Ocean Quay
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Located at 50°21′54″N 4°10′02″W / 50.3650°N 4.1673°W / 50.3650; -4.1673
A branch from Devonport goods yard to Stonehouse Pool was opened for goods traffic in 1876 and completed the following year. This started next to the signal box and dived down a steep gradient to pass beneath the goods shed in a tunnel. It then ran alongside Kings Road, crossed beneath the junction of Stonehouse Bridge, Devonport Hill and Richmond Walk, to terminate on the waterside opposite Admiral's Hard slipway. From 1893 the LSWR started to attract passengers from trans-Atlantic liners and on 9 April 1904 it opened a two-platform Ocean Quay station at Stonehouse Pool.
The GWR continued to hold the contract for carrying mail from the liners to London, but a number of the liner companies arranged for the LSWR to carry their passengers. This caused a race for the fastest train to London with fatal consequences. On 9 May 1904 City of Truro was the first locomotive recorded in excess of 100 mph while working one of the GWR's trains, with the whole journey to London taking just 3 hours 54 minutes. The GWR route was shortened by 20¼ miles on 1 July 1906 with the opening of the Castle Cary Cut-Off line that avoided the "Great Way Round" through Bristol Temple Meads, but in the early hours of 30 June 1906an LSWR special had derailed at high speed passing through Salisbury railway station, after which speeds returned to a more sedate pace, with trains taking around five hours.
The traffic never lived up to the LSWR's expectations so it closed Ocean Quay on 28 May 1910, after which all ocean traffic was handled by the GWR from Millbay Docks. The line remained open for freight traffic until 30 May 1970 although the last train had run in 1966.
Read more about this topic: Devonport Kings Road Railway Station
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