22, No. The most complete surviving pumping station from Brunel's Atmospheric Railway, laid between Exeter and Newton Abbot. A wooden viaduct over the estuary at Cockwood, a spectacular series of tunnels between Dawlish and Teignmouth and the huge sea wall which Brunel was forced to build to protect his line between Dawlish and Teignmouth until December 1846. Beneath the leading piston carriage hung a 4.6 m (15 ft) long piston shaped like a dumbbell, with small wheels outside the pipe, and before and after the piston, that opened and pressed close the iron and leather flap valve. trials. Most trains run between Exmouth and Paignton; on Sundays the service is less frequent and most trains only run between Exeter St Davids and Paignton. abrupt and final halt. The piston entered the end of the pipe from which the air had been evacuated, the brakes released, and pressure from the atmosphere would push the piston up the pipe, behind the vacuum created by the pumping engine.

[1] The strange wall with bricked up windows that can be seen in the car park is the remains of the engine house that used to power the trains while they were worked by atmospheric power from 13 September 1847 until 9 September 1848. Along with a test line at Croydon, the system had impressed Brunel for him to recommend it to the shareholders of the South Devon Railway. Dawlish in the 1870s with the station and chimney for the atmospheric pumping engine in the right background. Records show speeds achieved that were incredible for that point in railway development, reaching 60 or even 70 mph in trials. However, by August, the directors of the railway were becoming impatient with Brunel, and indeed, Brunel was becoming disillusioned with the project. Sewage is pumped automatically without any human contact, which eliminates the risk of health problems. would have been dominated by talk of the coming of the railway. A well-greased leather flap with metal components was used to create the seal but continually failed because rats ate the greased leather and the salt spray corroded the metal components. The choice of the atmospheric propulsion system was made after Brunel had seen the atmospheric Samuda and Clegg built Kingston & Dalkley Railway near Dublin in operation. Site utilities Amazingly, sometimes the system worked. Advantages of a Sewage Pump Station. South West Water’s Senior Project Manager, Victoria Hutchins, said: “This vital scheme will reduce the risk of sewer flooding in the Shutterton area of Dawlish. to protect his line took years; there were difficulties in obtaining

Nothing can be found of the pumping houses at Turf and Countess Wear, although the Exeter St David's pumping house had a water tower added to it before it was removed quite recently. On 13 September, the public were allowed to ride on the train for the first time, when two trains per day were run.

Dawlish and the railway 1901 to today Dawlish Railway History Walk [as it was before work on the new sea walls].

Each pumping station would evacuate the pipe of air, according to the timetable, which proved to be very wasteful if the train was no ready to leave the previous stop. // -->