Ilfracombe branch line

Ilfracombe railway in 1874

Ilfracombe began to be recognised as a watering place from the 1830s, and in following decades its attraction became more widely known and visitor numbers increased considerably. Access was difficult as the roads approaching the town were steep and inconvenient, and most visitors arrived by steamer, from Bristol and elsewhere.

The North Devon Railway and Docks company opened its line from Crediton to Barnstaple in 1854. It was a single broad gauge line at first, but after certain dubious procedures, it was taken over (on lease) by the London and South Western Railway, making a railway connection to the national network. The track was soon converted to mixed gauge, to enable the operation of narrow (standard) gauge trains.[1]

Barnstaple Junction station in 1964, looking towards Exeter from the road bridge. The tracks entering from the left mark the southern end of the Ilfracombe branch; those in the foreground lead to Bideford.

An Exeter solicitor, Thomas Wreford, was active in promoting the idea of a railway connecting Barnstaple and Ilfracombe, but after considerable effort and expenditure was unable to get sufficient support.[1] Wreford's work was reopened when J E Errington, consulting engineer to the LSWR, examined possible routes, probably in 1861. The terrain was difficult, with a ridge rising to 800 feet above sea level barring the way. Errington favoured a western route through Braunton, but there was opposition from an absentee landowner, Sir William Williams, and misjudgements elsewhere by Wreford weakened confidence in the scheme, and it was not carried forward.

In 1861 a slightly altered route was decided upon, and the LSWR was approached for support. It had not yet established its ability to reach Barnstaple, and it indicated that negotiations with the North Devon company for its acquisition were dominating its attention at the time. In July 1862 the LSWR finalised its talks with the North Devon company, and the LSWR acquired that line outright on 1 January 1865. Now that it had certainty of its narrow (standard) gauge access to Barnstaple, it indicated that it was prepared to consider an Ilfracombe line. The proposed Braunton route to Ilfracombe had steep gradients and sharp curves, and the LSWR arranged for a new survey of an alternative, eastern route. When the survey was complete it was obvious that this route was much more expensive due to the heavy engineering works that would be necessary, so the Braunton route was settled on, and working arrangements whereby the LSWR would work the line for 45% of gross receipts were agreed.[2]

A Parliamentary Bill for the Ilfracombe Railway went to Parliament in the 1863 session, but it was opposed by Sir William Williams, and an engineer Sir John Fowler spoke against the safety aspect of the Braunton route, and asserted that the eastern route would be cheaper. Fowler was a consulting engineer to the Great Western Railway and accordingly had some personal authority. The Bill was thrown out.[3][4]

When the bad news was brought to Braunton and Ilfracombe, violent disquiet was in evidence, and the Riot Act was read at 02:00 on Sunday 26 April. The water was further muddied by the revival now of an earlier scheme for a Devon and Somerset Railway, affiliated to the Great Western Railway, connecting Taunton to Ilfracombe through Barnstaple.

The Ilfracombe Railway promoters decided on a further attempt to get an Act, in the 1864 session of Parliament. To fend off the possibility of the Devon and Somerset Railway getting authorisation for its line to Ilfracombe instead of the Ilfracombe Railway, the promoters of the IR decided to propose the eastern route themselves, knowing it to be inferior.[3][5][6]

Braunton railway station in 1964

The Ilfracombe Railway was accordingly authorised by Act of 25 July 1864.[7]

The rival Devon and Somerset Railway was authorised in the same session, on 29 July 1864, but only between Taunton and Barnstaple. Parliament required the Ilfracombe Railway to build all bridges and structures in such a way that broad gauge trains off the D&SR might pass over the line. Share capital of the Ilfracombe Railway was to be £210,000 and the D&SR were permitted to be major subscribers for shares. An Act of 2 July 1865 reincorporated the company with the LSWR and the D&SR being the only shareholders, save for 77 shares out of 5,250.[3][6]

The Ilfracombe Company now made a call of £2 per share towards land acquisition and construction, but the D&SR found itself unable to raise money to pay its call. From the point of view of the Great Western Railway, "the chance of extending the broad gauge to Ilfracombe was missed".[8]

This impasse dragged on for a very considerable time, with the IR eventually taking legal action against the D&SR. Although judgment in court was given against the D&SR in the sum of £11,492, the Ilfracombe Railway was unable to proceed with construction as it had no funds, and in fact it was not until 26 July 1901 when the Great Western Railway absorbed the D&SR that the debt was paid, and the impotent Ilfracombe Railway Company was able to be dissolved.[9]

At the end of 1867 the IR company had decided not to proceed with construction, even though £46,370 had been expended without any construction taking place. The authorised but unbuilt Ilfracombe Railway was abandoned by Acy of 25 July 1868.[3][10][9]

Braunton station in the early twentieth century

In 1875 the Barnstaple and Ilfracombe Railway was amalgamated with the LSWR, following an authorising Act of 16 July 1874.[15][13][14]

In 1887 the status of the line as a light railway was altered to normal operation. It was decided to double the line, except for the section from Barnstaple Junction to Pottington, because of the expense of doubling the Taw viaduct and the Yeo swing bridge. When the line was originally built, the single line was laid in the centre of the double track formation, and the doubling was carried out by the acquisition of additional land. The line between Braunton and Mortehoe was commissioned as a double line on 1 July 1889, followed by Braunton to Pottington on 4 August 1890. Finally Mortehoe to Ilfracombe was opened as double track on 1 July 1891.[16][17]

Ilfracombe station was 225 feet above sea level. As holiday peak traffic developed, Ilfracombe station was successively extended and improved, in 1901, 1917 and 1929.[18]

Ilfracombe railway line in 1905

On 1 November 1873 the Devon and Somerset Railway had opened its line throughout from Taunton to its own Barnstaple station; a coach connection was operated to Ilfracombe.[19][20] At this time the D&SR Was a broad gauge railway, but it was converted to narrow (standard) gauge on 18 May 1881.[9][21]

On 1 June 1887 the D&SR opened a connecting loop from its Barnstaple station to Barnstaple Junction station, and trains could run through, albeit with a reversal. Through GWR trains from Taunton over the Devon and Somerset line operated; it was stipulated by the LSWR that only through journeys to Ilfracombe were permitted on the line; journeys to other LSWR stations had to be made using the D&SR terminus and road transfer to Barnstaple Junction or Town stations.[19][17][22]

An eastern arm of the D&SR triangle was opened on 1 July 1905 permitting through running from Taunton to Barnstaple Junction without reversal in Victoria Road.[17][23] The GWR station was named Victoria Road in 1949.[24]

Barnstaple railway bridge in the 1970s

As a light railway, axle weights on the Ilfracombe line were limited, while the gradients were formidable. In 1873, three locomotives were delivered from Beyer, Peacock and Company; they were 0-6-0 tender engines, and they were known as Ilfracombe Goods engines. They were restricted to four passenger vehicles with two brake vans, and on goods trains to eight wagons and a van.

From the first years of the twentieth century they were replaced by Adams T1 0-4-4 tank engines, and from about 1914 the M7 class of 0-4-4 tank engines were brought into use. In the summer of 1925 the N class of moguls were first used on the line; on 3 March 1925 one of the class took 7 coaches from Exeter to Ilfracombe, but it nearly stalled on Braunton bank. Comparative runs showed that the M7 locomotives were better suited to sue on the branch, although for through journeys to Exeter the N class was more suited. The more modern King Arthur, Schools and Lord Nelson classes were too heavy for use on the line, but the air-smoothed West Country pacifics, introduced from 1945, were allowed and could handle heavier loads. They were often used to assist the N class engines on heavy trains.

When some of the West Country class were later modified to a more conventional technical specification later, the added weight resulted in the affected locomotives being too heavy for the line and unable to be used there.

After nationalisation, Ivatt 2-6-2 tank engines of the former London, Midland and Scottish Railway were employed as the old M7 class were phased out.[37]

Although summer weekend holiday traffic was extremely busy, the branch was very little used outside those times and financial losses were built up. Goods services were withdrawn on 7 September 1964. The line was singled on 17 December 1967.[38] Road-based competition – motor coaches and private cars – accelerated the decline in usage of the line, and the train service was discontinued on 5 October 1970[39][40]

The trackbed between Mortehoe Station and Ilfracombe has been restored as the Devon Coast to Coast Cycle Route and forms part of the Tarka Trail. It is possible to walk or cycle from the north road bridge parapet by Mortehoe Station to Ilfracombe.[43]

Frank E Box, The Barnstaple and Ilfracombe Railway, in the Railway Magazine, December 1919, January 1920 and March 1920. The text in Maggs’ book is largely taken from these articles.

• BFI archive footage from 1898: a journey over the line