IT was 150 years ago on Sunday, November 1, 1865 that the railway arrived at Bow and North Tawton and to celebrate the occasion the Dartmoor Railway is celebrating with a very special event by running trains from Okehampton to Coleford Junction (near Yeoford) and these services will be stopping at North Tawton and Bow.

The Okehampton Railway was authorised on July 17, 1862. The company was renamed as the Devon and Cornwall Railway in 1864 and the line was built in stages with trains reaching Sampford Courtenay (later renamed Okehampton Road and later Belstone Corner) in 1867.

The rest of the line to Okehampton took longer to build. Train services began to Okehampton on October 3, 1871 and the Devon and Cornwall Railway became part of the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) a year later in 1872.

The line itself was part of a longer line which was eventually to link Exeter Queen Street (which many years later was renamed Exeter Central) with Plymouth Friary and back along to Waterloo via Honiton and Salisbury. The line was originally operated by the LSWR which was later to become part of the Southern Railway.

The line has few major engineering features and is straight for much of the run from Bow to North Tawton. Like every railway there are many bridges, culverts, cuttings and stations all of which had to be maintained once they were built.

The railway took a long time to build and this 150th anniversary celebration, which is taking place to recognise the railway reaching Bow and North Tawton, will be added to in a few year’s time.

The line was eventually extended to Meldon Viaduct, the current terminus of the line, in 1874. At Meldon the Southern Railway (and later the Southern Region of British Railways) used stone from Meldon as ballast across the region. Meldon stone (hornfels) was known for its lasting qualities and it was prized across the network.

Due to increasing competition the quarry was mothballed in 2011 but the legacy that the quarry has left is the line that we now call the Dartmoor Railway.

The railway has changed much through the years but it is still possible to travel the old Southern way into Devon.

With the changes in the railway landscape in the 1960s and the 1970s the line was to close to passenger traffic in June 1972 at which time the stations were also closed.

The station buildings at North Tawton have been converted into flats and the station building at Bow is being sympathetically built into a family home, keeping many of the old features of the original station.

It is at Bow that these celebrations will be concentrated as that is one of the stations which remains of the original group of stations built along the line.

Sunday’s round trip journey is about 25 miles. Trains depart Okehampton at 10am, 12 noon and 2.30pm.

Every passenger will be given a commemorative leaflet detailing the history of the railway line from its beginning to closure in June 1972.

Tickets are priced at £10 adults, £7.50 senior citizens, £5 children and £20 for a family of two adults and two children.