Liskeard and Caradon Railway - Against The Tide, From 1865

Against The Tide, From 1865

In the second half of the 1860s the Company started systematically upgrading the track, beginning the task of replacing the stone block sleepers with timber, and making a start on replacing level crossings with bridges (starting with Woodhill) and a third new locomotive, to be called Kilmar, was acquired in 1869.

In 1868 the Kilmar branch (still in independent ownership) was extended with a tramway to Bearah.

In 1869 a branch line was built from Minions to Phoenix Mine. This replaced, and partly followed the alignment of, an earlier tramway. In 1871 a new line into Cheesewring Quarry at a lower level was constructed.

In this period the world prices of the minerals were reducing, and this affected the profitability of the mines considerably; this impacted also the level of tolls the company could demand, and therefore its own financial status. The improvements undertaken cost heavily, and the finances of the company were under considerable strain. Operating expenses had increased more than fivefold while income had nearly tripled. Moreover the focus of mineral extraction was moving east and north, away from the railway, compelling it to build extensions to retain the business.

The branch to Marke Valley, and a further extension around Caradon Hill, called the Kilmar Junction Railway, opened in August and November 1877. The Kilmar Junction line, although a circuitous route, connected the locations from Minions northwards without the use of the Gonamena Incline, which was closed immediately.

The North Kilmar branch (from the Kilmar line) was opened in 1879, evidently using stone block sleepers from the Gonamena incline. The Kilmar line was not the property of the L&CR, but was worked by it, and this probably included any maintenance, as well as this extension work. Entirely remote from roads and habitation, it was apparently built without Parliamentary sanction.

In 1877 the company was taking stock of its situation, and it decided to regularise its relationship with the LLUC's railway; it had been working that line without a formal contractual arrangement. It developed proposals to lease the line, and prepared a Bill in Parliament to confirm the lease, and also to construct a connection to the line of the Cornwall Railway; that company had opened a line between Plymouth and Truro in 1859, passing Liskeard broadly east-west at a high level, and crossing the LLUC line by a viaduct.

This would have strained the financial resources of the L&CR and the Bill was in fact allowed to lapse. A formal agreement was made on 29 January 1878 to lease the entire LLUC undertaking; this was effective from 27 February 1878.

There had long been pressure for the provision of a formal passenger service on the Looe line, and this started between Looe and Moorswater on 11 September 1879, worked by the L&CR. That line was being managed by the L&CR, and the considerable upgrading works required to obtain Board of Trade approval for passenger operation were carried out by the L&CR. The process is more fully described at the Liskeard and Looe Railway article. At this time the L&CR made informal enquiries about authorising passenger traffic on its own lines, and a response from Colonel Rich (of the Railway Inspectorate, visiting to approve the Looe line's passenger facilities) was not discouraging. However the proposal seems to have been dropped, probably from simple financial considerations.