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The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway. On Wednesday 9th April 2014, the club's Chairman, Mark Jones, organised a visit to many sites of interest on the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway, which is being rebuilt gradually from its new base at Woody Bay. We must emphasise that these sites are privately owned and, apart from the station at Woody Bay, are not open to the public; our visits on this occasion were by prior arrangement with the landowners, including the railway. However, we hope that visitors to our site will enjoy seeing what has become of this iconic line; it's nice for us to be able to feature some real locomotives on a real railway!

Above: A general view of the delightful cottage style station at Lynton, with many railway ramblers in attendance; the property is now a private home. When the L&BR returns to Lynton from Woody Bay, it intends not to use this station but to build a new one, closer to the town. After all, the inconvenient location of this terminus was a factor in the original railway's closure. 9th April 2014. (Jeff Vinter)
 
Above: It is good to see Lynton station still sporting green paint in the former Southern Railway's distinctive shade. We are not sure if the 'Private Road' notice is in its original position; if it is, then the railway was being particularly zealous because the 'road' is barely long enough to park a couple of modern cars! 9th April 2014. (Jeff Vinter)
 
Above: The running-in board at Woody Bay station. In a stunning display of amnesia, the club's webmaster took few photographs of Woody Bay on this occasion, thinking that he had plenty of images taken on a prior visit, stored safely at home on a spare memory card. In fact, on that previous occasion, he had left his camera at home. Duh! 9th April 2014. (Jeff Vinter)
 
Above: 'Isaac' cautiously approaches the waiting carriages in Woody Bay station before hauling a service train to Killington Lane Halt, the current terminus of the line. This 2 ft. gauge locomotive (Bagnall No. 3023) was built in 1953 at a cost of £5,540 as an 0-4-2T, one of four constructed for the South African Rustenberg Platinum Mine; it became redundant when the mine company altered its gauge to 3' 6". The locomotive arrived at Gelert's Farm Works on the Welsh Highland Railway in April 1982 but, although restoration was begun then, it was not finished due to lack of resources. A private purchase in 2007 saw the locomotive move to Wakefield for further work, before it moved again in June 2012 to Boston Lodge Works where the restoration was finally completed. 'Isaac' arrived at Woody Bay on 29th November 2013. 9th April 2014. (Jeff Vinter)
 
Left: Luxury you can afford! At a time when some train operating companies in the UK have either withdrawn first class accommodation altogether, or make so feeble a job of it that a first class ticket isn't worth buying, it is reassuring to discover that the modern Lynton & Barnstaple Railway does the job properly. 9th April 2014. (Jeff Vinter)
 
Above: 0-4-0 Kerr Stuart locomotive 'Axe' (No. 2451) dates from 1915 and has side and well tanks. It is owned jointly by all the members of the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway Trust and is the mainstay of passenger services on the modern L&BR. 9th April 2014. (Rob Davidson)
 
Above: 'Isaac' resting between passenger turns by the coaling stage just outside Woody Bay locomotive shed, which members visited as the final stage of their visit. 9th April 2014. (Rob Davidson)
 
Above: Baguley diesel mechanical locomotive no. 2393 seen on shed at Woody Bay is now known as 'Pilton'. Originally built in 1952, this engine has had an eventful life, having been exported to Queensland, Australia, and later acquired by the Illawarra Light Railway Museum Society at Albion Park in New South Wales. It was purchased by the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway Trust in 2001 and completely rebuilt at the Statfold Barn Railway in Tamworth, Staffs. 9th April 2014. (Rob Davidson)
 
Above: Our final photograph of the modern L&BR's locomotive fleet depicts 'Heddon Hall', whose once shiny black paint appears to have oxidised somewhat on the heights of Exmoor (just compare this with the picture above). This is Hunslet locomotive No. D6660, built as recently as 1965 for the once extensive narrow gauge network at Dean Hill Royal Naval Armaments Depot (RNAD) south of Dean on the still operational Salisbury-Southampton line. The Dean Hill establishment was closed in 2003, after which D6660 was sold to Roger Craven of Essex before being acquired by the L&BR in August 2005. It then received a major overhaul, including re-gauging, before entering service as 'Heddon Hall' at the end of that year. 9th April 2014. (Rob Davidson)