North Cornwall Railway

Background In the 19th century, Padstow was an important fishing port, but it was hampered by lack of land communication with its markets. The Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway opened in 1834, but it limited its horizons to connecting the harbour at Wadebridge to the immediate hinterland. A Main line railway connection reached Cornwall with the opening of the Cornwall Railway in 1859, a company allied with other companies making up a broad gauge alliance, led by the Great Western Railway (GWR). The Cornwall Railway ran east to west in the southern part of the county, and it had exhausted its financial resources in building its line through the difficult terrain. The struggle to achieve railway dominance in the West Country was fierce between the GWR and the rival London and South Western Railway (LSWR) company. The LSWR had the intention of reaching Cornwall with a standard gauge line, but found necessity in concentrating its resources further east, it had been unable to make progress towards connecting Cornwall into its network. In 1847 it had purchased the Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway, The LSWR was to work the line for 55% of gross receipts. The line was opened in stages: • Halwill to Launceston; ; 21 July 1886 • Launceston to Tresmeer; ; 28 July 1892 • Tresmeer to Camelford; ; 14 August 1893 • Camelford to Delabole; ; 18 October 1893 • Delabole to Wadebridge; ; 1 June 1895 • Wadebridge to Padstow; ; 27 March 1899. The Great Western Railway (GWR) already had a station at Launceston, opened in 1865, and the North Cornwall Railway station was built adjacent to it. At Wadebridge, the line joined with the Bodmin and Wadebridge line; the original station had been expanded when the GWR line from Bodmin was opened in 1888. Commercial potential The fishing activity at Padstow had long been declining, and the LSWR had hopes of reviving it. Their wishes were realised and a substantial increase of fish tonnage carried was experienced over the first years; a special connection to the fish quay had been provided. There was a large slate quarry at Delabole, at the time said to be the largest man-made excavation in the world However apart from Launceston and Wadebridge the very long single-track line served only small rural communities, and never achieved the importance that its promoters had hoped for. Fish traffic and ice for the ships This request was granted though the '''''' (57 & 58 Vict. c. clxxxvi), which also included provisions for slight deviations in route and scheduling from previously approved plans. However, the extension was an aspiration for which there was no possibility of raising the necessary finance, and the plan was abandoned. Despite the failure of the proposal, the GWR remained concerned by the prospect of further LSWR expansion, and it is said While the process of grouping took practical effect at the beginning of 1923, although a number of technical requirements resulted in the official transfer dates varying. Line closure Throughout its existence the North Cornwall line had operated against the odds, its long line serving sparsely populated and relatively unproductive terrain. As the costs of unproductive railway operation came into focus following the Beeching Report, the line had only its romantic appeal to offer, with even the highly seasonal summer holiday traffic falling away in the face of road transport and more attractive destinations. It closed on 3 October 1966, the Wadebridge to Padstow section continuing to be served by Bodmin trains until it too closed on 28 January 1967. A section of trackbed from Launceston is now in use as the narrow gauge Launceston Steam Railway. ==Train services==

The thin population meant that little intermediate traffic was generated, and a passenger service of four or five daily trains was operated almost throughout the life of the line. The route between Launceston and Padstow was not designed for speed. The single line route required several sections at a gradient of 1 in 73 to allow for the rise from near Sea Level at Padstow to a summit at 860 feet above Sea Level between Camelford and Otterham and the line constantly curved, typically with a radius of 30 chains, in order to follow the contours and avoid costly earthworks. The result was a typical journey from Halwill to Padstow that occupied 90 to 100 minutes down and up to 110 minutes in the up direction. These times were reduced over the years with more powerful locomotives so that by the 1940s journey times between Launceston and Padstow were typically 80 minutes in the down direction and 90 minutes in the up. The maximum speed permitted on the North Cornwall line was 55 mph. The 1938 ''Bradshaw's Railway Guide'' shows five down and six up trains a day (Monday to Friday) on the line, plus a first up train from Launceston to Halwill and a last up train from Padstow to Launceston, and a last down train from Halwill to Launceston. All the trains called at all stations with the exception of the Atlantic Coast Express, the 11:00 from Waterloo, which ran non-stop Exeter St Davids to Halwill, then Launceston, Otterham, Camelford, Delabole, Port Isaac Road and Wadebridge, arriving in Padstow at 4:24 after a journey. The train conveyed a restaurant car throughout. The Saturday service was similar, although congestion earlier in the journey meant a slightly slower journey. There was no Sunday service. Tender engines were preferred on the line, the Adams Jubilee class being dominant at first, supplanted by the T9 class 4-4-0 being dominant in the Edwardian era. Until the mid-1940s the weight restriction over Meldon Viaduct and the short turntable at Padstow prevented anything larger than the Southern Railway mixed traffic 2-6-0 types from working over the line. However, after the turntable was replaced, the Bulleid Light Pacific locomotives were able to use the line. the passenger service had declined to four trains a day plus a Halwill to Launceston short return journey. Motive power in later years had been the T9 4-4-0 Greyhounds and the N class 2-6-0s but with Bulleid Pacifics, often on uneconomically short trains, putting in an appearance. ==Topography==

Route cycleway From Halwill the line describes a loop turning from north to south west; it runs downhill at gradients of 1 in 74 and 1 in 82 Stations and features Halwill and Beaworthy (209m 60ch); LSWR station on the Holsworthy line; renamed Halwill Junction March 1887 Ashwater (214m 67ch); see Ashwater railway station Tower Hill (218m 35ch); see Tower Hill railway station (Devon) Launceston (223m 34ch); the first station on the line in Cornwall, adjacent to the GWR station. '''' (227m 58ch)''; Egloskerry station () opened on 3 October 1892, and had a simple layout with only four points. There was a passing loop, and the station building and signal box were both located on the up platform, with a siding behind serving cattle pens. There was a level crossing at the down end of the station immediately at the platforms' end, the only one between Launceston and Wadebridge. and was the closest station to Crackington Haven; this kept passenger numbers up until a bus from Launceston started running in 1935. The station was due to open on 1 July 1892 but a landslip in an adjacent cutting delayed this until 28 July. was situated in bleak sparsely populated country at the junction of the A39 and the B3262. At above sea level it occupied the most exposed section of the line, open to the fury of Atlantic gales in winter - the LSWR planted a group of Scots Pines on the embankment above the down platform to provide some shelter from weather. A footpath linked the station with the village, which was more than a mile away: by road the distance was . Otterham Station was also the name of a hamlet which grew up near the station. The down platform was provided with a waiting shelter while the station building and signal box were on the up platform; all three were built of local stone. A single siding on the up side provided access to a loading dock, but there was no goods shed. A second siding parallel to the first was added later. In 1928 Otterham returned the lowest ticket sales on the line. The station was host to a Southern Railway camping coach from 1935 to 1939. Following the withdrawal of goods facilities on the line on 7 September 1964, the passing loop, sidings, and signal box were officially taken out of use on 7 February 1965, and the trackwork was removed that October. Under the Western Region the station was unstaffed from 6 December 1965 and appeared as Otterham Halt in WR timetables. The station closed on 3 October 1966, and for many years after closure operated as a caravan site. More recently a new road of houses has occupied the trackbed at the eastern end of the old platforms.The station building is now a private residence. station is now a private residence and former cycle museum '''' (240m 56ch)''; () was situated more than from the town "at a road junction in wild country almost devoid of trees". The station had a passing loop with the station building (including canopy) and signal box on the up platform. Like the waiting shelter on the down platform, the buildings were constructed from local stone. As elsewhere on the line, no footbridge was provided. Cattle pens were provided on the single siding, with the goods shed on a loop between the siding and headshunt. The station opened on 14 August 1893, with station signs proclaiming "Camelford for Boscastle and Tintagel". Camelford was the busiest intermediate station between Launceston and Wadebridge, but the distance from the town kept the passenger numbers low: in 1928 there was an average of just over 20 tickets issued daily, with 35 collected, and this number steadily declining with improved road transport. No alterations were made to the station layout throughout its life; the sidings were officially taken out of use on 30 November 1965 after the end of goods traffic the previous year, but the signal box and passing loop remained operational until closure on 3 October 1966. The small settlement of Camelford Station grew up around the railway and the station site was for a time occupied by the British Cycling Museum (subsequently closed). More information about the area can be found in the article on Slaughterbridge. The station is now a private residence. Delabole (243m 05ch); () The adjacent Delabole Slate quarry, Delabole station resulted in considerable outwards mineral traffic. The station opened on 18 October 1893 after the slate company donated 1.5 miles of trackbed free to the LSWR. It was equipped with a passing loop and two platforms. A single siding was provided behind the up platform, which was where the signal box was sited. On the downside the platform had the station building and a short loading dock with the goods shed on a further siding running behind the platform. A single road through engine shed was provided, with a turntable beyond between the goods shed and a line extending to the quarry. There was a considerable narrow gauge tramway network within the quarry, in existence before the construction of the North Cornwall line. There had earlier been a three-foot gauge network with a four track incline, but by 1879 this had been converted to a 2-feet gauge system with a six-track incline. As it was situated in the village itself, the station was better used than many on the route, and the proximity of the quarry ensured that freight receipts remained healthy. Goods services were withdrawn on 7 September 1964 and the loading dock was removed; the siding on the down side had been removed some time previously. The station closed on 3 October 1966. The station building is now in use as a private residence, and houses have been built on the site of the up platform. '''Betty & Tom's siding' (246m 77ch)''; the siding was accessed by a facing point when travelling in the up direction, so that trains would leave Wadebridge and then run round at Delabole in order to reverse uphill into the siding. The key to the ground frame that controlled access was attached to the single-line token. The siding was rather short, and was effectively a headshunt for a further pair of short sidings that allowed the wagons to be loaded. The siding served Tregildren Quarry and roadstone was regularly transported to the midlands, and ballast for railway use. Laid in 1922, the siding may have ceased operation some time before 1960 and had certainly been removed by 1964. '''' (247m 13ch)''; () the station was three miles (5 km) from Port Isaac itself, and opened on 1 June 1895, and had a passing loop and a single siding with headshunt that served a goods shed and loading dock. All buildings were of local stone; the station building and signal box locking room were on the up platform, the small waiting shelter on the down platform, and the goods shed. From the time of opening until 1927 there were 7 stationmasters; from that year all of the stations between Camelford and Wadebridge came under the stationmaster at Camelford Station. Ticket sales were low, with nearly 4500 annually in 1928, this dropping to under 2000 in 1936; freight dropped in a similar way over the same period. The station was host to a Southern Railway camping coach from 1937 to 1939. Wadebridge (253m 72ch); () Wadebridge Station buildings are currently in use as "The John Betjeman Centre".. Padstow (259m 43ch); () ==Literary references==

The North Cornwall Railway is commemorated in Sir John Betjeman's classic verse autobiography Summoned by Bells. Betjeman travelled from London to his childhood holiday home in Trebetherick: "The emptying train, wind in the ventilators, Puffs out of Egloskerry to Tresmeer Through minty meadows, under bearded trees, And hills upon whose sides, the clinging farms hold bible Christians Can it really be that this same carriage came from Waterloo? On Wadebridge's platform what a breath of sea scented the Camel valley! Soft air, soft Cornish rains, and silence after steam...." While T.W.E. Roche in his memoir of the Southern lines west of Exeter says of the North Cornwall Railway: There are few more fascinating lines than the one which leads to North Cornwall from Okehampton. ==See also==