The stretch of the Great Western Railway from Powderham, through Starcross and on to Newton Abbot, is the most scenic on what railway enthusiasts dub 'God's Wonderful Railway'.
In
1846, when it was extended from Exeter, the first trains were steam
trains. Isambard Kingdom Brunel oversaw the project to propel the trains
from Exeter to Totnes with an innovative atmospheric system, invented
by the Samuda brothers. There were 14 engine houses. Only the Starcross
engine house has been preserved.
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| The Brunel Tower from the estuary. 2014 Steve Nosworthy |
There is a piece of the atmospheric pipe in the Great Western room at the Newton Abbot Town and Great Western Railway Museum.
Until
the First World War, a forest of oak stretched from Starcross to
Haldon. The oak was cut down to make props for the trenches. A branch
line brought the oak from Haldon.
Starcross railway station used to have a roof across the tracks, and buildings on both sides of the track.
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