South Devon Railway sea wall
The line is now owned by Network Rail and the stations and majority of trains operated by the modern-day Great Western Railway.
That night the high tide flooded the line where it ran alongside the River Exe and more breaches occurred as the storm continued into Monday.
Later that week a larger fall happened which blocked the line early on 29 December, this time knocking some of the wall into the sea.
Despite repair work starting promptly four days later more of the sea wall and a long 70 yards (64 m) section of line were also washed away.
[11] Such was the terrific force of the impelled water that along the sea-wall and railway huge coping-stones, probably averaging one ton each, were tossed about like corks....The night of 25 October 1859 saw the largest storm to hit Devon in 35 years.
On the coastal section the dividing wall between the footway and railway was knocked down near Langstone, while the line was flooded where it was at beach level between Dawlish and Kennaway tunnel.
[15] Only a few days later, on 30 December, a larger breach undermined the tracks at the same place causing trains to stop either side of the gap until 1 January 1873.
Road transport was instigated between Dawlish and Starcross including extra horses and wagonettes brought up from Plymouth by special train.
[17] Single line working was needed on 24 December 1930 when the wall was undermined at Riviera terrace north of the Coastguard footbridge.
[17] On Christmas Eve 1929 a large portion of the wall near the Coastguard Station cracked and gave way, causing partial subsidence of the down line.
[21] British Rail managed to keep services running with trains restricted to 10 miles per hour (16 km/h) but repairs took three weeks.
Both tracks were closed to regular traffic but engineering trains were able to use the line closest to the cliffs to bring in material to fill the hole.
The following day there was a wash out north of Dawlish station which caused the down line to be closed, but normal working resumed on 23 September.
This would have given a route that was 6 miles (9.7 km) shorter between Exeter and Plymouth while avoiding the sea wall and some steep inclines around Totnes.
After gaining parliamentary approval for the required bill, construction started in Spring 1939, but the advent of World War II brought the project to an end.
The mail train for the two days that the line was closed was diverted over the London and South Western Railway route between Exeter and Plymouth.
[33] During World War II a new connection was laid between this route (now part of the Southern Railway) and the GWR's Cornish Main Line at St Budeaux on the northern outskirts of Plymouth in March 1941.
Other elements of the proposal included the improvement of the sea wall between Kennaway Tunnel and Dawlish and the installation of an avalanche shelter-style structure at Horse Cove.
[37] Government funding of £80 million to raise the sea wall south of Dawlish station by 2.5 metres (8.2 ft) was approved in February 2019.
[38] The 109-metre (360 ft) rockfall shelter at the northern end of Parsons Tunnel, near Holcombe, was built between 2021 and 2023 at a cost of £48 million.
[40] Instead Network Rail proposed leaving the track in its existing location, and dealing with the danger from the cliffs using a programme of targeted solutions including soil nailing, netting and groundwater management.
[36] By the end of 2024, £165 million had been spent over ten years on the South West Resilience Programme but funding for the plan to stabilise the cliffs on the 1.8 kilometres (1 mile) stretch between Parson's Tunnel and Teignmouth was no longer available.
On leaving Dawlish Warren the railway comes onto the sea wall proper with the walkway alongside, although it quickly enters the short and deep cutting at Langstone Rock.
The line now enters its first tunnel, Kennaway, beneath Lea Mount, beyond which is Coryton beach, the farthest point accessible by the sea wall footpath from Dawlish.
The Coryton tunnel leads to the next beach, Shell Cove, accessible by foot only via the shore at very low tide or by a private path from the clifftop.
Beyond Parson's Tunnel is a short viaduct across Smugglers Lane and then the footpath resumes for the final stretch past Sprey Point to the cutting at Teignmouth Eastcliff.
After going under the Shaldon Bridge and passing a boat yard on the site of Teignmouth gas works, the line follows the river past the small promontories at Flow Point, Red Rock, and Summer House, before passing through two small cuttings and crossing Hackney Marshes near the race course to reach Newton Abbot railway station.
