William Thorne, who worked the horse-drawn trains, built a warehouse at the terminus in Barnstaple which was by the Sticklepath turnpike gate and the bridge across the River Taw.

[6] Three years later, on 30 April 1877, the LSWR ceased operating broad gauge trains to Barnstaple.

This crossed the river on its own bridge and joined the LSWR line south of the Junction station.

Some GWR trains continued beyond Barnstaple to Ilfracombe[8][9] In 1891 a second track was brought into use on the Exeter line as far as umberleigh.

Victoria Road closed to passengers on 12 June 1960 so all trains from Taunton ran to Barnstaple Junction.

The goods trains to Victoria Road were withdrawn on 30 May 1970 and those on the Bideford line stopped on 31 August 1982.

[13] In later days the two-track timber engine shed was situated near the entrance to the goods yard and the turntable was replaced by a larger 50 feet (15 m) version.

[15] The access road to the station goes through a retail park which is built on the site of the railway goods yard.

There is generally one train per hour to Exeter Central but a very small number of services continue to or from other routes in East Devon on weekdays.

[20] The Barnstaple to Bideford route was mentioned in the Association of Train Operating Companies 2009 Connecting Communities: Expanding Access to the Rail Network report which recommended some closed lines that could be rebuilt to restore railway services to large communities.

Although the track was restored between the two towns the model railway trains were only able to reach the site of Instow signalbox due to the weather and vandalism.