atmospheric trains on the South Devon Railway between Exeter St Davids and Plymouth Millbay railway stations. They contained boilers that provided the power to pumps that created the vacuum to move the trains...
for the atmospheric railway
Atmospheric railway
An atmospheric railway uses air pressure to provide power for propulsion. In one plan a pneumatic tube is laid between the rails, with a piston running in it suspended from the train through a sealable slot in the top of the tube. Alternatively, the whole tunnel may be the pneumatic tube with the...
system that powered the trains for a short while. The passenger station was situated to the south of these buildings. It originally consisted to two – later three – small train shed
Train shed
A train shed is an adjacent building to a railway station where the tracks and platforms are covered by a roof. It is also known as an overall roof...
s covering separate platforms
Railway platform
A railway platform is a section of pathway, alongside rail tracks at a train station, metro station or tram stop, at which passengers may board or alight from trains or trams. Almost all stations for rail transport have some form of platforms, with larger stations having multiple platforms...
for trains running in each direction to Exeter
Exeter St Davids railway station
Exeter St Davids station is the most important of seven National Rail stations in the city of Exeter in southwest England. Today the station is owned by Network Rail and operated by First Great Western.-History:...
, Plymouth
Plymouth Millbay railway station
Plymouth Millbay railway station was the original railway terminus in Plymouth, Devon, England. It was used for passenger trains from 1849 to 1941.- History :...
, and Torquay
Torre railway station
Torre station is a suburban station on the Riviera Line in Torquay, Devon, England. The station is operated by First Great Western but is not staffed; except for one evening train it is only served by local services.-History:...
. It was rebuilt in 1861 as a single station with a larger train shed covering all three platforms.
On 1 February 1876] the South Devon Railway, which had already amalgamated
Consolidation (business)
Consolidation or amalgamation is the act of merging many things into one. In business, it often refers to the mergers and acquisitions of many smaller companies into much larger ones. In the context of financial accounting, consolidation refers to the aggregation of financial statements of a group...
with the Moretonhampstead company, was amalgamated into the Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
. The station was originally known as just "Newton" but this was changed to "Newton Abbot" on 1 March 1877.
The last broad gauge train ran on 20 May 1892, after which all the lines in the area were converted to standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
over the space of a weekend.. The workshops at Newton Abbot played a part in converting broad gauge locomotives, carriages and wagons to standard gauge over the following months.
A new station
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
delayed the plans. The goods facilities were moved onto the Moretonhampstead branch line on 12 June 1911, and some sidings were laid at Hackney on 17 December 1911 to replace those near the engine shed. These alterations paved the way for the expansion of the station following the war, the rebuilt station finally being opened by Lord Mildmay of Flete on 11 April 1927. The station now faced the town along Queens Road, rather than the old wooden goods shed.
An old broad gauge
Broad gauge
Broad-gauge railways use a track gauge greater than the standard gauge of .- List :For list see: List of broad gauges, by gauge and country- History :...
0-4-0
0-4-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-4-0 represents one of the simplest possible types, that with two axles and four coupled wheels, all of which are driven...
locomotive, Tiny, was put on display on the station platform to provide a link with the past.
The southbound platform had to rebuilt again following an air raid on 20 August 1940, during the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Six bombs were dropped killing 14 people, although one failed to explode.
The Moretonhampstead line lost its passenger trains on 28 February 1959. Goods trains were cut back to Bovey railway station
Bovey railway station
stationBovey railway station was on the Moretonhampstead and South Devon Railway at Bovey Tracey, Devon, England.The station was built on the west side of the town, opening on 26 June 1866...
from 6 April 1964 and from 6 July 1970 were run no further than Heathfield
Heathfield (Devon) railway station
For the station in Sussex see Heathfield railway stationHeathfield railway station was on the Moretonhampstead and South Devon Railway at Heathfield, nearly 4 miles from Newton Abbot, Devon, England....
. The final regular traffic ran in 1996.
The publisher David & Charles
David & Charles
David & Charles is a publisher. The company was founded - and is still based - in the market town of Newton Abbot, in Devon, UK, on 1 April 1960 by David St John Thomas and Charles Hadfield. It first made its name publishing titles on Britain's canals and railways...
occupied part of the station buildings from 1960.
Recent history
The last trains used the former Platform 4 on 24 April 1987, which allowed a level entrance to be opened from the road and an extended car park. Also to go were the loop lines that allowed fast trains to pass the station without passing a platform. Resignalling was completed over the following week and bank holiday weekend. Full operation was restored from 5 May 1987, now controlled form a signal box at Exeter. A new junction was installed for the Paignton branch and the signals now allow trains to run either way on each track.Some of the signalling equipment was taken to the Newton Abbot Town and GWR Museum where it forms part of an interactive display that shows how the railway shaped the town. It was also at about this time that Tiny was removed from its position on the platform and moved to Buckfastleigh railway station
Buckfastleigh railway station
Buckfastleigh railway station is situated on the South Devon Railway, a heritage railway in Devon, England. It serves the town of Buckfastleigh.-History:The station was opened by the Buckfastleigh, Totnes and South Devon Railway on 1 May 1872...
where it is displayed in the museum of the South Devon Railway Trust
South Devon Railway Trust
The South Devon Railway Trust is a charitable organisation that operates a heritage railway from Totnes to Buckfastleigh in Devon, alongside the River Dart...
.
The remaining section of the Moretonhampstead line was taken out of use in 2009 when 'temporary stop blocks' were placed on the line 53 chains (1.1 km) from the junction at Newton Abbot.
Up until December 2009, South West Trains
South West Trains
South West Trains is a British train operating company providing, under franchise, passenger rail services, mostly out of Waterloo station, to the southwest of London in the suburbs and in the counties of Surrey, Hampshire, Dorset, Devon, Somerset, Berkshire, and Wiltshire and on the Isle of Wight...
ran services between London Waterloo to Plymouth
Plymouth railway station
Plymouth railway station serves the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. It is situated on the northern edge of the city centre close to the North Cross roundabout...
and Paignton
Paignton railway station
Paignton railway station is the railway station serving Paignton in Devon, England. It is the terminus of the Riviera Line from Exeter and is also an interchange between National Rail services and the preserved Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway.-History:...
before withdrawing services west of Exeter to form an hourly service from Exeter St Davids to London Waterloo.
Accidents
Newton Abbot has proved to be an accident prone station. On 22 August 1851 the locomotive BrigandGWR Bogie Class
The Great Western Railway Bogie Class 4-4-0ST broad gauge steam locomotives for passenger train work. The first two locomotives of this class were introduced into service in August/September 1849, with the remainder following between June 1854 and March 1855...
was derailed and Switchman Bidgood had to pay one pound towards its repairs.
The investigation into a collision in August 1875 revealed that it was normal practice at Newton to ignore the signal controlling movements from the siding to the main line, as a result of which it was decided to interlock the signals and points here, one of the first such installations to be authorised on the South Devon Railway.
On 21 October 1892 an engine shunting the siding at Aller Junction derailed and fell on its side.
In more recent times, a collision occurred on 25 March 1994, when a Class 158
British Rail Class 158
British Rail Class 158 Express Sprinter is a diesel multiple-unit train, built for British Rail between 1989 and 1992 by BREL at its Derby Works. They were built to replace many locomotive-hauled passenger trains, and allowed cascading of existing Sprinter units to replace elderly 'heritage' DMUs...
DMU
Diesel multiple unit
A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple unit train consisting of multiple carriages powered by one or more on-board diesel engines. They may also be referred to as a railcar or railmotor, depending on country.-Design:...
working a to Cardiff
Cardiff Central railway station
Cardiff Central railway station is a major railway station on the South Wales Main Line in Cardiff, Wales.It is the largest and busiest station in Wales and one of the major stations of the British rail network, the tenth busiest station in the United Kingdom outside of London , based on 2007/08...
service ran into the back of a Class 43
British Rail Class 43 (HST)
The British Rail Class 43 is the TOPS classification used for the InterCity 125 High Speed Train power cars, built by BREL from 1975 to 1982....
standing in the platform with a to Edinburgh
Edinburgh Waverley railway station
Edinburgh Waverley railway station is the main railway station in the Scottish capital Edinburgh. Covering an area of over 25 acres in the centre of the city, it is the second-largest main line railway station in the United Kingdom in terms of area, the largest being...
train.. Then in June 1997 a similar train from London was derailed by a broken axle as it was slowing down on its approach to the station.
Description
The main entrance is on the west side of the station (at the top of the diagram, right), facing a park (Courtaney Park) and Queen Street which leads into the town centre. The main entrance is through South Devon House, the building opened in 1927. This involves a couple of steps up to the platform, but a step-free route leads from the taxi rank on the south side of the building. The car park is beyond this on the site of the former Platform 4. At the north end of this platform are a former terminal platform and sidings alongside Tucker's Maltings which used to serve the Moretonhampstead branch.There are now just three tracks in use for passenger trains. The platform nearest the entrance (Platform 3) is used by most trains running beyond Exeter to London, the north of England and Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. A wide footbridge, which is served by both stairs and lifts, leads to the southbound platform. The track on the west side (Platform 2) is mainly used by trains to and Penzance, while the east side (Platform 1) is mainly used by trains to and from Paignton.
Trains from Paignton can use either side of the station, long distance services are generally switched to the main line south of the station so use the same platform as trains from Plymouth while local trains to Exeter and tend to run the "wrong way" through the same platform that they use when running to Paignton and then join the main line north of the station. Similarly, trains to Paignton often use the Plymouth platform if another train is blocking the usual Paignton platform.
The industrial area opposite the station was the site of the South Devon Railway workshops, its engine shed
Motive power depot
Motive power depot, usually abbreviated to MPD, is a name given to places where locomotives are stored when not being used, and also repaired and maintained. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine sheds", or, for short, just sheds. Facilities are provided for refuelling and...
being situated a little to the north of the station. Beyond this was established Hackney marshalling yard, where goods trains were – and indeed still are from time to time – reformed for the journey over the hills towards Plymouth.
Around the station
Hackney Yard
Located at 50.53719°N 3.59215°WA new marshalling yard was opened at Hackney, just north of the station, on 17 December 1911. It is a useful staging point for freight trains travelling over the steep inclines
South Devon Banks
The South Devon Banks are a series of steep inclines on the ex-GWR railway line linking Exeter and Plymouth in Devon, England. These two major towns are separated by the rocky uplands of Dartmoor forcing the early railway surveyors to propose that the line skirt the difficult terrain of the...
of Dartmoor
Dartmoor
Dartmoor is an area of moorland in south Devon, England. Protected by National Park status, it covers .The granite upland dates from the Carboniferous period of geological history. The moorland is capped with many exposed granite hilltops known as tors, providing habitats for Dartmoor wildlife. The...
on the way to Plymouth as these trains either have to be shorter or use additional locomotives compared with the flat route from Exeter.
The sidings were closed to scheduled traffic on 10 January 1971. They have now been refurbished, although the number of sidings is greatly reduced. They were temporarily used for off-loading stone traffic during the 1990s but now see regular cement trains to on the Looe branch
Looe Valley Line
The Looe Valley Line is an community railway from Liskeard to Looe in Cornwall, United Kingdom, that follows the valley of the East Looe River for much of its course...
in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
. These are split into two portions, one being left here while the Freightliner
Freightliner (UK)
Freightliner Group Limited is a rail freight and logistics company, founded in 1995 and now operating in the United Kingdom, Poland, and Australia. It is the second largest rail freight operator in the UK, after DB Schenker Rail .- History :...
locomotive takes the first section forward before returning later in the day for the remaining wagons. The sidings are also used for stabling railway engineers' vehicles.
Engine shed and works
The first engine shed
Motive power depot
Motive power depot, usually abbreviated to MPD, is a name given to places where locomotives are stored when not being used, and also repaired and maintained. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine sheds", or, for short, just sheds. Facilities are provided for refuelling and...
was established to the north end of the station opposite Tucker's Maltings. A workshop for the locomotive contractors was also established opposite the station and this was expanded over the years to include facilities for maintaining the railway's carriages and wagons. An old 0-4-0
0-4-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-4-0 represents one of the simplest possible types, that with two axles and four coupled wheels, all of which are driven...
locomotive, Tiny, was installed in the workshops to power the machinery. When it was no longer required for this role it was restored and put on display on the station platform. It has since been moved to the railway museum at and is the only original British broad gauge
Broad gauge
Broad-gauge railways use a track gauge greater than the standard gauge of .- List :For list see: List of broad gauges, by gauge and country- History :...
locomotive that survives.
The original engine shed was closed in 1893 and a new shed provided within the workshops complex. In 1962 the site was rebuilt to accommodate diesels, including the Warship Class
British Rail Class 42
British Railways' Type 4 Warship class diesel-hydraulic locomotives were introduced in 1958. It was apparent at that time that the largest centre of expertise on diesel-hydraulic locomotives was in Germany...
that were used on the Exeter to Waterloo
West of England Main Line
The West of England Main Line is a British railway line that runs from , Hampshire to Exeter St Davids in Devon, England. Passenger services run between London Waterloo station and Exeter...
services. The main repair shed or ‘factory’ was reformed to provide four ‘roads’ with servicing pits and cab level platforms. This provided facilities to repair eight locomotives at the same time. These locomotives could be put into the servicing roads by means of a traversing table at the East (London) end of the factory. A daily servicing and fuelling point was built beside the old steam shed and it was this which provided the main facility after the factory closed in 1970.
Coaches were maintained at the depot where cleaning was carried out on tracks between the station and the locomotive sheds. Diesel multiple units were also serviced in another open ended shed next to the carriage cleaning tracks. This shed was subsequently used to repair the electric train heating and air conditioning on the new Mark 3 and Mark 4 coaching stock.
The last British Rail steam engine to be overhauled in the workshops was ex-GWR 4500 Class
GWR 4500 Class
The Great Western Railway 4500 Class or Small Prairie is a class of steam locomotive. They are 2-6-2T type. A total of 75 were built; 55 were built in four batches between 1906 and 1915. A fifth batch of 20 locos was built in 1924, during Collett's tenure at Swindon. The first two batches were...
number 4566, outshopped on 15 July 1966. Although some steam engines belonging to the private Dart Valley Railway company were overhauled in the factory after it had to closed and the old steam shed was also used to do some work on these privately owned engines.
The diesel repair sheds were closed in 1970, although a locomotive and coach servicing/fuel facility remained until 1981 when servicing was transferred to Laira Traction Maintenance Depot where the new High Speed Trains
British Rail Class 43 (HST)
The British Rail Class 43 is the TOPS classification used for the InterCity 125 High Speed Train power cars, built by BREL from 1975 to 1982....
were maintained. An industrial estate now occupies the site but some original buildings are still standing.
Aller Junction
Located at 50.51524°N 3.58881°WThe branch to Torquay originally left the main line in the station area and ran parallel with the Plymouth line for 1 miles (1.6 km) before the latter swung off into the hills at Aller. A proper junction, known as Torquay Junction, was put here on 29 January 1855 as the two single lines had now become part of the double-track line from Newton to Totnes, trains on the single-track Torquay branch running on the correct line between the junction and the station.
In 1874 the branch was extended to the station, running parallel with the Plymouth line as it had done before 1855. There were now three tracks on this section but on 22 May 1876 the branch was doubled as far as , which meant a fourth track was added. The tracks were (from east to west) down branch, up branch, down main, up main.
In 1914, along with the rebuilding of the station, it was proposed to install a flying junction at Aller to speed up the passage of trains coming off the branch. The plans were shelved due to the war
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, but on 24 May 1925 a junction was once again installed where the two lines diverged, now known as Aller Junction. The four tracks were now grouped by direction of travel – down relief, down main, up relief, up main. Trains for either line could use either track between the junction and the station but trains to and from the branch generally used the "relief" lines. This meant that trains coming off the branch had to cross over the line used by trains going towards Plymouth which could cause delays at busy times. The junction was moved during the 1987 resignalling to a new position about 0.5 mile (0.80467 km) closer to the station. Trains can now run to and from the branch on a single line connection with their own platform, or cross over to the Plymouth–Exeter tracks on either side of the station as may be convenient.
A private siding was opened on the Torquay branch in 1866 for sand traffic from a nearby pit. It was removed in 1964.
Services
From the south, the trains of three different operators converge on Newton Abbot from Penzance and Plymouth on the main lineExeter to Plymouth Line
The Exeter to Plymouth line is a central part of the trunk railway line between London Paddington and Penzance railway stations in the southern United Kingdom. It is a major branch of the Great Western Main Line and runs from Exeter, to Plymouth, from where it continues as the Cornish Main Line...
, and from Paignton on the Riviera Line
Riviera Line
The Riviera Line is a local railway line that connects the city of Exeter to the "English Riviera" resorts of Torbay in Devon, England. It is closely linked with the Exeter to Plymouth Line with which it shares the route along the South Devon sea wall...
. The main line service to London Paddington station is operated by First Great Western
First Great Western
First Great Western is the operating name of First Greater Western Ltd, a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that serves Greater London, the South East, South West and West Midlands regions of England, and South Wales....
, along with local trains to Exeter and Exmouth. The London services include the overnight Night Riviera
Night Riviera
The Night Riviera is a sleeper train service operated by First Great Western. It is one of only two remaining sleeper services on the railway in Great Britain...
and daytime Cornish Riviera Express
Cornish Riviera Express
The Cornish Riviera Express is a British express passenger train that has run between London and Penzance in Cornwall since 1904. Introduced by the Great Western Railway, the name Cornish Riviera Express has been applied to the late morning express train from London Paddington station to Penzance...
to Penzance, and the midday Torbay Express
Torbay Express
The Torbay Express is a named passenger train operating in the United Kingdom.-Great Western Railway:Historically, the Torbay Express name was applied to services operated by the Great Western Railway from London Paddington to Torquay and Paignton....
to Paignton. CrossCountry
CrossCountry
CrossCountry is the brand name of XC Trains Ltd., a British train operating company owned by Arriva...
operate trains through Birmingham to Manchester, the north east of England, and Scotland.