edge of the moor, above the town. The high point of the line is about two miles further, reaching near Meldon Viaduct. The LSWR became a part of the new, larger Southern Railway at the Grouping in 1923. This in turn became the Southern Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948. British Rail At the peak of services through Okehampton in the 1950s, there were twelve or more daily trains in each direction; on summer Saturdays, this could increase with duplicate Atlantic Coast Express services. In the early 1960s, a car transporter train ran between Surbiton and Okehampton on summer Saturdays, bringing holidaymakers and their cars from the London area. Trains between Exeter and Plymouth via Okehampton were withdrawn from 6 May 1968, leaving a shuttle service to run between Exeter and Okehampton. The section between Meldon Quarry and was lifted, and between Meldon and Okehampton the line was only retained for freight trains. Okehampton to Exeter passenger services were withdrawn on 5 June 1972. Between 1972 and 1997, the line was used for railway ballast traffic from Meldon Quarry and occasional freight traffic to the remaining goods yard at Okehampton before its closure. Though the closure of the route was in part to save on the maintenance expenditure of Meldon Viaduct, the structure remained in use as a headshunt for the quarry, given a new layout in 1979 for increased traffic. Occasional charter and special trains were operated to Okehampton and Meldon Quarry during the passenger closure period. The railway reopened to regular passenger services in 1997 with the formation of Dartmoor Railway. Heritage operation The Dartmoor line from Coleford Junction to Okehampton was in heritage operation from 1997 to 2019. The origins of the restored Dartmoor Railway lie in British Rail's 1994 sale of Meldon Quarry to Camas Aggregates, a multinational quarrying company, along with the railway line up to its junction with Network Rail at Coleford. A collaboration between Devon County Council, West Devon Borough Council and the Dartmoor National Park Authority led to the creation of a plan to restore and regenerate the line and Okehampton station for tourism purposes, with the county council purchasing the station in 1996 for a nominal price from Camas. Works to refurbish Okehampton station included renovating the station building, raising the platform, restoring the awning, and converting the goods shed into a youth hostel. Part of the building, which