Devon Railway Centre
The Devon Railway Centre is a small railway visitor attraction at Bickleigh in mid-Devon, on the trackbed of the former GWR Exe Valley line that ran from Stoke Canon (north of Exeter) to Tiverton via Brampford Speke and Bickleigh. The line closed in 1963 and the present centre opened in the 1990s as a small heritage operation combining a railway museum with two passenger-carrying lines of different gauges.
The site features a 7¼-inch gauge miniature railway and a 2-foot narrow-gauge line, both giving rides through the former Bickleigh station site, plus a railway museum housed in the original station building. There is also a model railway and various working signal equipment.
History
The site occupies the buildings of the former Bickleigh station, which closed in 1963 with the rest of the GWR Exe Valley line. The Centre opened in the 1990s as a small visitor attraction, with the miniature railway as its principal operational feature.
Original line history
The Exe Valley Railway was opened by the GWR in 1885 as a rural branch from Stoke Canon to Tiverton, joining the Tiverton branch from Tiverton Junction at Tiverton. It was a typical late-Victorian rural line, single-track, with traffic dominated by milk and agricultural produce. Passenger services were withdrawn in 1963 and the line closed.
Stations and infrastructure
The Centre is centred on the original GWR Bickleigh station building, now restored as a museum. The miniature and narrow-gauge lines run on landscaped formations alongside the original platform.
Route and stations
Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors
Special events and operations
The site operates weekends and school holidays; family events include Easter and Christmas specials.
Visitor information
Bickleigh is on the A396 north of Exeter; the Centre is signposted from the village. There is no public transport access.