Present-Day
Visitors can explore: The fully restored Victorian station building, A replica LSWR signal box (built in 1992), a café housed in a Mk 1 coach and short demonstration train rides on a restored diesel shunter.
Preservation and Restoration
Enthusiasts first gathered in 1988, forming what became the Bideford Railway Heritage Centre CIC in 2006. A Planet diesel locomotive arrived in 2000, and first public heritage train rides began on 14 August 2004.
History of Bideford Railway Heritage Centre
The line began as the Bideford Extension Railway, opened on 2 November 1855, extending the North Devon Railway from Barnstaple through Fremington and Instow to Bideford. In 1872, it extended further to Torrington, prompting the construction of the new Bideford station that survives today. Originally part of the LSWR and later the Southern Railway, it carried passengers and freight, including clay, until passenger services ended in 1965, with freight continuing until 1982