The Bicton Woodland Railway is a narrow-gauge railway running in Bicton Park Botanical Gardens in the grounds of

Bicton House Bicton House, or Bickton House, is a late 18th- or early 19th-century country house, which stands on the campus of Bicton College, Bicton, near Exmouth, East Devon. It is a Grade II* listed building. The park and gardens are Grade I listed i ...

near

Budleigh Salterton Budleigh Salterton is a seaside town on the coast in East Devon, England, south-east of Exeter. It lies within the East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and forms much of the electoral ward of Budleigh, whose ward population at t ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

. The line was built in 1962 as a tourist attraction for visitors to the house. Most of the rolling stock was acquired from the

Royal Arsenal Railway The Royal Arsenal Railway was a private military railway which operated inside the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, southeast London. Introduction The earliest parts of this railway system proper were constructed to standard gauge from 1859 onwards to r ...

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained thr ...

, with two locomotives, ''Woolwich'' and ''Carnegie'' coming from that source, as well as seven goods wagons which were reduced to their frames and converted to passenger carriages. It opened to passengers in 1963. Originally locomotives and carriages had

royal blue Royal blue is a deep and vivid shade of blue. It is said to have been created by clothiers in Rode, Somerset, a consortium of whom won a competition to make a dress for Queen Charlotte, consort of King George III. Brightness The ''Oxford E ...

livery. Additional

rolling stock The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles can ...

was acquired from the

RAF Fauld Royal Air Force Fauld is a former Royal Air Force underground munitions storage depot located south west of Tutbury, Staffordshire and north east of Rugeley, Staffordshire, England. The site was controlled by No. 21 Maintenance Unit RAF wh ...

railway and the internal railway of the

LNWR The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the L ...

Wolverton works. In 1998, the Bicton Gardens were put up for sale and the railway put into hiatus. The new owners sold the line's existing stock, and in 2000 took delivery of a 5.5-tonne diesel-powered replica tank engine. The line's original equipment was purchased by the

Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills The Royal Gunpowder Mills are a former industrial site in Waltham Abbey, England. It was one of three Royal Gunpowder Mills in the United Kingdom (the others being at Ballincollig and Faversham). Waltham Abbey is the only site to have survive ...

museum at

Waltham Abbey Waltham Abbey is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex, within the metropolitan and urban area of London, England, north-east of Charing Cross. It lies on the Greenwich Meridian, between the River Lea in the west and ...

Locomotives

References

External links

Bicton Woodland Railway
{{coord, 50.66735, N, 3.3196, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title, format=dms 18 in gauge railways in England Tourist attractions in Devon

Locomotives

See also

References

External links