Exeter and Crediton Railway  The Exeter and Crediton Railway was a broad gauge railway that linked Exeter and Crediton, Devon, England. It was 5¼ miles (8½ km) long. Although built in 1847, it was not opened until 12 May 1851 due to disagreement about the gauge to be used. It was initially operated by the Bristol and Exeter Railway, but eventually became a part of the London and South Western Railway, thus being one of the few broad gauge railways never to become part of the Great Western Railway. It remains open as part of the scenic "Tarka Line" from Exeter to . Crediton was an important town at the beginning of the nineteenth century, and business interests there considered how transport links could be improved. In 1831 it was proposed to make a railway connection to a dock on the tidal River Exe at Exeter was needed; onward transport would be by coastal shipping. Parliamentary powers were obtained by Act of 23 June 1832. However no construction actually took place and the powers lapsed. The Great Western Railway (GWR) was opened between London and Bristol in 1841, revolutionising transport in the area it served. This encouraged the promotion of another line, the Bristol and Exeter Railway (B&ER), which was completed on 1 May 1844. This in turn led to the construction of the South Devon Railway (SDR) on from Exeter to Plymouth and Torquay, opened in stages between 30 May 1846 and 2 April 1849. These railways were in a friendly alliance, and were all built on the broad gauge of 7ft 0¼in. Business interests in Crediton were not slow to realise that the railway at Exeter was a benefit for their town if a railway branch could be made to it, and in 1844 a proposal was formulated to make a line from Crediton to Cowley Bridge on the B&ER; the required capital of £60,000 was soon subscribed and an authorising Act was put forward in the 1845 session of Parliament. The railway mania was at its height at this time: proposals for new railways were produced daily, and many of them had little chance of financial success. Parliament established a committee of members of the Board of Trade, headed by Lord Dalhousie, to evaluate competing schemes for any particular district; it was assumed that only one line would satisfy all local requirements. The issue was complicated by the gauge question: the GWR and its allies operated on the broad gauge, while many other companies used the narrow gauge of 4ft 8½in (later referred to as "standard gauge").