Portsmouth Arms railway station is a small wayside station in

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 ...

. It is in the parish of Burrington but remote from any village so is named after the nearby 'Portsmouth Arms' pub. It is on the

Tarka Line The Tarka Line, also known as the North Devon Line, is a local railway line in Devon, England, linking the city of Exeter with the town of Barnstaple via a number of local villages, operated by Great Western Railway (GWR). The line opened in 18 ...

to , from at milepost 200.5 from .

History

The 4th Earl of Portsmouth built the

turnpike Turnpike often refers to: * A type of gate, another word for a turnstile * In the United States, a toll road Turnpike may also refer to: Roads United Kingdom * A turnpike road, a principal road maintained by a turnpike trust, a body with powe ...

between Exeter and Barnstaple and was later a supporter of proposals for a railway along the same route. A pub was built in the Taw valley and named in his honour. It was at this spot that the

North Devon Railway The North Devon Railway was a railway company which operated a line from Cowley Bridge Junction, near Exeter, to Bideford in Devon, England, later becoming part of the London and South Western Railway's system. Originally planned as a broad gaug ...

opened a station in September 1855, more than a year after it started running trains through the site. It had a small passing loop and a single long siding at the south end for goods traffic. The passenger facilities were in a building on the northbound platform while the southbound platform had a waiting shelter and a goods store. A house for the station master was added later and a

signal box In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The '' IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing' ...

was opened on 1 October 1873. The goods yard was closed on 3 July 1961 and the siding removed in 1963. The signal box remained in use until 3 April 1966. In 2006 ''Formosa'', a

Pullman car In the United States, Pullman was used to refer to railroad sleeping cars that were built and operated on most U.S. railroads by the Pullman Company (founded by George Pullman) from 1867 to December 31, 1968. Other uses Pullman also refers to ra ...

built in 1921, was placed behind the platform to be restored.

Description

The station has a single platform on the west side of the line, adjacent to the A377 road. The old station house is now in private use but there is a waiting shelter on the platform. There is a bike rack but no car parking.

Services

All services at Portsmouth Arms are operated by

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

. Only a limited number of trains (four or five each way Sundays but more on other days) between and call at Portsmouth Arms and this is only on request to the conductor or by signalling the driver as it approaches.

Community railway

The railway between Exeter and Barnstaple is designated as a

community railway Community rail in Britain is the support of railway lines and stations by local organisations, usually through community rail partnerships (CRPs) comprising railway operators, local councils, and other community organisations, and rail user group ...

and is supported by marketing provided by the

Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership The Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership is the largest Community Rail Partnership in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1991 to promote the use of, and improvements to, rural railways in Devon and Cornwall, and also to promote the places serv ...

. The line is promoted as the

References

{{Devon railway stations Railway stations in Devon Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1855 Former London and South Western Railway stations Railway stations served by Great Western Railway Railway request stops in Great Britain DfT Category F2 stations