History
London and South Western Railway (LSWR) trains first arrived at Plymouth on 17 May 1876, entering the town from the east. To get there trains had travelled over the company's line as far as Lydford railway station, then over the Great Western Railway's Launceston branch via Tavistock and the South Devon main line to Mutley railway station, and then a short section of the Cornwall Railway to reach Devonport Junction near the west end of Pennycomequick Viaduct on the new Cornwall Loop Line. From here trains ran on a short LSWR branch line to its Devonport and Stonehouse terminal.
The station was a large building facing Paradise Road near the junction with Kings Road. A tall tower was part of the main building which stood on the departure platform. The departure and arrival platforms and two sidings between were covered by two substantial train sheds with wide glazed arches at the end. The goods yard was situated to the south of the passenger station.
A route independent of the Great Western was established on 1 June 1890 when the Plymouth, Devonport and South Western Junction Railway was opened from Lydford to Devonport. This route entered the station from the west through Devonport Park Tunnel and a bridge beneath Paradise Road. Now trains from London arrived from the opposite direction and so used the platform next to the main station offices. Trains then continued to North Road, Mutley and, eventually, the LSWR's new terminal at Plymouth Friary.
The train sheds were destroyed in the World War II Blitz but the station remained in use. New canopies were erected after the War but the tracks were left open to the elements.
The "and Stonehouse" was dropped from the name quite early on, but from 26 September 1949 the station was known as Devonport Kings Road in order to distinguish it from the Western Region station at Devonport Albert Road.
The station closed on 7 September 1964 when the remaining trains were diverted over the Western Region route to St Budeaux. Goods traffic continued until 7 March 1971. The station was demolished and the City College Plymouth has been built on the site. The approach road still drops down from Paradise Road and the wall is still topped by the LSWR's decorative railings, and the stone bridge still supports Paradise Road.
| Preceding station | Disused railways | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ford (Devon) | London and South Western Railway – West of England Main Line | Plymouth North Road | ||
| Ocean Quay | London and South Western Railway – Stonehouse Pool branch | Terminus | ||
Read more about this topic: Devonport Kings Road Railway Station
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Indeed, the Englishman’s history of New England commences only when it ceases to be New France.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“History ... is, indeed, little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind.
But what experience and history teach is this—that peoples and governments have never learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from it.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)
“Let us not underrate the value of a fact; it will one day flower in a truth. It is astonishing how few facts of importance are added in a century to the natural history of any animal. The natural history of man himself is still being gradually written.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)