This short film takes a nostalgic look back at Kingsbridge Railway Station which was demolished and lost back in 2009.
Sixty years ago steam traction was disappearing from the railways of Devon and Cornwall under the onslaught of dieselisation and line closures. Some lines closed without ever seeing a diesel but others were dieselised but still closed within a short time. One such line was the Kingsbridge Branch which witnessed its last steam trains in September 1961 and closed completely just two years later in September 1963.
The limit for a small prairie was 200 tons in both directions but 6 coaches would probably have weighed just over 200 tons. The up train faced an 8 mile climb from milepost 8½ just north of Loddiswell to the junction at Brent but the small prairies were very capable little engines.
After the War, increasing use of road transport for goods and personal travel resulted in declining use of the branch line. Losses were stated to be £37,759 annually. The line closed to goods from 9th September 1963, and was intended to have closed completely on that date, but the change from summer to winter time tables of the Western National Omnibus Company, which was to provide the replacement service, was occurring the following weekend, so the closure of the line was delayed until then. The last train ran on 14th September 1963.
With thanks to Aarchive Films, Cookworthy Museum, and Ken Williams and Dermot Reynolds their book The Kingsbridge Branch has been a welcome source of fact checking.
   • ABANDONED KINGSBRIDGE RAILWAY STATION...