STROUD TO SWINDON LINE Steam Railway History NEW Rail Services Locomotives

For a brief period in the second half of the 19th century, the tiny West Somerset port and town of Watchet became one of the most important places in the county. The harbour provided an outlet to South Wales for iron ore mined on the nearby Brendon Hills and two separate railways were built to the town. The first was standard gauge, did not connect to any other line and was built mainly to bring the ore down to the coast. Shortly after it opened in 1861, construction of a second line commenced, a broad gauge branch to Watchet from the Bristol & Exeter Railway\u2019s main line at Taunton. Opened in 1864, it was built for both passengers and freight, and was a success from the start. In 1874, the station at Watchet ceased to be a terminus when the extension to Minehead was opened, whilst the broad gauge era came to an end in 1882, when the line was narrowed to the standard gauge. We are fortunate that, throughout this period, from the beginning of construction of the broad gauge ra.