Launceston Steam Railway

Coordinates: 50°38′28″N 4°21′54″W / 50.641°N 4.365°W

Launceston Steam Railway
Locale	Launceston, Cornwall, UK
Terminus	Launceston
Commercial operations
Name	North Cornwall Railway
Original gauge	4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Preserved operations
Owned by	The Spice Settlement Trust Co. Ltd
Operated by	The Spice Settlement Trust Co. Ltd
Stations	4
Length	2½ miles
Preserved gauge	1 ft 11 ^1⁄2 in (597 mm)
Commercial history
Opened	21 July 1892
Closed	30 January 1967
Preservation history
1965	Steam locomotive Lilian rescued
1983	Launceston Steam Railway opened
1995	Extension to Newmills opened

The Launceston Steam Railway is a 1 ft 11 ¹⁄₂ in (597 mm) narrow gauge railway operating from the town of Launceston in Cornwall. The railway is built on the trackbed of the North Cornwall Railway to 1 ft 11 ¹⁄₂ in (597 mm) narrow gauge and runs for 2½ miles to Newmills, where there is a farm park.

History

Standard gauge railway

The first railway to reach Launceston was the Launceston and South Devon Railway, opened in 1865 from Launceston to Plymouth, and later absorbed into the Great Western Railway. In 1886 the London and South Western Railway opened its railway from Halwill Junction, extended to Padstow in stages in the 1890s, and later part of the Southern Railway. The two Launceston stations were side by side: the Great Western closed in 1962 and the Southern in 1966.

Narrow gauge revival

In 1965, trainee teacher Nigel Bowman rescued the steam locomotive "Lilian" from the Penrhyn Slate Quarry in North Wales, and restored her to working order at his home in Surrey. He then set about looking for a site to build a railway for Lilian to run on, and settled on Launceston in 1971, after considering a stretch of trackbed from Guildford to Horsham and the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway. Purchase of the trackbed took several years, and the first ½ mile of track opened on Boxing Day 1983. The railway was extended progressively, the latest opening to Newmills in 1995 bringing the line to its current 2½ mile length.

Launceston Steam Railway
Legend North Cornwall Railway to Halwill Junction Launceston Mill leat River Kensey Farm Crossing Hunt's Crossing Farm Crossing Canna Park Newmills North Cornwall Railway to Padstow

Route

The LSR starts at a new station just west of the original LSWR station, which is now an industrial estate. Launceston station is the main station on the railway, and the sheds and engineering facilities are located here. The line runs from the station through a cutting, passing under a road bridge and aqueduct carrying a mill leat, before crossing the River Kensey on a two-arch viaduct. The line is now on an embankment and crosses a bridge over a farm track before arriving at Hunt's Crossing, where it is planned to lay a passing loop. After Hunt's Crossing the line crosses two farm crossings and then reaches Canna Park which was the temporary terminus before the extension to Newmills. From Canna Park there is a fairly short run to Newmills, the terminus. Adjacent to the Newmills station is the Newmills Farm Park.

Locomotives

All public train services are operated by the steam locomotives, whilst the internal combustion locomotives are used for maintenance work.

Steam locomotives

Number	Name	Builder	Type	Works Number	Built	Origin	Notes
	Lilian	Hunslet	0-4-0 ST	317	1883	Penrhyn Quarry	New boiler fitted in 1993 and tender added in 2008
	Covertcoat	Hunslet	0-4-0 ST	679	1898	Dinorwic Quarry	Cab and tender added at Launceston
	Velinheli	Hunslet	0-4-0 ST	409	1886	Dinorwic Quarry	Privately owned by James Evans, ex. Inny Valley Railway.
	Dorothea	Hunslet	0-4-0 ST	763	1901	Dorothea slate quarry	Restored over 22 years by Kay Bowman, first steamed in November 2011 and entered passenger service in 2012.
89	Perseverance	C. Parmenter	2w-2VBT[1] 0-2-2VBT		2004		Constructed on a Hudson chassis

Internal Combustion and Battery Electric

Number	Name	Builder	Type	Works Number	Built	Origin	Notes
38		English Electric	2w-2-2-2wRE	761	1930	Post Office Railway	On display in the museum
42		English Electric	2w-2-2-2wRE		1930	Post Office Railway	To be rebuilt as railcar power bogie
		Motor Rail	4wDM	5646	1933	Grove Heath, Ripley, Surrey
		N. Bowman	4wBER		1986		Inspection trolley
		Launceston SR	4wDER		2004		Inspection trolley

Visiting locomotives

Number	Name	Builder	Year Visited	Location	Notes
	Lilla	Hunslet	1998	Ffestiniog Railway
	Pearl 2	A. Civil	2001	Golden Valley Light Railway
	Dame Ann	Exmoor Steam Railway	2004	Wales West, Alabama
19		Sharp Stewart	2009	Beeches Light Railway
	Gertrude	Andrew Barclay	2009	Exmoor Transport
	Lyd	Boston Lodge	2010	Ffestiniog Railway
		Roanoke Engineering	2010 & 2011	Private	Vertical boilered tram locomotive

Rolling stock

The railway has four passenger carriages, all built on site and based on those built for the Manx Electric Railway, Torrington and Marland Railway and the Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway. There are also several ex. RNAD box vans, slate wagons and tipping wagons.

Plans

It is a long term plan to extend the railway a further two miles to the village of Egloskerry, incorporating a new cycle trail, and it is also planned to construct a replica of the Gyro monorail developed by Louis Brennan.

References

1. Industrial Railway Society (2012). Industrial Locomotives (16EL). Industrial Railway Society. ISBN 978 1 901556 78 0.

External links

• The Railway website