Bordering Exmoor in the north Devon hills, the renascent Lynton & Barnstaple Railway is a narrow gauge line with big ambitions.
Opened in 1898, the independant Lynton & Barnstaple Railway winded over 19 miles, linking its titular towns via Blackmoor and Pilton. It lasted all of 37 years before closure under Southern Railway ownership in 1935, with distamantling being a swift affair. Of the 5 locomotives to see regular service on the L&B, four were built ready for the openning in 1898, and all followed a tradition of being named after local rivers with three letter names: "Yeo", "Exe", "Taw" and "Lyn". The fifth, built for the SR in 1925, followed suit with the name "Lew". When the line closed, the original quartet were scrapped at Pilton Yard, while "Lew" was used in dismantling the railway before being sold on; leaving the UK for South America, where it subsequently disappeared into the history books.
In 2004, after tireless work by the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway Trust, the station at Woody Bay reopened to the public, along with the current mile of track to Killington Lane. Plans to create a replica of scrapped Baldwin "Lyn" were completed in 2017, with the locomotive entering service on the L&B in the same year. The Trust, under the banner of the 762 Club, has now set itself the target of building replicas of all the 5 original locomotives - after "Lyn", efforts are now focused on "Yeo" and "Exe"; work has begun on constructing components. The wind firmly in their sails, the Trust also has plans to extend the line by 8 miles to operate between Lynton and Wistlandpound Resevoir. Much of the trackbed remains, and is largely owned by the Trust, with work already carried out to reinstate two bridges on the route.
Operating their standard timetable, the day saw 7 return services out of Woody Bay, as traction was provided by "Lyn". The Baldwin doing a sterling job tackling the steep gradient out of Killington Lane.
Locomotives:
Ex-L&BR Baldwin Class Replica - E762 "Lyn"
All footage filmed on Friday the 29th of July 2022.