South Devon Railway

The South Devon Railway is one of Devon’s and the West Country’s best loved tourist attractions and is the longest established steam railway in the south west.

It is a seven mile former Great Western Railway branch line, built in 1872, which runs along the stunning valley of the River Dart between Buckfastleigh and Totnes. We run steam trains with heritage rolling stock and offer a wonderful all day attraction for families and people of all ages.

Ride the South Devon Railway and, while you are with us, you can visit the Totnes Rare Breeds Farm and Dartmoor Otters & Buckfast Butterflies. The museum itself is on the platform at Buckfastleigh station.

Tiny is the only broad gauge locomotive still in existence. It is the centre piece of our collection.

We also have images of some paintings made for the original South Devon Railway around 1848, showing the atmospheric and broad gauge railway.

We encourage children (of all ages!) to go on the footplate of our small blue tank engine, Ashley. It spent its working life at Exeter Gas Works. 

We try to show what the railway did in the old days, from carrying bales of wool, to dining in First Class with real silverware. We've even got a collection of model trains through the years.

Ashley the Small Blue Tank Engine

Ashley spent his working life at Exeter Gas Works, and yes - it really was blue! It came to the South Devon in 1969 and was restored to working order. Shunted into the museum in 2010 he now does a great job telling people how to drive a steam engine.