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Fireworks Championship Tickets Now Available

Experience the British Fireworks Championships with all the fun of the fair and music on Plymouth Hoe this summer with our Routemaster bus excursion from Ashburton, Buckfastleigh and Ivybridge. This excursion was very popular last year so please book early!

Arrive in time to enjoy all the pre-show entertainment and firework display at Plymouth.

Departure times:- The bus will stop at Ashburton Bull Ring 18.30 (westbound) Buckfastleigh Railway Station Forecourt 18.45 and St Leonards Road in Ivybridge 19.15 (next to the BP Station). Free car parking is available at Buckfastleigh Railway Station.

Return time:- 10.45pm from Royal Parade, Plymouth.

Return bus fare from Ashburton or Buckfastleigh is £14 per person (£11 child) and from Ivybridge is £10 per person (£8.00 child)

You can book online or by phone, 01364 644 370.

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Weather Conditions

We are running trains again from Tuesday 20 March as planned. Thank you to everyone for your patience.

If you have pre-booked tickets for Monday (or Sunday, and were unable to use them) then you are very welcome to re-book for another day, or have a refund. Please contact our office on 01364 644 370 and we will be pleased to make the appropriate arrangements.

** UPDATE 1700 18/03/18 **

Well done and thank you to all our staff who put in a huge effort to run trains today.

Due to the continued poor conditions and weather warnings we will not be operating any services on Monday 19 March. This is to allow our staff time to get home and recover, to allow to put our equipment back in order from today.

If you have pre-booked tickets for Monday (or today, and were unable to use them) then you are very welcome to re-book for another day, or have a refund. Please contact our office on 01364 644 370 from 11am Monday onwards and we will be pleased to make the appropriate arrangements.

Once again, thank you to everyone who pulled together today to enable us to run trains.

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SDR 2019 Logo Required!

A logo is required for the branch to use to celebrate its 50th anniversary! The logo will be used in place of the normal SDR logo on all publicity and printed materials throughout 2019.

Several people around the railway have put their thinking caps on to see what they can come up with as a design, and as so many people are now interested, we thought it would be a good idea to open it to everyone!

This is a really very rare opportunity to make your mark on a significant heritage railway anniversary year – a year which, from the suggestions received so far into what a celebration gala should contain, looks like it will be one of the biggest SDR events ever!

Designs submitted can make use of the SDR splasher logo or the SDR shirtbutton roundel if desired. The logo should ideally make the ’50’ or ‘fiftieth’ prominent.

Other symbols etc representing the branch or the SDR are also welcome.

The logo needs to be clear, easy-to-recognise, and present a positive image of the SDR.

Expensive clever computer software is not required, as the chosen logo will be sent to a design company to be professionally made up in any case. Submissions of design concepts are welcome, or paper hand-drawn designs, or computer designs too.

There is no limit to the number of designs a person may submit, and this is open to everyone, both internally and externally to the SDR.

If you would like to submit one or more designs, please send these to Danny Scroggins by the end of March. The logo design chosen will be announced later in the year.

Small print: Please note that, by submitting a design, you are donating that design, including copyright, to the SDRT. The SDR may use it in any way, without limitation on use or time. The author of the logo will be acknowledged when the chosen design is announced, but not credited on each specific use of it.

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SDR Sunday Lunch and Afternoon Tea

Join one of our popular Dining Trains from Buckfastleigh station and enjoy a traditional Sunday Lunch or Afternoon Tea.

Dining Trains are running on certain Sundays throughout the year – for more information, see our Dining Trains page.

You can enjoy a traditional three course Sunday Lunch aboard the 12.15 train from Buckfastleigh. Passengers will be served a traditional Soup, followed by a Roast Lunch with choice of meat (or Vegetarian option if booked in advance), and finished off with a choice of Dessert. Tea and Coffee will be served after the meal and an at-seat bar service will be in operation serving alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. View the full Sunday Lunch menu.

Or, you can join the Restaurant Car from Buckfastleigh at 15.45 for a traditional Afternoon Tea of Sandwiches, Savories, Cakes and a Cream Tea served to your seat. The Experience lasts for 1½ hours and is the ideal way to indulge in traditional West Country delicacies whilst enjoying the beautiful Devon scenery. View the full Afternoon Tea menu.

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Education Volunteers

Every year we welcome hundreds of school children to the SDR.

They come to find out about railway history in particular the role of the train in World War Two and the characters involved in building the tracks and bridges in Victorian times.

School visits are also an important part of our business as they bring revenue directly to the railway and the children are important ambassadors persuading parents, families and friends to come and see us in the future.

Typically children from Devon’s primary schools visit us for a day which includes talks and practical sessions along with a train ride. These visits take place mid-week in April, May, June, September and October.

We’are looking for other volunteers to join us to put the 2018 programme together and deliver it. Could you talk to a group of 7 year olds about Brunel? Could you help tell them what it was like to be an evacuee or how rationing worked? Have you got any wartime memorabilia you’d be prepared to demonstrate and let the children try out?

If you’d like to help please get in touch!

Thank you

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Snow Update

Please bear with us during this period of snow as many of our staff are unable to come to work.

We will answer outstanding messages, emails and answerphone messages when normal working resumes.

Our cafe staff are doing their best to open but may not be able to open every day.


Station Cat Oscar remains on duty throughout!

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2019 – Golden Anniversary Year

2019 is the 50th anniversary of the re-opening of the Ashburton Branch – and we are sure everyone would like to see a big celebration of that golden anniversary in 2019!

We are starting to plan the 2019 operating season now, and would be keen to hear views and ideas of how to celebrate the 50th anniversary year.

There are many ways in which the celebrations could take place – various galas, engines, timetables, methods of working, off-railway events, activities, etc.

So let us know your ideas by contacting us via any of the usual methods.

Although we can’t promise to do everything, we think everyone will share the SDR appetite and aspiration to do something really memorable.

Everything is ‘up for grabs’, so see what the most exciting thing you can come up with is to put the SDR’s 50th anniversary well-and-truly on the railway preservation calendar!