Calstock railway station

Calstock railway station is an unstaffed railway station on the Tamar Valley Line serving the village of Calstock in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated at grid reference SX 433 688 at the north end of Calstock Viaduct which carries the railway at high level over the River Tamar.[1]

Calstock
The platform, looking north
LocationCalstock, Cornwall
England
Coordinates50.498°N 4.209°W / 50.498; -4.209
Grid referenceSX433688
Managed byGreat Western Railway
Platforms1
Other information
Station codeCSK
ClassificationDfT category F2
Passengers
2015/16 33,794
2016/17 35,346
2017/18 37,426
2018/19 37,834
2019/20 34,758
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History
View SW, towards Calstock Viaduct in 1987

The 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge East Cornwall Mineral Railway was opened to Kelly Quay at Calstock on 8 May 1872. Wagons with goods from the mines around Gunnislake and Callington were brought down the hillside on a 0.4 miles (0.6 km) cable-worked incline with a gradient of 1 in 6 (17%).

The Plymouth, Devonport and South Western Junction Railway opened the station on 2 March 1908. This line was a branch from Bere Alston to Callington Road and crossed the River Tamar on Calstock Viaduct.

A steam-powered lift was attached to the downstream side of the viaduct which could raise and lower wagons to the quays 113 feet (34 m) below, making it one of the highest such lifts in the country. It was connected to the station goods yard by a second parallel steel stub viaduct. A short section of the narrow gauge line was retained to serve a lime kiln, but the wagon lift and all the sidings were taken out of use in September 1934.

Fruit and flowers were an important part of the traffic carried on the railway and were still carried by train from Calstock until the mid-1970s.

Description

The single platform – on the right of trains arriving from Plymouth – is situated on a sharp curve which makes it difficult to see trains approaching from Gunnislake. It is on the hillside towards the edge of the village.

Services
A train to Gunnislake

Calstock is served by trains on the Tamar Valley Line from Gunnislake to Plymouth. Connections with main line services can be made at Plymouth, although a small number of Tamar Valley services continue to or from Exeter St Davids.[2]

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Bere Alston   Great Western Railway
Tamar Valley Line		   Gunnislake

Community railway

The railway from Plymouth to Gunnislake is designated as a community railway and is supported by marketing provided by the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership. The line is promoted under the "Tamar Valley Line" name.

Two pubs in Calstock take part in the Tamar Valley Line rail ale trail, which is designed to promote the use of the line. The line is also part of the Dartmoor Sunday Rover network of integrated bus and rail routes.

Calstock Viaduct
Calstock Viaduct in 1972.

The viaduct is 120 feet (37 m) high with twelve 60 feet (18 m) wide arches, and a further small arch in the Calstock abutment. Three of the piers stand in the River Tamar, which is tidal at this point and has a minimum clearance at high tide of 110 feet (34 m).

It was built between 1904 and 1907 by John Lang of Liskeard using 11,148 concrete blocks. These were cast in a temporary yard on the Devon bank opposite the village. The engineers were Richard Church and W. R. Galbraith.

It is a Grade II* listed structure.[3]

References
  1. Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 201 Plymouth & Launceston ISBN 978-0-319-23146-3
  2. Table 139 National Rail timetable, May 2016
  3. "Name: CALSTOCK VIADUCT List entry Number: 1105516". Historic England. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  • Cheesman, AJ (1967). The Plymouth, Devonport and South Western Junction Railway. Blandford Forum: Oakwood Press.
  • Clinker, CR (1963). The Railways of Cornwall 1809 - 1963. Dawlish: David and Charles.
  • Crombleholme, Roger; Gibson, Bryan; Stickey, Douglas; Whetmath, CFD (1985) [1967]. Callington Railways. Brackenll: Forge Books.
  • Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership (2006), Tamar Valley Line Rail Ale Trail
  • Parkhouse, Neil. "Building Calstock Viaduct". Archive (2): 33–54. ISSN 1352-7991.
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