Southern Railway Route Map: from London to Ilfracombe and Padstow

The main railway line from London Waterloo to the Atlantic coast of Devon and Cornwall was never planned as a complete through route. Somehow it just grew, and, over a sixty year period to the end of the 19th century, took in the cathedral cities of Salisbury and Exeter before spreading north, west and to parts of East Devon to become one of the most iconic holiday train routes in the country.