Liskeard and Caradon Railway - The Looe Line Reaches Liskeard

The Looe Line Reaches Liskeard

With the L&CR in receivership and defaulting on payments due to the LLUC, the latter looked gloomily at the declining fortunes of mineral extraction on Caradon, and the idea of an extension to the Cornwall Railway's main line at Liskeard was raised again. (The Great Western Railway absorbed the Cornwall Railway in 1895; their broad gauge line had been converted to standard gauge in 1892.) A number of schemes were considered over a decade or so, culminating in the Liskeard and Looe Railway Extension Act of 1895. This authorised a connecting line from Coombe to Liskeard, on a very steep gradient and forming almost a complete circle to gain height. The LLUC Company name was finally changed to the Liskeard and Looe Railway (L&LR); new capital was authorised, but was very hard to find, until a Captain John Spicer, not a local man, offered to subscribe a large sum in purchasing both preference and ordinary shares. After some delay this was done, and Spicer acquired a controlling interest in the L&LR. The Company could now proceed to build the connecting line, and work started in 1898. It opened on 8 May 1901. The L&LR had given the receiver of the L&CR notice that it would work its line itself, and that it would take over the operation of the L&CR in accordance with the terms of the earlier lease. The two lines were now operated under common management.

Nonetheless the L&CR receiver claimed for the value of the L&CR's equipment taken over, and after protracted legal processes, the L&LR were compelled to pay £3,850 to the L&CR receiver; the money was distributed among that Company's shareholders.

The L&LR passenger operation grew enormously, but despite some small new traffics, the L&CR continued to decline. The weak and worn out track was also expensive to keep in repair: maintenance costs per train mile were three times the English average.

The cost of construction of the Liskeard extension had overrun very considerably, and Spicer footed the escalating bill. Despite the relative profitability of the L&LR it was unable to pay interest charges consistently, and paradoxically it now failed to pay the L&CR lease charge, and the L&CR receiver took action against the L&LR. Hopelessly unable to pay off its huge debts, the company looked for a purchaser in the Great Western Railway (GWR). The GWR was anxious to keep the rival London and South Western Railway out of the area, and agreed to purchase the L&CR.