2019 is a big year for the SDR. Some big plans are afoot which SDR staff will be meeting tonight to discuss. Watch this space for exciting news over the coming days and weeks!
Spring Sale Extended!
Book your ticket online and enjoy a steam train ride along the Dart Valley from 9 April at a reduced fare. A limited number of discounted adult, senior and child round trip tickets are available through our ticket website. Enter the discount code “spring” at the checkout to obtain this offer. (This offer is not available for travel on Sundays and only applied to round trip tickets booked through our website. Family tickets excluded.)
Take a typical GWR branch line trip on Saturday 21 April when you board one of our “auto trains”. These carriages have extra windows and a driving compartment at one end. Get a great view of the delightful Dart Valley and relive train travel from the 1950s. You’ll be able to see how trains were operated on branch lines when the steam engine driver operated his locomotive using specially designed controls fitted in the passenger carriages.
For all lovers of Diesel locomotives, one of our classic collection will be hauling trains on Saturday 28 April alongside a traditional GWR steam engines. We’ll have two trains running from 10am. Park for free at Buckfastleigh and travel to Totnes enjoying the roar and the power of the locomotives brought into replace steam in the early 1960s. Take a more traditional trip back along the Dart Valley by steam later in the day after lunch. Why not try some of the great tea shops and restaurants in trendy Totnes or even take the half hour walk to Dartington?
Stop press: We have just added five more chances for you to drive a steam or diesel train on the South Devon Railway. Check out our website and book your trip today. Great for that special occasion.
Welcome to the SDR!
Thank you and WELCOME! to everyone who attended our New Volunteers’ Induction session today. We hope you all enjoy working on the SDR.
If you might be interested in joining our team and keeping steam alive in the Dart Valley then please get in touch!
Our next New Volunteer Induction Day is on Sunday 22 April. If you have ever wondered what it would be like to work as part of a fantastic team such as that which keeps the SDR running, there’s never been a better time to find out!
Everyone is welcome, from all backgrounds and levels of experience – there are roles for everyone from the hardcore railway enthusiast to the person who doesn’t know anything about railways at all!
Come and join us!
New Steam and Diesel Footplate Experience Days Added!
Following the near sell-out of our Driver Experience days for both steam and diesel trains, we are delighted to announce that some additional
dates have now been added!
Additional dates added:
9 June – Steam
24 June – Diesel
14 July – Steam
4 August – Diesel
18 August – Steam
See our Drive a Train pages for more information, and book soon to avoid disappointment as we expect these to sell out too!
Spring Sale
Tickets for our Spring Sale are still available!
£1 off adults and senior tickets, 50p off child fares.
Go online and book now.
Use discount code SPRING4 for 4th, SPRING5 for 5th, SPRING6 for 6th, etc. There is limited availability so book soon.
The Spring Sale applies to online sales only and ends on Saturday 7th April.
Sunday Lunch Launch Success
We launched our first South Devon Limited Sunday Lunch services and Afternoon Tea services last Sunday – The feedback from these services has been fantastic! Check out this link from Devon Live
Tickets can be purchased online for certain dates throughout the year.
Ticket To Ride – 1960s Weekend
15-17 June 2018
Get your ticket and take a ride back to the 1960s; a Magical Mystery Tour of groovy music, psychedelic fashion, and a radical real ale festival that will give you the Hippy Hippy shakes! We would love to see you in fab sixties gear!
There will be entertainment throughout the weekend on the stage in the event field at Buckfastleigh, plus a bar and live music, vintage road vehicles, trade stands, and, of course, plenty of heritage steam and diesel trains throughout the day, and into the evenings on Friday and Saturday!
Admission
Tickets are normal prices all weekend, and can be purchased on the day or, purchased online in advance. Round trip tickets are valid for unlimited travel all day.
Entry to the event field at Buckfastleigh is FREE for holders of round-trip rail tickets. ‘Event field only’ tickets are also available (on the day only) £6 adults and £3 children.
In addition, we are delighted to be able to offer an additional special evening deal for those wishing to only attend the music entertainment and travel there by train. A special evening ticket valid on trains from 5.30pm onwards and giving access to the event field – £10 for adults and £6 for children – ideal for travelling to the music entertainment by train from your home station to Totnes, and then to Buckfastleigh by the SDR. This evening deal is bookable online in advance only.
See the action-packed programme of events below!
Programme
| Friday | |
| From 10am | Steam and diesel trains run all day from 10am |
| 4pm | Bar opens |
| 7.30pm | The Fab Beatles on stage |
| 10pm | Music finishes |
| Saturday | |
| 10am | Event opens |
| From 10am | Steam and diesel trains run all day from 10am |
| 10am | Breakfast radio show |
| 11am | Bar opens |
| 12 noon | Children’s Hour on stage |
| 2pm-4pm | Nick Fish, Live Chat interactive radio show on stage |
| 4pm-7pm | Radio station request show |
| 7.30pm-10pm | The Zoots – Sounds of the 60s show |
| 10pm | Music finishes |
| Sunday | |
| 10am | Event opens |
| From 10am | Steam and diesel trains run all day from 10am |
| 10am | Breakfast radio show |
| 11am | Bar opens |
| 12 noon | Children’s Hour on stage |
| 2pm-4pm | ‘Go Tell Alice’, local music group performing 60s hits on stage |
| 4pm | Wind-down music |
| 5pm | Close |
Rail Timetable – Daytime
Photographers and enthusiasts may prefer to view our Working Timetable.
Rail Timetable – Evenings
These trains operate on Friday and Saturday evenings only.
Photographers and enthusiasts may prefer to view our Working Timetable.
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.
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.
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.