It's all downhill from here...

Washford Station is situated at the second highest summit of the line between Watchet and Blue Anchor, at a point where road and rail take advantage of a gap in the hills that stretch from the coastal cliffs to the Brendon Hills inland.

The climb to Washford in either direction is fairly stiff for steam locomotives - coming up from Blue Anchor there is a one mile section at 1 in 65, the steepest on the line.

The station building is the original, built when the line opened in 1874.

Next to the main building is a small wooden structure. This was the signal box and now houses a lever frame forming part of the Somerset & Dorset Railway Trust exhibits.

Of notable interest is the grassed platform - known as 'the lawn' - which, with the small floral borders, enhances the bucolic feel of the station.

The Trust took over the then derelict site in 1976, and have transformed the area into one of the very best railway museums in the land. There are any number of artefacts, mostly saved from the old Somerset & Dorset Railway, nearly all restored in pristine condition.

More information...

• Postcode: TA23 0PP
• OS Grid Reference: ST044411
• Geographic Coords: -3.3676, 51.1614 Google Maps
• The Somerset and Dorset Railway Trust
• Washford Station on official WSR website

The Stations...

• Minehead Station
  
• Dunster Station
  
• Blue Anchor Station
  
• Washford Station
  
• Watchet Station
  
• Doniford Halt
  
• Williton Station
  
• Stogumber Station
  
• Crowcombe Heathfield Station
  
• Bishops Lydeard Station