In 1937 an Act of Parliament was approved for the Great Western railways revised Dawlish Avoiding Line from Exminster to Hackney (Newton Abbot) and due for completion in 1941.The necessary land was bought and "pegged" out prior to construction starting but the outbreak of war stopped everything of course.It involved quadruple tracking and a two mile mile tunnel through the Halden hills.Incidentally at the same time another new line onward from Newton Abbot bypassing Totnes as well as Dainton and Rattery banks and rejoining the present rail route near the twin bore Marley tunnel was also surveyed with hopes of eventually pushing on towards Plymouth at a later date.Also both schemes were to be engineered to a minimum 1 mile radius curvature for high speed.The fact that the Dawlish avoiding line was given the go ahead at all when there was already the alternative Southern route available via Okhampton at the time speaks volumes that even then in 1937 the alternative routes available were not really considered suitable.Another issue with the present route via dawlish is that it is very indirect as far as destinations from Newton Abbot westwards are concerned.Exeter St Davids to Dawlish Warren is 10 rail miles but only actually moves you 1.3 miles closer to Plymouth,that nearly 9 dead miles before you start even.(When a west bound train passes under the M5 at Exminster road traffic heading west is almost moving in the opposite direction to the train).So you can see why this scheme was given the go-ahead in 1937 and why it is again being seen as a long term solution to a historical problem.
Yes I do understand the above. however in 1937 the Great Western Railway and the Southern were competitors.
The GWR would not want to rely on access over another companies metals.
That is why the grandly named Plymouth, Devonport and South Western Junction Railway built the route between Lydford and Devonport Junction (finished 1890) at huge expense. Up till that time the LSWR had running powers over the GWR branch from Lydford to Plymouth via Tavistock and Yelverton. This proved totally unsatisfactory for the LSWR and without doubt they would have made it difficult for the GWR as well.
So it is not true to say that the line was given the go ahead because the Southern Route was unsatisfactory, but rather because it was a seperate company seeking to improve its own line.
Of course the Southern route did serve a more sparse population than in the South of Devon. So like other contributors, despite supporting the reopening of the line via Tavistock and Okehampton, I believe that the route via Newton Abbot and Totnes will have to be preserved in some form or another.
I do believe that the route via Okehampton would make for a very useful Diversionary route, even as just single track with passing places.
These days reversals of trains are not the time consuming things they once were. For instance the services from/to Cardiff from/to Nottingham ALL reverse at Derby!
As for Meldon Viaduct, part of the reason for closure was given as the fact that it needed strengthening. It was strengthened enough in the early 1960's enough so that Rebult Bullied Light Pacifics were allowed to use it. Something that had been banned before then. I am looking at a picture in the excellent book "The Heyday of the Wraships" which shows D808 crossing meldon in July 1966, apparently travelling in the Wrong direction with the Plymouth to Brighton Service. The caption reads that the former up line had been closed earlier in the year and the train was travelling on the Strengthened trestle. Additionally after the line closed to through traffic in 1968, it was still used for many years as a Headshunt for Stone trains from Meldon Quarry. I cant think of many trains heavier than this!!!
However I do suspect by now that work would be needed on the listed structure or a replacement built.
The line from Meldon has been encroached on in a few places and there are at least 3 bridges that would have to be replaced as well as some compulsory purchases, though not many.
As fuel prices rise and, despite ticket prices rising, passenger numbers continue to increase there may well come a time when reopening this route will become viable. I believe when Killbride looked at reopening the line to Tavistock there was also a serious look at the cost of reopening from Tavistock to Okehampton. 15.5 miles. Several years ago this cost was put at £100 million. I am not sure how much the Tunnel under Haldon would cost, but as I said the line from Newton to Exeter WILL need to be replaced sometime in the next 50 years or so.