PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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The branch railway from Plymouth Friary Station to Cattewater Junction Signal Box on the Turnchapel Branch and then to Cattewater Wharves and Victoria Wharves. Originally proposed by the Plymouth & Dartmoor Railway Company on behalf of the London & South Western Railway, the lines were authorised on July 19th 1875 by the Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway (Plymouth Extensions) Act 1875 and work started in March 1879. The engineers were Messrs Galbraith & Church, the consulting engineers of the London & South Western Railway Company, and their resident engineer was Mr C T Elton. The contractor was Mr R T Relf, who was at various time employing between 100 and 300 men on the work. The first part of the line was difficult to construct as it was built over meadow land previously reclaimed from the sea by the Embankment Company. In addition, the railway embankment itself, which was required to raise the line so as to cross the Laira, had to constructed on mud banks that were found to sink some 40 to 50 feet. There was, apparently, three times more soil beneath the embankment than was visible above ground. Two lattice girder bridges were required to carry the railway over first the South Devon Railway's Sutton Harbour branch and the Embankment Road, one of 90 feet span and the other 80 feet. Once by the the side of the water the line was carried through the limestone by means of cuttings of some 40 feet in depth until it reached Cattedown Lane, as it then was, which it went under by means of a stone-faced, 50 yards long tunnel. The cost of about £22,000 excluded the purchase of land but included a new quay at Prince Rock to replace one removed during the construction work. The branch was originally about 1½ miles in length and terminated near the works of Messrs James Gibbs & Company, chemical manure and nitrate of soda manufacturers. Other companies who were to benefit from the line were Messrs Sparrow & Company, lime merchants; Messrs Burnard, Lack & Alger, chemical fertiliser manufacturers; and Messrs Charles Norrington & Company, also chemical fertiliser manufacturers. China Clay and granite from Dartmoor could also be sent to the quays for export. Although the Cattewater Branch was opened on Tuesday August 3rd 1880, it had not carried any traffic by the following Saturday. The line was worked by the LSWR under an agreement with the Plymouth & Dartmoor Railway Company, who were the owners. In due course the LSWR gained running powers over the lines by means of the Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway Act 1882. In 1888 the Cattewater Branch was extended to its final terminus at Victoria Wharves. On January 1st 1948 the branch became part of BRITISH RAILWAYS SOUTHERN REGION.
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