High Waves break over the Dawlish Mainline Railway

Brunel’s Railway Line takes a battering

Isambard Kingdom Brunel deigned the South Devon Railway route to impress. It follows the River Exe after Exeter south to Dawlish Warren, running beneath the cliffs at Teignmouth before going alongside the River Teign to Newton Abbot. Meandering gently by tidal waters for 13 miles, the train travels by four areas of open sea. The views are stunning on any day and in the winter waves often hit the carriages shocking unsuspecting passengers but adding to the thrill.

Try steadying this tripod before steadicam technology was widely available. There is now a live webcam trained on the sea wall set inland for fear of being washed away. The sea wall was breached in February 2014 destroying part of Dawlish station and several houses forcing the line to close until April of the same year. Opportunities to open up an inland route were past up mainly due to cost but also due to the popularity of the route so thirty-five million pounds was spent shoring up the sea wall, to some a King Canute-type action. Long-term solutions are still on the table amid fears that coastal erosion is inevitable and this famed route's days may be numbered.