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The Bridport Railway was a standard gauge

Standard gauge

The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...

 branch line

Branch line

A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line...

 that operated in the county of Dorset

Dorset

Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...

 in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. Starting at its junction with the Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway

Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway

The Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway was a broad gauge railway that linked the Great Western Railway at Chippenham in 'Wilts' with Weymouth in Dorset, England. Branches ran to Devizes, Bradford-on-Avon and Salisbury in Wiltshire, and to Radstock in Somerset. The majority of the line survives...

 line at Maiden Newton

Maiden Newton railway station

Maiden Newton railway station is a railway station serving the village of Maiden Newton in Dorset, England. The station is located on the Heart of Wessex line between and .-History:...

, the line ran to the town of Bridport and for a period on to West Bay

West Bay, Dorset railway station

West Bay railway station was the terminus of the Bridport Railway in western Dorset, England. In 1879, the Great Western Railway, who held the operating license for the original Bridport Railway , decided to extend the railway to Bridport Harbour. Construction started in 1883, and the line opened ...

, also known as Bridport Harbour.

After the idea of a Bridport line was raised in the early nineteenth century the reluctance of the main line companies to build the line resulted in a syndicate of Bridport people deciding in 1854 to build it themselves. At first it was built to the broad gauge

Broad gauge

Broad-gauge railways use a track gauge greater than the standard gauge of .- List :For list see: List of broad gauges, by gauge and country- History :...

 and operated by the Great Western Railway

Great Western Railway

The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...

, opening on 12 November 1857. The line was subsequently taken fully into that company and operated as a branch from the junction to West Bay, a name given to Bridport Harbour to promote it as a resort due to the harbour trade having fallen while the railway was planned and built.
Initially the line had an intermediate station at Powerstock, variously called Poorstock. Later a station was added at Toller.

The line, the last in Dorset constructed to the broad gauge, was converted to standard gauge in June 1874.

During the First World War the West Bay extension was closed as an austerity measure. It re-opened at the end of the war but lost its passenger service in 1930 when the GWR decided that the hoped for resort would never arrive. The goods service continued until 1962 when it was withdrawn and the tracks lifted south of Bridport station. Then in 1965 the goods service was withdrawn from the entire branch and at about the same time steam traction was withdrawn. This left the line as a siding, a simple railway with no signals other than those at the junction, from Maiden Newton. Services were provided in the main by a single car Diesel Multiple Unit

Diesel multiple unit

A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple unit train consisting of multiple carriages powered by one or more on-board diesel engines. They may also be referred to as a railcar or railmotor, depending on country.-Design:...

, usually a Class 122

British Rail Class 122

The British Rail Class 122 diesel mechanical multiple units were built by Gloucester RC&W in 1958. Twenty single-car driving motor vehicles, called "Bubble Cars", were built, numbered 55000–55019...

 or similar.
The line was marked for closure in the Beeching Report but the narrow roads of the area and a subsidy from Dorset

Dorset

Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...

 County Council kept it running. Having survived attempts at closure the line finally succumbed in May 1975, one of the last closures directly linked to the Beeching report (see also the branch from Alston to Haltwhistle

Alston Line

The Alston Line was a standard gauge branch line railway that operated in the counties of Northumberland and Cumbria in England. Starting at its junction with the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway line at Haltwhistle, the line ran to the town of Alston...

 which was closed in 1976). A replacement bus service was operated at first by Pearce's of Cattistock http://www.countrybus.co.uk/pearce.htm, but the operator changed with local authority contract.

The track was lifted during the autumn of 1975 and little trace of it remains in some places.

The line today

The station building from Bridport was moved to Beer Heights Light Railway

Beer Heights Light Railway

The Beer Heights Light Railway operates of minimum gauge track at Beer, Devon, England. It is part of Pecorama, an exhibition owned by Peco....

 near Seaton

Seaton, Devon

Seaton is a seaside town in East Devon on the south coast of England. It faces onto Lyme Bay, to the west of the mouth of the River Axe with red cliffs to one side and white cliffs on the other. Axmouth and Beer are nearby...

 in Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

, and the station building from Toller is now in the same county as the building at Totnes(Littlehempston)

Totnes (Littlehempston) railway station

Totnes station, previously known as Totnes Riverside station and Littlehempston Riverside station, is a railway station situated in Littlehempston in the English county of Devon. It is the southern terminus of the South Devon Railway, a steam operated heritage railway...

 on the South Devon Railway

South Devon Railway Trust

The South Devon Railway Trust is a charitable organisation that operates a heritage railway from Totnes to Buckfastleigh in Devon, alongside the River Dart...

http://www.southdevonrailway.org/Totnes(Lhmpstn).html. After many years as the office of a boatyard the station building at West Bay has had its appearance restored and houses an information office. There is a short length of track.http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/b/bridport_west_bay/index.shtml Ironically this means that the first station on the line to close is the only one left with track. The station building at Powerstock has been a private bungalow since well before the closure of the line and the site of East Street disappeared under Bridport's ring road some years ago. The junction station at Maiden Newton remains open to trains on the Heart of Wessex Line

Heart of Wessex Line

The Heart of Wessex Line, also known as the Bristol to Weymouth line, is a United Kingdom railway line that runs from Bristol to Westbury to Weymouth...

. Part of the railway line can be walked and cycled on, from Maiden Newton Station for about half a mile, and parts of the old line past Toller Porcorum. Sustrans

Sustrans

Sustrans is a British charity to promote sustainable transport. The charity is currently working on a number of practical projects to encourage people to walk, cycle and use public transport, to give people the choice of "travelling in ways that benefit their health and the environment"...

 have funding to use the old line as a cycle path from Maiden Newton to Bridport.

Reading

• Railways of Dorset J.H.Lucking Railway Correspondence and Travel Society
  Railway Correspondence and Travel Society
  The Railway Correspondence and Travel Society is a national society founded in Cheltenham, UK in 1928 to bring together those interested in rail transport and locomotives....
  
  1968 (no ISBN)

• Powerstock Station - All Change, Diana P. Read, 1996, ISBN 0-9527522-0-4 (tells the history of the Bridport Branch line and in particular the history and people associated with Powerstock Station)

ISBN 978-0-85361-520-0