page_title: North Tawton railway station
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: North Tawton railway station / History
caption_attribution_description: North Tawton railway station, Devon
context_page_description: North Tawton railway station was a railway station serving the town of North Tawton in Devon, England. North Tawton lies on the River Taw.
context_section_description: The station was originally opened by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) in 1865. Services on the line were extended further west to Okehampton Road by 1867 and then on to Lydford railway station with the inauguration of Meldon Viaduct in 1874. Constructed to rival the South Devon Railway route to Plymouth, the completion of the LSWR's own route to Plymouth saw this line become an important route with lines to Padstow and Bude as well as Plymouth. Boat trains carrying passengers from ocean liners calling at Stonehouse Pool, Plymouth and prestige services such as the Atlantic Coast Express and Devon Belle all used the route.
  Following the publication of the Beeching Report in 1963, the Exeter to Plymouth Line was cut back to Okehampton in 1968.
  North Tawton, Bow, Sampford Courtenay and Okehampton lost their regular passenger services from 1972. The line survived, however, for the purposes of freight thanks to the activities of the British Rail ballast quarry at Meldon, three miles from Okehampton, which had an output of 300,000 tons per year. The quarry survived until the 2000s, operated by Aggregate Industries.
caption: North Tawton station in 1970.
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