Bow railway station (Devon)

Bow
Bow railway station in 1970
Location
Place Bow
Area Mid Devon
Operations
Original company London and South Western Railway
Pre-grouping Southern Railway
Platforms 2
History
1865 Opened
5 June 1972 Closed to passengers
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain
A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z
UK Railways portal
Bow (Devon) station, 1968

Bow railway station was a railway station serving the town of Bow and the hamlet of Nymet Tracy in Devon. Bow lies about 8 miles west of Crediton.

History

Bow station from the train in 1970.

The station was originally opened by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) in 1865.[1] The station building is a two-storey construction of Dartmoor granite with ashlar dressings and round headed windows. The platform canopy has cast iron brackets with a creeper design. There is also a single-storey waiting room and offices.[2]

Services on the line were extended further west to Lydford railway station with the inauguration of Meldon Viaduct in 1874. Constructed to rival the South Devon Railway route to Plymouth, the completion of the LSWR's own route to Plymouth saw this line become an important route with lines to Padstow and Bude as well as Plymouth. Boat trains carrying passengers from ocean liners calling at Stonehouse Pool, Plymouth and prestige services such as the Atlantic Coast Express and Devon Belle all used the route.

Following publication of the Beeching Report in 1963, the Exeter to Plymouth Line was cut back to Okehampton in 1968. The line was singled on 17 October 1971.[3]

Bow, North Tawton, Sampford Courtenay and Okehampton lost their regular passenger services from 1972. The line survived, however, for the purposes of freight thanks to the activities of the British Rail ballast quarry at Meldon, three miles from Okehampton, which had an output of 300,000 tons per year. The quarry survived until the 2000s, operated by Aggregate Industries.

Future options

The Dartmoor Railway is proposing to restore the interchange at Yeoford, running passenger trains past Bow, where its line meets Great Western Railway's Tarka Line.

British American Railway Services, a new company created by Iowa Pacific Holdings of Chicago, became the new owner of the Dartmoor line on 4 September 2008. The company will develop freight, passenger and tourist services on the railway.[4]

Dartmoor Railway
miles
Tarka Line to Exeter
0    
Crediton
through services on summer Sundays
Salmon Pool Level Crossing
3¾ 
Yeoford
served by Tarka Line trains only
Coleford Junction
Tarka Line to Barnstaple
8½ 
 Bow
11¾ 
 North Tawton
14½ 
 Sampford Courtenay
18¼ 
 Okehampton
20¼ 
Meldon Viaduct/
Meldon Quarry
Meldon Viaduct
London & South Western Rly
to Padstow and Bude
to Plymouth via Bere Alston

References

  1. ↑ Nock, O. S. (1965) The London & South Western Railway. Pub. Ian Allan. London. P. 48.
  2. ↑ Pevsner, Nikolaus; Cherry, Bridget. The Buildings of England. Devon. Yale University Press. p. 195. ISBN 9780300095968.
  3. ↑ Mitchell, David (1994). British Railways Past and Present - Devon. Peterborough: Past and Present Publishing. p. 90. ISBN 1-85895-058-9, Page 81
  4. ↑ Heritage Railway, Pub. Heritage Railway Magazine. Issue 116, 2 October 2008 – 29 October 2008. P. 18.

Coordinates: 50°47′08″N 3°49′19″W / 50.78561°N 3.82205°W / 50.78561; -3.82205

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