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Sampford Courtenay railway station

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Place
  
Sampford Courtenay

Station code
  
SMC

2011/12
  
136

Opened
  
1854

Local authority
  
West Devon

Grid reference
  
SX626985

Managed by
  
Dartmoor Railway

2012/13
  
150

Number of platforms
  
1

Sampford Courtenay railway station

Address
  
Okehampton EX20 2SN, United Kingdom

Similar
  
Okehampton railway station, Yeoford railway station, King's Nympton railway st, Dartmoor Railway, Portsmouth Arms railway st

Sampford Courtenay railway station is a railway station at Belstone Corner serving the nearby village of Sampford Courtenay in Devon.

Contents

History

The station was originally opened by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) as Okehampton Road when it formed the terminus and it was renamed as Belstone Corner when the line was extended to Okehampton in 1871, and later renamed again as Sampford Courtenay. 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.

Bow, North Tawton, Sampford Courtenay and Okehampton lost their 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 survives to this day. It is now owned and operated by Aggregate Industries.

The station name is sometimes given as Sampford Courtney, but it is unclear as to whether it was ever officially spelt this way.

Reopening

The Dartmoor Railway reopened the former up side platform at the station in 2002. Heritage passenger services now operate from the station, running to Okehampton and Meldon Quarry. Four Summer Sundays only Dartmoor Rover services are operated by Great Western Railway from Exeter and also calls at the station. It is timetabled to link in with Dartmoor Rover bus services and Dartmoor Railway services at Okehampton.

Future options

The Dartmoor Railway proposes to restore the interchange at Yeoford Junction where its line meets Great Western Railway's Tarka Line. The company is looking to create a railhead at Okehampton which would serve local industry and thereby save 50,000 lorry journeys per year.

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

References

Sampford Courtenay railway station Wikipedia


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