[1][2][3] Engineering at the site included a substantial sea wall, and an 83-yard (76 m) tunnel just north of the station, which was built using a cut and cover method.

[6] The station fronted onto the place where the Taw and Torridge rivers combined into one estuary, and the quay just to the west of the station, allowed travellers to catch ferries to Appledore (on the other side of the estuary) and Lundy Island.

[10] In January 1859, a steam train travelling south along the line derailed north of Instow station.

[12][13] Passenger trains south of Torrington were stopped in March 1965, and the line through Instow was closed to all passengers on 4 October 1965, though the last trains had run on the Saturday before (2 October); the station had stopped being staffed from the previous January.

They had wanted to carry out repairs to the box, but British Rail would have needed to charge £52 per day (equivalent to £232 in 2023) for a flagman to wave the two daily trains a day through the level crossing and past the signal box.

The Atlantic Coast–Exeter Railway Project aims to deliver an outline business case for the reinstatement by March 2023.

A service of eight trains were shown as calling at Instow in 1863, with only one (labelled as a narrow goods), not being able to take passengers.

[34] During the war years, trains remained at the static number of ten per day each way, with a combination of short local trains between Barnstaple and Torrington, and some longer distance services which started and terminated in Yeovil Town.

[35] Under British Rail, and the 1951 summer season, the station had twelve stopping trains, with other expresses passing through non-stop.