Heritage Open Days and Behind the Scenes - South Devon Railway

The South Devon Railway is taking part in this year’s Heritage Open Days event. This will be part of the railway’s Heritage Transport Weekend on 13/14 September, when there will be a variety of train services in operation, including demonstration goods trains. A large number of vintage vehicles will be on display at Buckfastleigh.

This year we are again offering “Behind the Scenes” visits to parts of the railway that are not usually seen by the public. These include the original signal box at Buckfastleigh, our engineering works at Buckfastleigh, and Permanent Way (track) plant and machinery at Staverton. We will even be offering guided tours of Ashburton station, which you can reach by travelling on the SDR’s London Transport Routemaster from Buckfastleigh station.

If you ever wanted to find out what happens to make a railway work, or better still, want to join in – do come along. And yes, we do need people to help in our museum - with stewarding, cataloguing, conservation and display – we look forward to seeing you.

Interested visitors can turn up at any of the stations – Buckfastleigh, Staverton or Totnes Littlehempston. Volunteers at each station will be pleased to show them what is happening there.

At Buckfastleigh stewards will be based in the forecourt, in front of the main station building. They will be able to direct visitors to all of the various attractions, including the “Behind the Scenes” events. At Buckfastleigh they will include:

SDRT Museum education, at our new Archive centre

Original signal box: open continuously both days 10.00 to 4.00pm. Try your hand at signalling!

SDR Engineering: behind the scenes in our workshops

Parks & Gardens: guided tours of our extensive gardens.

Guided tours of the SDR Miniature Railway’s workshops

Visits to at the cabs of our single-unit diesel railcar

At Staverton the Permanent Way depot will be open continuously between 10.00am and 4.00pm on both days. Members of the public can access the yard via the gate behind the lamp hut. A varied selection of PW on-track machinery and plant will be on display, including the tamper, road-railer, TRAMM, Wickham trolleys and diesel shunters. It is hoped to have PW personnel on site for some of the event and, where possible, members of the public will be able to visit the cabs of both the tamper and TRAMM under supervision. It is also hoped to have demonstration runs with a Wickham trolley throughout the day on Sunday.

There is no charge for any of the “Behind the Scenes” events, but normal train fares and entry to Totnes Rare Breeds Farm and Dartmoor Otters & Buckfast Butterflies will apply. Become an SDR Association member and get members’ discounts, of course!

For those travelling by car there is ample free parking at Buckfastleigh, just follow the “brown” signs from the A38 to the station.

For those travelling by train First Great Western can provide through tickets from local stations to the SDR via Totnes main line station. Passengers have to transfer between the railways by walking along the footpath at Totnes station (approximately 450 metres). Please note that the through tickets are also available from the local First Great Western guards as an “add on” to the normal Totnes railway ticket.

By bus, Stagecoach’s Plymouth Gold stops at the main line station approach, while the Dartmouth Gold calls in to the station itself. Stagecoach services X38 and 88 serve the station approach at Buckfastleigh.

Come back to this page again nearer the time for an update on the events available – and of course, if you would like to get involved with volunteering on the railway, come along and join on the day!

You can join South Devon Railway trains at Totnes Littlehempston, Staverton and Buckfastleigh stations. Totnes is a quarter mile walk from the main line station, and there is plenty of free parking at Buckfastleigh.