web: www.paignton-steamrailway.co.uk
You can board the steam train here at Goodrington Sands Beach for a really spectacular journey along the coast to Dartmouth.
Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway from Paignton is the holiday line with steam trains running for seven miles in Great Western tradition along the spectacular Torbay coast to Goodrington, then Churston and through the wooded slopes bordering the Dart estuary to Kingswear.
The scenery is superb, with seascapes right across Lyme Bay to Portland Bill on clear days. Approaching Kingswear is the beautiful River Dart, with its fascinating craft, and on the far side, the olde worlde town of Dartmouth and the famous Britannia Royal Naval College, Butterwalk, Bayards Cove and Dartmouth Castle.
The Paignton & Dartmouth Steam Railway operates from Paignton to Kingswear along the former Dartmouth and Torbay Railway line. It is a standard gauge railway operated as a tourist attraction.
Starting adjacent to Paignton main line station, the steam railway runs for about 7 miles. The first half of the journey (from Paignton to Churston) is up-hill along the rocky Devon coastline. You can board the train here at Goodrington before the line crosses Broadsands Viaduct, and the larger Hookhills Viaduct before reaching its summit at Churston. From Churston the line turns inland, cuts through Greenway Tunnel, descending along the Dart valley until it reaches Kingswear. From Kingswear, passengers can cross the Dart to the old town of Dartmouth by ferry.
Dartmouth Station is unique in that it has never seen a train. In GWR days, passengers would arrive at the station by means of the ferry from Kingswear. The line was originally laid to Brunel's broad gauge, but was converted to standard gauge in May 1892.