This line began life as a 9 mile branch line from Totnes on the Exeter to Plymouth main line.  The branch ran from Totnes via Staverton and Buckfastleigh to the small town of Ashburton on the edge of Dartmoor.  It opened on 1st May 1872 as the Buckfastleigh, Totnes and South Devon Railway, built to the Great Western broad gauge standard.  Like many rural branch lines, the BT & SDR struggled financially, and in 1897 the line was taken over by the Great Western.  The line continued into British Railways days, but with falling traffic, the line closed to passengers in 1958, with freight services hanging on until 1962.

A group of businessmen announced in 1962 that they wished to reopen the line as a commercial venture with funds coming from business rather than the general public. There were many years of negotiations before it was officially opened on 21 May 1969.  Unfortunately the building of the new A38 trunk road severed the track bed north of Buckfastleigh, which meant it would no longer be possible to re-instate the Buckfastleigh to Ashburton section.  So Buckfastleigh became the terminus and headquarters of the railway.  Difficulties in getting access to Totnes station encouraged the volunteers to build their own station at Littlehempston. A footbridge over the River Dart connects to the main line which is only ten minutes walk away.

The heritage line runs between Totnes Littlehempston and Buckfastleigh, a distance of nearly 7 miles.  

These photographs were taken on Sunday 2nd November 2014.