The original Lynton and Barnstaple Railway was opened between the two towns in 1898, largely due to the support of the publishing magnate and patron of Lynton, Sir George Newnes,. Sadly the line closed in 1935, killed off by burgeoning road traffic. The current railway began operating in 2004, having been acquiring land and rolling stock for ten years or so and offers a short quarter mile reminder amid fine moorland scenery of what the former line was like. The society hopes to get services as far as Parracombe, about 2 miles in the fairly near future.