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The Exmouth branch has an interesting history. It took decades to bring it to fruition. Well patronised from the start, it had an uneventful life for a nearly a century before a sharp decline in passengers numbers brought threats of closure with severe and lasting economies. The recovery in patronage in the last thirty years has been spectacular, and the line is thriving today. The story is summarised below.

First Steps

Railway first proposed in 1825, but plans quickly collapse

The story of Exmouth’s railway starts in January 1825 when—concerned about the capacity of the Exeter Canal—a meeting was called to consider “the propriety of laying a Rail Road for the more expeditious and economical conveyance of goods from the mouth of the Port of Exeter”. But, while there was agreement on the need for a railway, there was dissent about its route. Some favoured a line from a new dock at Exmouth up the east side of the River Exe; others thought the western bank more suitable, with a basin being formed at Starcross. Two rival companies were formed, but quickly collapsed when Exeter Corporation started to deepen the canal and extend it to Turf in April 1825. There was no significant progress towards a railway for another twenty years.

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Fresh Start

Twenty years later, two rival companies emerge with proposals. Route selected after a further 10 years argument

In 1845 two further companies sprang up almost simultaneously, again divided on the route. The west bank faction was now determined on a broad gauge line from Exmouth, crossing the Exe by a viaduct at Topsham and joining Brunel’s South Devon Railway at Exminster. After a further decade of often acrimonious debate, this was the route eventually chosen by the Exeter & Exmouth Railway, and which received Parliamentary approval on 2nd July 1855.

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Further Strife

Unhappy shareholders soon force a complete change of plan and further delay

The troubles of the Exmouth & Exeter were far from over. The ceremony of cutting the first sod in November 1856 degenerated into farce, and not long afterwards the shareholders turned on the directors of the company, unhappy with the arrangements negotiated with the South Devon Railway for running the line, and ultimately forcing a complete change of plan involving an agreement with the London & South Western Railway. In 1858, the Exeter & Exmouth company was authorised to build a shorter line from Exmouth to Topsham, to link with a branch from Exeter to Topsham being built by the South Western company, with the whole line to be operated by the latter.

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Construction

Work finally starts in 1859. Construction is easy with only minor setbacks.

The contract for building the Exmouth—Topsham section was let with James Taylor of Exeter in March 1859 for the sum of £39,000, with the optimistic completion date of 1st May 1860. In the event construction was quite straightforward, and only the River Clyst viaduct presented any engineering problems. Storms in early 1860 caused some disruption, delaying the arrival of building stone by sea from Babbacombe and washing away hundreds of tons of ballast, but by October 1860 the directors were able to take their first trip down the line.

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Opening

Exmouth gets its railway at last, but it has been a chastening experience for investors

By 27th April 1861 both the Exeter & Exmouth and the South Western’s line to Topsham were complete and were inspected as a single entity by Colonel Yolland of the Board of Trade. After a favourable report, the line was opened to the public on 1st May 1861 to great public rejoicing. Accounts appeared in the Illustrated London News and in the local press. The latter reported the details of the celebratory banquet which became quite rowdy with fisticuffs and throwing of food. In some ways this was not surprising; feelings ran high among those who had backed rival ventures. A great deal of expense had been incurred seeking Parliamentary approval for schemes which did not then proceed, and many local investors had lost substantial sums of money.

It had taken thirty-six years from the first meeting to get the railway to Exmouth.

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Early Years

Quickly absorbed by the LSWR, the line is well patronised leading to the addition of a number of extra halts

Despite its turbulent beginnings, once the line had been opened it quickly settled into a routine existence. Though well used from the outset, it never provided a dividend to the Exeter & Exmouth shareholders. In 1864 the proposal to amalgamate with the London & South Western received almost universal assent, and this took effect from 1st January 1866.

In 1903 the Exmouth & Salterton Railway opened its branch from Exmouth to Sidmouth Junction, providing a shorter route to London and leaving the Exeter line handling mainly local traffic. Two new Exeter halts were opened in 1906 at Lion’s Holt (renamed St James’ Park in 1946) and Mount Pleasant, and a further two in 1908, Polsloe Bridge and Clyst St Mary & Digby, by which time the line had been doubled as far as Topsham.

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World War II

The addition of the Depot at Newcourt

The railway continued to have an almost uneventful existence for nearly a century. Even two world wars had little impact, although in 1943 the United States Navy asked for sidings at Newcourt to allow stores to be unloaded as part of their D-Day preparations. Some 1200 feet of track, the connection to the main line and signalling were completed in four days, an astonishing feat even in wartime. After the war the site became a Royal Naval Stores Depot, and the sidings were in regular use until 1986. The depot site is now part of a major housing development, served by a new station opened in 2015.

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Decline, Beeching & Economies

Closure averted more than once, but at a cost

It was not until the late 1950s that the motor car made a real impact on passenger traffic on the line. One and a half million journeys in 1959 shrank to half a million in 1963, when the long-awaited diesel service was introduced. That year the Beeching Report was published, threatening the line with closure for the first time. Although the threat was soon lifted, the need to make the branch financially viable led to stringent economies, including:

un-staffing the intermediate stations.
removing redundant track and signalling at Exmouth (following the withdrawal of freight trains and services to Sidmouth Junction).
Singling the line between Exmouth Junction and Topsham.

Most of this work was complete by March 1968. Ironically at about this time passenger numbers started to grow and, in retrospect, these economies look very short sighted`

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Revival gains Momentum

Passenger growth has been impressive

Traffic has been growing steadily since the late 1960s, but the growth in this century has been phenomenal — over 100% since 2006 — and passenger numbers are still rising, albeit slowly. The economies of the 1960s and 70s restrict the number of trains that can be run, and the line is currently worked to capacity.
Train services are currently provided by a train operating company, initially on a franchise basis but now on a management contract, while the infrastructure is owned and maintained by Network Rail. Since 2007 the operator has been First Great Western/ Great Western Railway. The start of their franchise coincided with a national shortage of rolling stock, which led to the return of the Class 142 and 143 units. Although these have been replaced our rolling stock is still some of the oldest in the country.

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Topsham & the Quay branch

The princpal intermediate station and its connection to the Port of Topsham

Topsham is the largest intermediate station on the line, being the only place where trains can pass. As such it is currently the busiest single line passing loop in the country. The Gothic style station building was designed by the celebrated architect Sir William Tite. The now defunct goods yard was sited in the area now occupied by Tappers Close, and handled a wide variety of traffic including the despatch of raspberries, cherries, plums, orchids and salmon. The Quay Branch opened in September 1861, handling goods to Exeter from ships too large to reach the city by canal. Exmouth Dock did not exist at this time and the LSWR built what became the Town Quay. The branch was 650m long with a relatively steep gradient, and worked under stringent regulations to avoid vehicles running away. There was only one such incident, in 1925, when five wagons ran away and were derailed on the quay. An important traffic was guano (bird droppings), shipped from South America in 500 ton batches and transported to the nearby Odams’ fertiliser factory. The branch closed in 1957 and the rails were lifted the following year. The route of the branch is now a road, Holman Way, completed in 1971.

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Exmouth Station

The present station is the third on the site

At Exmouth the line from Exeter was joined in 1902 by the branch from Sidmouth Junction via Budleigh Salterton which provided a faster route to London and was heavily used by tourists. By 1924 it was realised that more capacity was required, and the Southern Railway rebuilt the station with four platforms and an imposing station building.

After the closure of the Budleigh line and the withdrawal of freight services in the 1960s, the station was moved some 100m to the north to accommodate a new urban relief road. The current station, a much simpler affair, was opened in 1976.

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AVOCET LINE RAIL USERS GROUP

History

First Steps

Fresh Start

Further Strife

Construction

Opening

Early Years

World War II

Decline, Beeching & Economies

Revival gains Momentum

Topsham & the Quay branch

Exmouth Station

AVOCET LINE
RAIL USERS GROUP