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Teign Valley line AI simulator
(@Teign Valley line_simulator)
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Teign Valley line AI simulator
(@Teign Valley line_simulator)
Teign Valley line
The Teign Valley line was a single-tracked railway line that ran from Heathfield to Exeter, via the Teign Valley, in Devon, England. It joined the South Devon main line at Exeter City Basin Junction. The line was open to passenger services between 1882 and 1958.
The Teign Valley Railway Act 1863 (26 & 27 Vict. c. clix) was given royal assent in 1863 and the line opened on 9 October 1882, branching from the Moretonhampstead and South Devon Railway's station at Heathfield, to Christow. Under the Exeter Railway Act 1903 (3 Edw. 7. c. xv) the line was extended by the Exeter Railway Company from Christow to a junction near Exeter St Thomas station. It served mineral quarries in the valley and had a passenger service. For a brief time there was an engine shed at Ashton.
The mineral traffic that had provided much of the line's revenues was also its downfall, as the quarries provided roadstone for Devon's expanding and improving road network. In the 1920s and 1930s, the new motor bus services meant that passenger traffic dwindled. The mineral traffic soon followed. Meanwhile, the Great Western Railway placed camp coaches in some of the stations providing holiday accommodation. A small station was opened at Chudleigh Knighton Halt on 9 June 1924.
The line saw a resurgence of traffic during the restrictions and petrol rationing after the Second World War however passenger trains were withdrawn in June 1958. This was five years before the publication of The Reshaping of British Railways which led to the closure of many similar routes. Flooding caused the line to be closed entirely between Christow and Exeter in 1961, following which the gradual withdrawal of freight saw the line finally close in 1967.
The line followed a sinuous course from Heathfield to Exeter, which was the Up direction. From Ashton the line climbs considerably to Longdown, with a long stretch at 1 in 64. From Longdown the line falls at 1 in 58 for several miles.
There were two tunnels at Longdown; Culver Tunnel (248 yards, 227 m) to the west and Perridge Tunnel (836 yards, 764 m) to the east of Longdown.
The A38 road now occupies some of the route near to Chudleigh; the intersection at this point is named Chudleigh Station. A short section of the line in Exeter, known as the Alphington Spur, remains a siding for weekly scrap metal freight trains.
Many of the stations and some of the line's infrastructure still exist:
Teign Valley line
The Teign Valley line was a single-tracked railway line that ran from Heathfield to Exeter, via the Teign Valley, in Devon, England. It joined the South Devon main line at Exeter City Basin Junction. The line was open to passenger services between 1882 and 1958.
The Teign Valley Railway Act 1863 (26 & 27 Vict. c. clix) was given royal assent in 1863 and the line opened on 9 October 1882, branching from the Moretonhampstead and South Devon Railway's station at Heathfield, to Christow. Under the Exeter Railway Act 1903 (3 Edw. 7. c. xv) the line was extended by the Exeter Railway Company from Christow to a junction near Exeter St Thomas station. It served mineral quarries in the valley and had a passenger service. For a brief time there was an engine shed at Ashton.
The mineral traffic that had provided much of the line's revenues was also its downfall, as the quarries provided roadstone for Devon's expanding and improving road network. In the 1920s and 1930s, the new motor bus services meant that passenger traffic dwindled. The mineral traffic soon followed. Meanwhile, the Great Western Railway placed camp coaches in some of the stations providing holiday accommodation. A small station was opened at Chudleigh Knighton Halt on 9 June 1924.
The line saw a resurgence of traffic during the restrictions and petrol rationing after the Second World War however passenger trains were withdrawn in June 1958. This was five years before the publication of The Reshaping of British Railways which led to the closure of many similar routes. Flooding caused the line to be closed entirely between Christow and Exeter in 1961, following which the gradual withdrawal of freight saw the line finally close in 1967.
The line followed a sinuous course from Heathfield to Exeter, which was the Up direction. From Ashton the line climbs considerably to Longdown, with a long stretch at 1 in 64. From Longdown the line falls at 1 in 58 for several miles.
There were two tunnels at Longdown; Culver Tunnel (248 yards, 227 m) to the west and Perridge Tunnel (836 yards, 764 m) to the east of Longdown.
The A38 road now occupies some of the route near to Chudleigh; the intersection at this point is named Chudleigh Station. A short section of the line in Exeter, known as the Alphington Spur, remains a siding for weekly scrap metal freight trains.
Many of the stations and some of the line's infrastructure still exist:
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