page_title: Newton Abbot
section_title: The railway
hierarchical_section_title: Newton Abbot / History / The railway
caption_attribution_description: English: Newton Abbot railway station, Devon, England.
context_page_description: Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parish on the River Teign in the Teignbridge District of Devon, England, with a population of 25,556. It grew rapidly in the Victorian era as the home of the South Devon Railway locomotive works. This later became a major steam engine shed, retained to service British Railways diesel locomotives until 1981. It now houses the Brunel industrial estate. The town has a race course nearby, the most westerly in England, and a country park, Decoy. It is twinned with Besigheim in Germany and Ay in France.
context_section_description: Newton Abbot railway station stands at the east end of Queen Street. It provides both local and long-distance train services.
  The South Devon railway reached Newton Abbot in 1846, and changed it from simply a market town with associated trades (leather and wool) into an industrial base. The South Devon Railway Company opened the station on 30 December 1846. A branch to Torquay was added on 18 December 1848, and one to Moretonhampstead on 26 June 1866, although the latter has since closed to passengers. Isambard Kingdom Brunel used the Teignmouth/Newton Abbot section to experiment with his atmospheric railway. The experiment failed, but the remains of Brunel's pumping house survive at Starcross and the old Dairy Crest milk processing factory in Totnes.
  In 1876 the Great Western Railway bought up the railways and developed the repair and maintenance sheds into a substantial works that employed over 600 people to start with and by 1930 over 1,000 men. Extensive sidings were also built making a large marshalling yard. The present station was rebuilt to its current form in 1927 to designs by Chief GWR Architect P. E. Culverhouse. The large clock was a gift from the people of the town.
  During the late 1980s, the number of passengers platforms was reduced from around nine down to five, only three of which still see use by scheduled trains. The remaining platforms were shortened on the southern side and the number of lines reduced to make way for a new station car park. The South Devon Railway Engineering works was decommissioned and replaced by Brunel Industrial Estate. Of the two buildings that survived into the 21st century, only one remains intact, as the old sheds burned down on 21 October 2018.
  Many other industries were set up beside the railway station, including a timber yard, iron and brass foundries, and an engineering works. Newton Abbot power station was built adjacent to the line on the Moretonhampstead branch. The town's population increased from 1,623 in 1801 to 12,518 by 1901. Terraced streets were built to house the workers and attractive villas sprang up around the town for the wealthier.
caption: Newton Abbot railway station
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