The Liskeard and Looe Railway was a railway originally built between Moorswater, in the valley west of Liskeard, and Looe, in Cornwall, England, UK, and later extended to Liskeard station on the Cornish Main Line railway. The first section was opened in 1860 and was owned by the Liskeard and Looe Union Canal Company, whose canal had earlier (from 1827) been built to convey sea sand and lime up the valley of the East Looe River, for the purpose of improving agricultural land.
When copper and tin ores were discovered on Caradon Hill, they were brought down to Looe Harbour over the canal; the volume of traffic became too much for the canal, and the railway was built. It was short of money and operated with a single hired locomotive at first, carrying minerals from Caradon to the sea at Looe, as well as coal and machinery, and some agricultural materials up the valley.
Passenger traffic was started in 1879, and at the same time mineral extraction was already declining. Seeing the disadvantage of being isolated from other railways, the Company built a connecting line between Moorswater and Liskeard station, on the main line; this was opened in 1901, and encouraged passenger and general goods traffic.
A peculiarity of the line is the circuitous route from Liskeard to Coombe, and the reversal there; there is a steep gradient to descend from Liskeard into the valley, and sharp curves.
The line remains open. Passenger trains are operated by Great Western Railway under the brand name "The Looe Valley Line".
General description The Liskeard and Looe Railway can nowadays be more conveniently thought of as the Looe Branch. It leaves Liskeard station (on the broadly east-west Plymouth to Penzance main line) in a northward direction, turning in a narrow sweep to pass southwards under the main line, continuing to turn to reach Coombe Junction, again facing north. The original line from Looe continued northwards for a short distance at this point to Moorswater, connecting there with the Liskeard and Caradon Railway; nowadays this is reduced to a stub leading to a nearby private siding at Moorswater.
Passenger trains to Looe reverse at Coombe, and from there the line runs southwards, descending along the valley of the East Looe River, with intermediate stations at St Keyne Wishing Well Halt, Causeland, and Sandplace, finally reaching Looe. The entire route is single line, but the junction at Coombe and the extension to Moorswater there mean that the section is divided for operational purposes.
History Origins The agricultural land around Liskeard is of good quality, but tends to considerable acidity, and in the eighteenth and nineteenth century the best land was "improved" by spreading sea sand or lime on it, to neutralise the acidity. Large quantities of these commodities were required annually, and they were brought in from the coast by pack horse. In 1827 a canal – the Liskeard and Looe Union Canal – was constructed, between Sandplace on the East Looe River and Moorswater, in the valley west of Liskeard. The canal was moderately successful.
From 1836, copper and tin ores were discovered in the Caradon area, and had to be brought to the sea for onward transport to market. Packhorse conveyance to Moorswater meant that the Canal could be used for part of the journey, but the difficulties of horse transport between the mines and Moorswater soon led to plans for the construction of a railway. The Liskeard and Caradon Railway was built to bring the ores, and also granite, down to Moorswater. At Moorswater the minerals were transferred to barges, which transported them down the canal to Looe, from where coastal shipping took them to market.
This brought considerable prosperity to the canal, and traffic volume rose, soon reaching the point where the canal was operating at full capacity. Consideration was then given to building a railway along the valley. A meeting held on 30 September 1857 confirmed this proposal, and a special general meeting of the canal company shareholders met on 13 October 1857; they agreed that they should build a railway. Legal powers to do so were given, in the (21 & 22 Vict. c. xi), on 11 May 1858. The act did not establish a company of that name: the powers to build the railway were conferred on the existing Liskeard and Looe Union Canal Company. £13,000 of additional share capital was sanctioned, with £4,000 of borrowing powers. Locomotive haulage was authorised, but locomotives were not to pass the end of Looe Bridge to reach Buller Quay on the level.
Construction
Contracts were let for the construction of the line, and land acquisition was put in hand. The railway was to be built alongside the canal; it is not clear whether the canal was intended to remain in use as well as the railway, or whether this was simply to avoid closing the canal during the railway construction period. Granite sleeper blocks (from Cheesewring) were used. In the Looe Valley from Tregarland to Looe longitudinal timbers were used instead. Granite blocks were obsolete technology at this period, although they had been used on the Liskeard and Caradon line, and longitudinal timbers were in use on the Cornwall Railway. Messenger suggests that the use of these forms of track construction was due to inexperience on the part of the engineers.
Construction costs considerably exceeded the authorised capital, and in July 1860 the managing committee instructed that the accommodation works (farm crossings etc.) should be postponed; arrangements were made with the L&CR to use their wagons and a small locomotive was hired in from James Murphy of Newport, Monmouthshire, for £3 per day including crew.
Amid much ceremony and jubilation the railway opened, for goods and mineral traffic only, on 27 December 1860.
The canal was retained in operation from Sandplace to Looe, as there was an important quay at Sandplace, but it is likely that the higher part of the canal became disused immediately.
Early operation Initial operation from 1860 consisted of the use of the hired locomotive Liskeard taking the wagons of the Liskeard and Caradon Railway (L&CR) down to Looe. Liskeard was brought to the Liskeard station of the Cornwall Railway (no doubt on a wagon), and then hauled to Moorswater by a team of 28 horses.
In fact Liskeard served well, for it was purchased from Murphy for £600 in September 1861. The L&CR, planned as a gravity railway with horse traction for the uphill direction, saw the value of a locomotive, and acquired their own, Caradon in August (probably) of 1862.
It was realised that it made little sense to keep the two lines separate, and a Joint Committee had been formed in March 1862—the L&CR had three members to the LLUC's two. Through tolls from Caradon to Looe were published, and operational management of the two railways passed to the L&CR from 31 March 1862. The L&CR acquired the locomotive Liskeard, paying the LLUC the £600 it had paid for it.
Mineral traffic increased considerably, and the quayside at Looe became seriously congested. However, copper ore traffic peaked at 27,000 tons in 1863, declining afterwards. Inwards coal continued to climb, however, as the mines were exploiting deeper lodes, requiring more engine power for winding and to drain them. Granite held steady at 7,000 tons for several years, and limestone (inwards) held at about 4,000 tons.
At this time the L&CR was concerning itself with extending its line to new mines, as the focus of extraction shifted away from the earlier shaft locations. From time to time the L&CR also pursued the idea of reaching Launceston by constructing a long branch across the moors. The LLUC by contrast had little to do, their railway being managed by the L&CR. However, shortage of money was a continuing concern, and as some of the Caradon mines also faced financial difficulties, there was considerable pressure for a reduction in tolls.
Formal lease to the L&CR, and passengers carried
The L&CR continued to have ambitious plans, and it planned to obtain parliamentary authority in 1882 to lease the LLUC's railway, as well as the construction of a line to Liskeard. The proposal fell through, possibly due to the reality of lack of cash, but a formal lease of the LLUC undertaking was made, effective from 27 February 1878. This evidently included control of the residual canal activity. This was ratified by a later act of Parliament, the Liskeard and Caradon Railway Act 1884 (47 & 48 Vict. c. cxcv) of 28 July 1884.
John Francis Buller had secured a promise when the LLUC's railway was constructed, that he could have a siding at Sandplace, where he had extensive interests. He now agitated for this promise to be fulfilled, and early in 1879 it was provided.
The carriage of passengers had been discussed from time to time, and individuals had been carried by express permission, for some time. Against a background of steadily declining mineral business, passenger traffic was started on 11 September 1879. Col. Rich of the Board of Trade had made an initial inspection in April 1879 and found that many improvements would be necessary to permit passenger operation, including proper station accommodation, and improvements and widening to several bridges. The works were quickly completed and on 7 September 1879 authorised passenger operation as a light railway; the line was to be worked under "One engine in steam" arrangements.
The L&CR had funded the works for passenger operation, and took the receipts; in contrast the LLUC seemed somnolent, and it was the L&CR which obtained the (58 & 59 Vict. c. cviii) authorising an extension to their railway to connect Moorswater to the Cornish main line of the Cornwall Railway at Liskeard. The act included several other more or less ambitious extensions, but the L&CR's finances were weak, and the Liskeard link was in fact never attempted by them.
Further decline of mineral traffic
The early promise of mineral extraction from Caradon had now peaked, and difficult mining conditions, and the availability of cheaper minerals from overseas, led to serious decline in the industry. The L&CR had been in financial difficulty as a result, and in 1886 it defaulted on the lease payment of £1,350 to the LLUC. As a result, the LLUC was unable to make interest payments on its debentures, and dividends were impossible.
The L&CR instituted desperate economy measures and struggled on; In 1890 the Board of Trade took issue with the L&CR over operating methods on its own line, but also the use of mixed (passenger and goods) trains on the Looe line, with the passenger vehicles at the rear to facilitate shunting at the intermediate sidings. The Companies agreed to limit mixed train operation to one per day, but the placing of the passenger vehicles seems not to have been addressed.
Extension to Liskeard
For many years, in fact from 1846, there had been proposals to link Moorswater with the Cornwall Railway at the high level in Liskeard,This was during the proposals for the Cornwall Railway itself including a 1 in 7 rack railway.
As passengers and non-mineral goods traffic became dominant, the disadvantages of the disconnected route and the inconveniently located Moorswater station motivated the company to act on making a connection to the main line at Liskeard. This became the Liskeard and Looe Extension Railway, when the (58 & 59 Vict. c. cviii) obtained royal assent on 6 July 1895. The name of the company operating the Looe railway line had remained The Liskeard and Looe Union Canal Company and by the same act it was finally changed to The Liskeard and Looe Railway.
The line required £30,000 of share capital and progress stalled due to a lack of willing investors. The Great Western Railway were approached, but were discouraging, and an impasse had been reached, until Captain J. E. P. Spicer, of Spye Park, personally invested the bulk of the capital. Construction started on 28 June 1898.