Cornwall Railway

Cornwall Railway
The Royal Albert Bridge that carries the route of the Cornwall Railway across the River Tamar
History
1835	Proposal for a railway from London to Falmouth
1839	Proposal for the Cornwall Railway
1846	Cornwall Railway Act
1848–52	Construction suspended
1859	Opened from Plymouth to Truro
1863	Opened Truro to Falmouth
1867	Branch opened to Keyham Dockyard
1876	Cornwall Loop line opened in Plymouth
1889	Line sold to the Great Western Railway
Engineering
Engineer	Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Gauge	7 ft 1⁄4 in (2,140 mm) Brunel gauge converted to 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge in 1892
Successor organisation
1889	Great Western Railway
1948	British Railways
Key locations
Headquarters	Truro, Cornwall
Workshops	Lostwithiel
Major stations	St Austell Truro Falmouth
Key structures	Royal Albert Bridge and numerous timber trestle viaducts
Route mileage
1859	53.50 miles (86.10 km)
1863	65.34 miles (105.15 km)

The Cornwall Railway was a 7 ft 1⁄4 in (2,140 mm) broad gauge railway from Plymouth in Devon to Falmouth in Cornwall, England, built in the second half of the nineteenth century. It was constantly beset with shortage of capital for the construction, and was eventually forced to sell its line to the dominant Great Western Railway.

The Cornwall Railway was famous for building the majestic Royal Albert Bridge over the River Tamar and, because of the difficult terrain it traversed, it had a large number of viaducts, built as timber trestles because of the shortage of money. They proved to be iconic structures, but were a source of heavy maintenance costs, eventually needing to be reconstructed in more durable materials.

Its main line was the key route to many of the holiday destinations of Cornwall, and in the first half of the 20th century it carried holidaymakers in summer, as well as vegetables, fish and cut flowers from Cornwall to markets in London and elsewhere in England. The section from Truro to Falmouth, originally part of its main line, never fulfilled its potential and soon became a branch line. Nonetheless the entire route (with some minor modifications) remains open, forming part of the Cornish Main Line from Plymouth to Penzance. The Truro to Falmouth branch continues: the passenger service on it is branded the Maritime Line.