Contents
Introduction vii
Chapter 1 Plymouth to Saltash 1
Chapter 2 Royal Albert Bridge (RAB) to Liskeard 9
Chapter 3 Liskeard to Bodmin Road 22
Chapter 4 Bodmin Road to Par 33
Chapter 5 Par to Truro 43
Chapter 6 Truro 54
Chapter 7 chacewater to St Erth 62
Chapter 8 St Erth to Penzance 69
Chapter 9 Penzance 77
Chapter 10 Specials - Rare Visitors 85
Chapter 11 Freight Focus 88
Acknowledgements 92 Saltash to Liskeard
The Royal Albert Bridge was opened on May 2 1859 by Prince Albert. It looks very grand in 2016 following a recent refurbishment and repaint. The structure was built to take a single track and there is a speed restriction for trains in both directions. Until 1973, Saltash signalbox controlled the signalling on one side of the bridge, while the Royal Albert Bridge ‘box looked after the Plymouth end of the structure. The former RAB signal box survives and is used by Network Rail staff for other purposes. Upstream next to the RAB is the Tamar road bridge built between 1959 and 1961 that was opened in 1962. Extra lanes were added to the outside of the road bridge to increase capacity during 2001. Saltash station did not have a very good service in the 1970s with only a few local trains calling. Most of the main Paddington to Penzance trains passed through non-stop. From Saltash the line crossed Coombe by Saltash viaduct before turning west then heading towards St Germans, crossing three tidal rivers by magnificent viaducts, continuing through Shillingham tunnel. Few trains stopped at St Germans. It was then uphill to Menheniot, another poorly served station, and onwards to Liskeard, normally the first calling point for most trains after leaving Plymouth.
A clay special from Tavistock Junction to Fowey Docks heads over the Royal Albert Bridge behind North British Class 22 locomotives 6318 and 6307 on August 29, 1969. The clay would have been loaded at Marsh Mills, Plymouth. St Blazey depot would have had an allocation of five or six of these locomotives working clay trips from the depot to various destinations, along with a couple of Type 4s, at this time. Bernard Mills.
9 PLYMOUTH TO PENZANCE – ROGER GEACH
Class 50 No. 50045 is seen passing Saltash station with the 08:35 Penzance to Paddington on a very warm August 13, 1976. Behind the train is the site of the old goods yard and goods shed, an area that was developed for housing. Work is seen taking place on a new housing estate which would cover the hillside beyond.
A Derby Class 116 suburban DMU arrives from Liskeard, passing the goods yard at Saltash. A Class 120 Cross Country unit stands in the loop waiting to form a Plymouth local stopping train that there were a regular feature back in the 1960s. Note the milk tanker in the yard. Milk was loaded at Saltash until 1970. Both of these units were in green livery at the time, blue livery started to be applied from mid-1966 onwards. By 1972 the station was unstaffed. Bernard Mills.
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Coombe by Saltash viaduct viewed from the Tamar Bridge car park through a telephoto lens on the fine Sunday morning of September 7, 2014. English Welsh & Scottish Railways Class 66 No. 66034 returns an engineer’s train to Eastleigh after working in the Truro area the previous night. The houses of Saltash stand out high on the hillside above the viaduct, while below there are a number of yachts moored on the Tamar.
On October 21, 2006 King Class 4-6-0 No. 6024 ‘King Edward 1st’ heads across Forder viaduct with Past Time Rail’s ‘The Limited’ from Paddington to Penzance, that 6024 had worked from Taunton. In British Railways days, ‘Kings’ had been deemed too heavy for working across the Royal Albert Bridge.
11 PLYMOUTH TO PENZANCE – ROGER GEACH
In the summer months when the sun is around Forder viaduct, it can be photographed after 18:00 from the opposite side of the valley, high on the hill, with a magnificent view of the river and the city of Plymouth beyond. On Saturday, June 28, 2014, Class 57 No. 57605 is seen working a three-coach Exeter to Penzance service.
Forder viaduct from the shoreline with a couple of yachts moored in Forder Lake. Class 66 No. 66187 hauls the Burngullow to Exeter Riverside freight over the viaduct at teatime on Tuesday, March 27, 2007.
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Just west of Forder viaduct is a minor road crossing the main line by a high bridge. This is the view west looking towards the 451 yard long Shillingham tunnel , also known as Wivelscoombe tunnel. Class 45 No. 45070 is seen heading the unadvertised Tuesday and Thursday 2B13, 09:55 Newquay to Plymouth on Thursday, August 24, 1978. This train ran from July 4 to August 31 only that year.
After Shillingham Tunnel comes Nottar viaduct, also sometimes known as Lynher viaduct, carrying the railway over the River Lynher. This long distance view, taken from above Polbathic Creek, captures the Moorswater cement train hauled by 66604 on the morning of March 7, 2011.
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Class 47 No. 47549 crosses Nottar viaduct with the 12:20 Penzance-Glasgow on September 6, 1989, with nine assorted bogie vans making up the consist. At the time of the photograph, 47549 was named ‘Royal Mail’ and was based at Bristol Bath Road, painted in InterCity livery.
St Germans station on October 9 1969 with a Class 118 Derby diesel single railcar calling at the station with a Plymouth to Liskeard local. The station looked rundown by this time and had an infrequent service mostly served by DMUs. Bernard Mills.
14 SALTASH TO LISKEARD The magnificent St Germans viaduct carries the main line across the River Tiddy, which joins theLynher (or St German’s river as it is also known). Freightliner66604 heads west on March 7, 2011, with the Moorswater cement P CA wagons that have originated from H ope, Derbyshire. Class 66 No.
15 PLYMOUTH TO PENZANCE – ROGER GEACH
Class 67s Nos. 67024 and 67006 climb St Germans bank on April 25, 2014, with a private charter from London Victoria to Truro. Normally towards the end of April, a ‘Cornish Gardens’ weekend tour is run by the Belmond British Pullman company with the luxury Pullman coaches pictured here working out on the Friday and returning on the Sunday afternoon.
Passing through glorious rural countryside, a Gloucester RCW Class 122 railcar is seen west of Budges Shop heading towards Bethany with a Plymouth to Liskeard local on September 1, 1988. Due to the poor performance of the Class 142 ‘Skipper’ units in the West Country, a number of DMUs and railcars like this one were drafted in to replace the second generation DMUs. This railcar had been working in the West Midlands prior to transfer.
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