Lostwithiel railway station

Infobox UK station
name = Lostwithiel


caption = Looking westwards
manager = First Great Western
locale = Lostwithiel
borough = Restormel, Cornwall
latitude = 50.40700
longitude = -4.66577
code = LOS
original = Cornwall Railway
pregroup = Great Western Railway
postgroup = Great Western Railway
years = 1859
events = Opened
years1 = 1869
events1 = Fowey branch opened
years2 = 1880
events2 = Fowey branch closed
years3 = 1895
events3 = Fowey branch reopened
years4 = 1965
events4 = Fowey branch closed to passengers
platforms = 2
lowusage0203 = 40,701
lowusage0405 = 42,602
lowusage0506 = 46,172
lowusage0607 = 46,645

Lostwithiel railway station serves the town of Lostwithiel in Cornwall. First Great Western operate the station along with every other station in Cornwall.

The station is on the banks of the River Fowey in Cornwall. At the east end of the station is a level crossing while at the west end the line is carried over the river, beyond which is the junction for the Fowey branch which is now used by china clay trains only. Between the station and the river stand the remains of the Cornwall Railway workshops, converted and extended in 2004 as a housing development.

Lostwithiel's famous medieval bridge is just outside the station, with the town on the opposite bank of the river.

The main entrance is on the platform served by trains to Plymouth, this is the platform nearest the town. A second platform for trains to Penzance is reached from the level crossing.

History

The station opened with the Cornwall Railway on 4 May 1859. A report at the time claimed that it "is generally admitted to be the handsomest station on the line, and looks as gay and bright as fresh paint can make it. It consists, first, of a departure station, a wooden building covered by rusticated boarding, having a projecting verandah, extending eight feet on each side of the carriage approaches, and extending over the railway platform. This contains a spacious first class waiting room, second class ditto, ticket, and other necessary offices, and conveniences. Immediately opposite to this, is the arrival station, which is also of wooden erection, having spacious waiting rooms, and porter and lamp rooms. The roof also projects over the platform in a similar way to that of the departure station. A short distance lower down the line is a convenient goods shed, 75 feet long by 42 feet span of roof. Near to the departure station is the train shed, 100 feet long, in which, in addition to the engines employed on the line, it is intended to contain first, second, and third class carriages, in order to meet any extra requirements that may at any time arise." ["West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser", Railway Special Edition, 1859]

The workshops had been established during the construction of the railway to prepare the timber needed for the wooden viaducts, stations and track. It expanded to also maintain the carriages and wagons of the railway and was retained for some years by the Great Western Railway when the two companies amalgamated on 1 July 1889. [cite book| last = Bennett| first = Alan| title = The Great Western Railway in Mid Cornwall| publisher = Kingfisher Railway Publications| date = 1988| location = Southampton| id = ISBN 0-946184-53-4]

The Lostwithiel and Fowey Railway opened for goods traffic on 1 June 1869. A more direct route from Par to Fowey stole most of the traffic and the trains from Lostwithiel were suspended on 1 January 1880. The Cornwall Railway subsequently leased a part of the line to store rolling stock. The line was reopened by the Cornwall Minerals Railway on 16 September 1895 for both goods and passengers. The passenger service was withdrawn on 4 January 1965 but the line remains open to carry china clay to the jetties at Fowey.

Sidings on the east side of the level crossing came into use on 30 April 1932 to handle traffic from a new Nestle milk factory.

The Great Western Railway was nationalised into British Railways from 1 January 1948 which in turn was privatised in the 1990s. British Railways demolished the original station buildings and replaced them with a new booking office on the platform nearest the town, although these are no longer needed. A signal box is situated on the other platform to control the signals and level crossing.

ignal box

Status: Open, Signal Box Code: LL
The box is situated at the Northern end of Platform 1.After the Bodmin Road Signal Box was closed. The sidings at Bodmin Parkway connecting to the Bodmin and Wenford Railway were controlled by this box at Lostwithiel.

ervices

Lostwithiel is served by about half the First Great Western trains on the Cornish Main Line between Penzance and Plymouth. Some trains run through to or from London Paddington station, including the Night Riviera overnight sleeping car service. [cite web |title = National Rail Timetable 135 (Summer 2008)|publisher= Network Rail|url = http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browse%20documents/eNRT/May08/timetables/Table135.pdf|format=PDF]

One of the evening trains is provided by a CrossCountry service from Scotland, and each weekend a South West Trains service runs from and to London Waterloo station.

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References

Further reading

* The records of the railway companies can be consulted at The National Archives at Kew.

External links

* [http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~owend/interests/rail/stnpages/lostwithiel.html British Railway Stations photographs - Lostwithiel]