In 1844 early proposals were made for a branch from the South Devon Railway (SDR) to Torquay harbour.

[1] This failed because of objectors, but in 1845 a separate scheme was proposed for railways from Dartmouth and Brixham to Exeter (via Newton Abbot and Moretonhampstead) to make a junction with a standard gauge line.

This inspired the SDR to introduce a bill to Parliament in 1846 for a broad gauge line from Aller (near Newton Abbot) to Torquay, Paignton, Brixham and Kingswear.

The section beyond Torquay was dropped because of opposition from residents of Paignton and Goodrington who feared loss of access to the beach, also because the SDR was short of funds following the collapse of the atmospheric system on which it had based its propulsion system and the difficulty of reaching its primary goal, Plymouth.

After a great deal of canvassing and promises of financial support by the directors, and after persuading Brunel to make his estimates low, it was just possible to raise sufficient capital to proceed.

The relevant clauses of the deviation bill were defeated in Parliament, mainly because of objections from Mr. Harvey, the owner of Greenway.

The line was opened from Brixham Road to Kingswear for passenger traffic on 16 August 1864; goods were not conveyed until 2 April 1866.

An hotel, the 'Plume of Feathers' was modified and renamed the 'Royal Dart' was intended to serve passengers for these and other hoped-for services.

[5][6] The company bought a piece of foreshore at Dartmouth, at the end of Spithead (which was then approximately half the length of the present road).

A pontoon and bridge were constructed to accommodate the company's ferry, which ran in connection with most (but not all) train services.

The two wooden viaducts, Longwood and Noss, a short distance north of Kingswear, were abolished and the line deviated to by-pass them in 1921.

[5] In 1928 the timber viaduct at Waterhead Creek was replaced by a double track concrete and steel bridge.

On 1 November 1972 the line between Goodrington Sands and Kingswear was transferred to private ownership and operated as a heritage railway.