The Devonshire railways are now owned by two companies only, the Great Western and the London and South Western. The latter, which enters the county near Axminster, runs to Plymouth, especially serving the south coast to the east of Exmouth, with important branches to Barnstaple and Ilfracombe and to Bude, and with a continuation into Cornwall. The Great Western Railway enters Devonshire at two points; near Burlescombe, running thence to Plymouth and into Cornwall, and near Venn Cross, for Barnstaple. The Cornish Riviera Express from Paddington, which slips a coach at Reading, and, passing south of Bristol, slips another at Exeter, performs the journey of 225 miles to Plymouth--the longest non-stop run of any train in England--in 7 minutes over 4 hours, which is an average speed of 55 miles an hour. There are some famous bridges on the Devonshire roads and railways, of which the most remarkable are the Saltash Viaduct, 2240 feet long and 102 feet above high-water mark, built by Brunel across the Tamar; the old stone bridge of 16 arches over the Taw at Barnstaple, originally built in the thirteenth century, but since much altered and widened; the fifteenth century stone bridge of 24 arches over the Torridge at Bideford, also much changed from the days when it was only wide enough for a pack-horse, but always a valuable source of revenue to the town from the money that has, at various times, been left for its maintenance, and has been used to promote education, municipal improvements, charity and other objects; and the wooden bridge over the Teign at Teignmouth, one of the longest of its kind in England. Very different in character are the Lydford Bridge, whose single arch of stone spans the deep gorge of the river, close to the town; and the ancient stone clapper bridges, of which perhaps Post Bridge is the best known, already described in the chapter on antiquities. 24. Administration and Divisions--Ancient and Modern.