This article needs additional citations for verification .(March 2010) |
General information | |||||
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Location | Calstock, Cornwall England | ||||
Coordinates | 50°29′53″N4°12′32″W / 50.498°N 4.209°W | ||||
Grid reference | SX433688 | ||||
Managed by | Great Western Railway | ||||
Platforms | 1 | ||||
Other information | |||||
Station code | CSK | ||||
Classification | DfT category F2 | ||||
Passengers | |||||
2019/20 | 34,758 | ||||
2020/21 | 10,534 | ||||
2021/22 | 27,566 | ||||
2022/23 | 31,616 | ||||
2023/24 | 34,506 | ||||
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Calstock railway station (Cornish :Kalstok) is an unstaffed railway station on the Tamar Valley Line serving the village of Calstock in Cornwall,United Kingdom. It is situated at the north end of Calstock Viaduct which carries the railway at high level over the River Tamar. [1]
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%). [2]
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. [3]
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. [4]
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.
Calstock is served by trains on the Tamar Valley Line from Gunnislake to Plymouth. Connections with main line services can be made at Plymouth.
Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Gunnislake Terminus | Great Western Railway | Bere Alston towards Plymouth |
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.
The Tamar Inn in Calstock is part of the Tamar Valley Line rail ale trail, which is designed to promote the use of the line. [5]
Calstock Viaduct | |
---|---|
Listed Building – Grade II* | |
Official name | Calstock Viaduct |
Designated | 23 January 1968 |
Reference no. | 1138329 |
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. [6]
The construction of the viaduct provided the background to the 1939 novel The Viaduct by Victor Canning, set in the fictional village of Caradon which was closely modelled on Calstock. [7]
The Tamar is a river in south west England that forms most of the border between Devon and Cornwall. A large part of the valley of the Tamar is protected as the Tamar Valley National Landscape, and some is included in the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape due to its historic mining activities.
Callington is a civil parish and town in east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom about 7 miles (11 km) north of Saltash and 9 miles (14 km) south of Launceston.
Kit Hill, at 334 metres high, dominates the area between Callington and the River Tamar in southeast Cornwall, England, UK. The word 'Kit' comes from Old English for kite, a reference to birds of prey. Buzzards and sparrowhawks can still be seen on the hill. It is one of five Marilyn hills in Cornwall, the four others are Watch Croft, Brown Willy, Carnmenellis and Hensbarrow Beacon.
The Tamar Valley Line is a railway line from Plymouth, Devon, to Gunnislake, Cornwall, in England, also known as the Gunnislake branch line. The line follows the River Tamar for much of its route. Like all railway lines in Devon and Cornwall, it is unelectrified and all trains are diesel powered. The entire line is single track past St. Budeaux Junction.
The Plymouth, Devonport and South Western Junction Railway (PD&SWJR) was an English railway company. It constructed a main line railway between Lydford and Devonport, in Devon, England, enabling the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) to reach Plymouth more conveniently than before.
Devonport railway station serves the Devonport area of Plymouth in Devon, England. It is 248 miles 28 chains (399.7 km) from London Paddington measured via Box and Plymouth Millbay. It is managed by Great Western Railway.
Dockyard railway station is a Great Western Railway suburban station on the Cornish Main Line in Devonport, Plymouth, England. As the name implies, it serves Devonport Dockyard. It is 248 miles 60 chains (400.3 km) from London Paddington via Box and Plymouth Millbay.
Keyham railway station is a suburban station in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. It is 249 miles 25 chains (401.2 km) from London Paddington via Box and Plymouth Millbay. The station is close to the Devonport dockyard.
St Budeaux Victoria Road railway station is a suburban station in St Budeaux, Plymouth, Devon, England. The station is managed and served by Great Western Railway.
Bere Ferrers station on the Tamar Valley Line is situated near the village of Bere Ferrers in Devon, England. The station is on the former Southern main line between Exeter and Plymouth via Okehampton. It is currently operated by Great Western Railway (GWR).
Calstock is a civil parish and a large village in south east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, on the border with Devon. The village is situated on the River Tamar 6 miles (9.7 km) south west of Tavistock and 10 miles (16 km) north of Plymouth.
Bere Alston railway station serves the village of Bere Alston in Devon, England, 10+1⁄4 miles (16.5 km) north of Plymouth on the Tamar Valley Line to Gunnislake.
Gunnislake railway station serves the village of Gunnislake in Cornwall, England. There are also connecting buses from here to the town of Tavistock. However the station is located in or nearer to the villages of Drakewalls and Albaston. It is the northern terminus of the Tamar Valley Line from Plymouth.
Gunnislake is a large village in east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated in the Tamar Valley approximately ten miles (16 km) north of Plymouth The first woman cabinet minister in the British Empire, Mary Ellen Smith, was born here in 1863.
The East Cornwall Mineral Railway was a 1,067 mm gauge railway line, opened in 1872 to connect mines and quarries in the Callington and Gunnislake areas in east Cornwall, England, with shipping at Calstock on the River Tamar. The line included a rope-worked incline to descend to the quay at Calstock.
The Cornish Main Line is a railway line in Cornwall and Devon in the United Kingdom. It runs from Penzance to Plymouth, crossing from Cornwall into Devon over the Royal Albert Bridge at Saltash.
The Exeter to Plymouth railway of the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) was the westernmost part of a route competing with that of the Great Western Railway (GWR) and its 'associated companies' from London and Exeter to Plymouth in Devon, England. Whereas the GWR route from Exeter followed the coast to Newton Abbot and then went around the southern edge of Dartmoor, the LSWR route followed the northern and western margins of Dartmoor, passing through the towns of Crediton, Okehampton, and Tavistock.
A rail ale trail is a marketing exercise in the United Kingdom that is designed to promote tourism to a rural area, by encouraging people to visit a series of pubs that are close to stations along a railway line. Participants are rewarded for visiting the pubs by train. In doing this they increase the number of passengers on the railway and bring money into the local economy. The scheme is often supported by the Campaign for Real Ale. The beer is usually brewed locally and many of the pubs offer food as well.
The Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership is the largest Community Rail Partnership in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1991 to promote the use of, and improvements to, rural railways in Devon and Cornwall, and also to promote the places served in order to improve the local economy.
The network of railways in Plymouth, Devon, England, was developed by companies affiliated to two competing railways, the Great Western Railway and the London and South Western Railway. At their height two main lines and three branch lines served 28 stations in the Plymouth area, but today just six stations remain in use.