King Tor Halt railway station

King Tor

King Tor Halt
The railway trackbed near the old station
Location
Place	Princetown
Area	West Devon
Coordinates	50°32′27″N 4°01′34″W / 50.5409°N 4.0261°WCoordinates: 50°32′27″N 4°01′34″W / 50.5409°N 4.0261°W
Grid reference	SX5652473206
Operations
Original company	Great Western Railway
Post-grouping	Great Western Railway
Platforms	1
History
2 April 1928[1]	Station opens
3 March 1956[2]	Station closed to passengers
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z
UK Railways portal

Princetown Railway
Locale West Devon Dates of operation 1883 – 1956 Successor Great Western Railway Track gauge 4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) Length 10 ^1⁄2 miles (16.9 km)
Legend
Princetown Foggintor siding King Tor Halt Swell Tor siding Ingra Tor Halt Lowry Road Crossing Burrator & Sheepstor Halt Prowse's Crossing Dousland Yelverton South Devon and Tavistock Railway

King Tor Halt railway station was located on the 10.5 mile long single track branch railway line in Devon, England, running from Yelverton to Princetown with four intermediate stations.^[3] It was opened with only a basic wood platform and shelter in connection with the adjacent granite quarry and the associated worker's houses. Its later traffic was entirely walkers and like Ingra Tor Halt it was retained in an attempt to counter competition from local bus services and encourage tourist traffic.^[2]

History

The branch line was authorised in 1878 and opened on 11 August 1883. Yelverton was the junction for the line when the halt opened, three other stations had been added to the line in the 1920s, Burrator and Sheepstor Halt in 1924, Ingra Tor Halt in 1936.^[4] Much of the route followed the course of the old Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway.^[2] King Tor Halt was opened almost on the site of the old Royal Oak Sidings.

The freight traffic on the branch line included granite from the rail served quarries^[2] of Swelltor and Foggintor which were closed in 1906.

Owned by the Princetown Railway until 1 January 1922, the company then merged with the Great Western Railway (GWR). The line passed to British Railways (Western Region) in 1948 and closed on 3 March 1956.^[2] The track was lifted on 6 December 1956.^[5]

Much of the old track formation now forms the route of the Dousland to Princetown Railway Track,^[2] and only the concrete base of the shelter at the halt remains.^[2]

Services

Preceding station	Disused railways			Following station
Ingra Tor Halt Line and station closed		Great Western Railway Princetown Railway		Princetown Line and station closed

References

Notes

1. Butt, Page 135
2. Mitchell, Page 114
3. Moseley, Brian (October 2011). "The Route, 1947 [GWR Princetown Branch]". The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History. Plymouth Data. Archived from the original on 23 August 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
4. Atterbury, Page 34
5. Moseley, Brian (August 2012). "Princetown Branch [BR]". The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History. Plymouth Data. Archived from the original on 7 March 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2015.

Sources

• Atterbury, P. (2006) Branch Line Britain: A Nostalgic Journey Celebrating a Golden Age. Newton Abbot : David & Charles.
• Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0508-1. OCLC 60251199.
• Mitchell, David (1994). British Railways Past and Present - Devon. Wadenhoe : Past and Present. ISBN 1-85895-058-9.

External links

• Princetown Branch 1923–48 (GWR) – The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History
• Dousland to Princetown Railway Track – footpath and rough cycle track
• Photos of the line today