Salisbury and Yeovil Railway

Opened in stages in 1859 and 1860, it formed a bridge route between the main London and South Western Railway (LSWR) network and its lines in Devon and Cornwall.

Apart from a short section in Yeovil it remains open and carries the London Waterloo to Exeter service of South Western Railway.

The LSWR was completed to Southampton in 1840 and a branch line was opened in 1848 from Bishopstoke to Milford station in Salisbury.

Three years later an independent company tried to raise the money for a Salisbury to Exeter line and the LSWR agreed to take up half the shares, guarantee a 4% return on the shareholders' investment, and operate the trains.

[2][page needed] In the meantime, the LSWR's line from Bradford Abbas Junction to Exeter Queen Street had opened on 19 July 1860.

An agreement was made with the LSWR, under which that company would provide the locomotives and stock required and operate the trains for 42.5% of the gross receipts.

After twenty years this would be converted into a lease at a fixed price to be set once the traffic levels and costs had been determined.

[1][page needed] This has caused modern historians to describe the company as "the most successful of all railways in Southern England".

Once an assistant to Robert Stephenson, he served as engineer to the LSWR until 1849 but left them as he preferred the central route to Exeter rather than the coastal one proposed at the time.

[3][page needed] The line then climbed on similar grades for 2.5 mi (4.0 km) up to Buckhorn Weston Tunnel.

[3][page needed] The line drops steeply for a couple of miles, followed by a brief level section in the Blackmoor Vale.

Apart from one short climb approaching Yeovil, it was now downhill all the way and the steepest gradient on the line is found here, dropping down to Sherborne (34.5 mi (55.5 km)) at 1 in 80 (1.25%).

[2][page needed] Most of the line remains open and carries South Western Railway's hourly services from London Waterloo to Exeter St Davids.

[6] The section from Wilton to Templecombe has reverted to single track with passing loops at Tisbury and Gillingham.

Of the original eight stations (excluding Salisbury), only those at Tisbury, Gillingham, Templecombe, and Sherborne remain open.