Back to Dart Valley days at ‘Totnes Riverside’

Ashburton Junction signal box stands resurrected outside the soon-to-be Totnes Riverside station on the South Devon Railway. Credit: SDR


The South Devon Railway’s southern terminus at Totnes Littlehempston is to be renamed ‘Totnes Riverside’ from the start of the 2017 season - in a reversion to the title it bore during the Dart Valley Railway era.

The ‘new’ name - with the suffix ‘for Town and Main Line’ - has been approved by the SDR Trust board in response to a suggestion by the railway’s ‘Totnes Group’.

Another new name came into use at the station on May 21, with the commissioning of its signal box - consisting of the wooden top half from Cradley Heath, on a new-build brick base. It is titled ‘Ashburton Junction’, after the ’box that controlled the main line connection from the branch’s opening in 1872 until 1933.

First started in the mid-1990s, the Totnes signalling project allows the Train Staff & Ticket method of working to be dispensed with between Bishops Bridge (Staverton) and Totnes, in favour of the more flexible Electric Key Token system.

The next step will be the erection of a bracket starting signal near the platform end, and realignment of the track layout at the station throat to permit the foot crossing to the Rare Breeds Farm to be operated directly from the signal box.

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