- Plymouth Friary railway station
Plymouth Friary railway station was the
London and South Western Railway (LSWR) terminus inPlymouth ,Devon ,England .History
London and South Western Railway 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 asLydford railway station , then over theGreat Western Railway (GWR) Launceston branch [cite book| last = Anthony| first = GH| coauthors = Jenkins, SC| title = The Launceston Branch| publisher = Oakwood Press| date = 1997| location = Headington| id = ISBN 0-853614-91-3] via Tavistock and the South Devon main line to Mutley. They then continued over the new Cornwall Loop Viaduct (now known as Pennycomequick Viaduct) and a short section of theCornwall Railway before reaching the company's line to its Devonport station. A new joint LSWR and GWR station at Plymouth North Road, a short distance to the west of Mutley, was opened on28 March 1877 .cite book| last = Oakley| first = Mike| title = Devon Railway Stations| publisher = The Dovecote Press| date = 2007| location = Wimbourne| id = ISBN 1-904349-55-6]Friary Goods Station had opened on
1 February 1878 at the end of a short branch from Friary Junction near Laira on the GWR's Sutton Harbour branch.cite book| last = St John Thomas| first = David| title = West Country Railway History| publisher = David and Charles| date = 1973| location = Newton Abbot| id = ISBN 0-715363-63-8] On22 October 1879 an extension was opened through a short tunnel beneath Exeter Street to North Quay on Sutton Harbour, from where wagon turntables allowed access to Sutton Wharf and Vauxhall Quay. A reversal at Friary allowed access to another branch to Cattedown, although this was not completed until 1888.The LSWR established a route to Plymouth independent of the GWR on
1 June 1890 , when thePlymouth, Devonport and South Western Junction Railway (PDSWJ) was opened from Lydford to Devonport. [cite book| last = Cheeseman| first = AJ| title = The Plymouth, Devonport & South Western Junction Railway| publisher =Oakwood Press| date = 1967| location = Blandford Forum] For a short while LSWR trains terminated at North Road, but on1 July 1891 a new passenger terminus station was opened at Friary. The station was close to the eastern side of the town centre, facing onto Beaumont Road but also with an entrance from Exeter Street. There were four platform lines serving two platforms. A convert|300|ft|m by convert|100|ft|m goods shed was situated to the south of the station, the side nearest Exeter Street.On
5 September 1892 a line was opened across theRiver Plym to Plymstock, and was extended to Turnchapel on1 January 1897 . [cite book| last = Kingdom| first = Athony R| title = The Turnchapel Branch| publisher = Oxford Publishing Company| date = 1982| location = Poole| id = ISBN 0-860931-81-1] The GWR also served Plymstock from a direct line from Millbay via Laira en route to Yealmpton, but from3 November 1941 until7 October 1947 GWR trains ran from Friary to Yealmpton.Passenger services were withdrawn on
15 September 1958 after which it became the city's main goods depot, allowing the space at Millbay to be used for carriage storage. General goods traffic ceased from5 May 1963 but a freight concentration depot was built in 1966. The main station building was demolished in 1976 and the remaining freight traffic was eventually moved out to Tavistock Junction.The station site has been covered in houses and light industrial units, but a track still comes as far as Tothill Road where a loop and siding is still in use to allow trains to reverse on their way to Cattedown. The station master's house on the corner of Beaumont Road and Tothill Road is now a doctor's surgery.
Harbourside lines
On
22 October 1879 an extension was opened through a short tunnel beneath Exeter Street to North Quay on Sutton Harbour, from where wagon turntables allowed access to Sutton Wharf and Vauxhall Quay; an LSWR office was established on the Barbican opposite the Fish Quay A connection from the GWR Sutton Harbour depot to North Quay was opened on6 November 1879 and both companies then served the quays.A longer branch to Cattedown was started soon after the Friary goods branch had opened in 1878; it was completed in 1888. It served the Corporation Wharves just south of the Laira Bridge across the
River Plym which had been served by thePlymouth and Dartmoor Railway (P&DR) for many years. It then continued to follow the water from along Cattewater to terminate at the Victoria Wharves, a short distance south of the GWR's Coxside Depot on Sutton Harbour. Along the way it served a number of sidings: [cite book| last = Cooke| first = R A| title = Track Layout Diagrams of the GWR and BR WR: Section 12, Plymouth| publisher = R A Cooke| date = 1979| location = Harwell] the electricity power station at Princes Rock; a Plymouth Corporation depot, Blight and White, Regent Oil, and the wharves at Cattedown; the railway's own goods depot at Cattewater; South West Tar Distillers; andEsso in Cattedown Quarry. There is a convert|48|yd|m tunnel at Cattedown.Loco shed
A two-road
engine shed was provided at Friary from 1890 to replace the shed at Devonport for terminating locomotives, although Devonport was retained to house the locomotive used on the Stonehouse Pool branch. The Friary shed was situated to the south of the station.cite book| last = Smith| first = Martin| title = An Illustrated History of Plymouth's Railways| publisher = Irwell Press| date = 1995| location = Caernarfon| id = ISBN 1-817608-41-4]The shed was replaced in 1908 by a larger building east of the station near Lucas Terrace Halt. This now had three roads
The shed's allocation covered all the duties on the local branch lines as well as some services to Exeter Queen Street. For example, in 1933 it was allocated 27 locomotives. There were 9 T9 4-4-0s for main line trains, 12 O2 and T1 0-4-4Ts for local services, 2 ex-PDSWJ
0-6-2 Ts and 4 small B4 0-4-0Ts for goods trains.On
1 February 1958 responsibility for Friary shed passed to the Western Region, but remained in use until May 1963.ignalling
The
signal box that controlled Friary goods and the junctions with the harbour branches was replaced on1 July 1981 with two new boxes. [cite book| last = Crozier| first = Larry| title = Mechanical Signalling in Plymouth| publisher = Signalling Record Society| date = 2000| location = Wallasey| id = ISBN 1-873228-18-X] "Friary A" was a 55-lever box at the junction of the passenger and goods lines on the approach to the station. A new 43-lever frame was installed in 1909. The box closed on24 April 1966 when control of trains at Friary became the responsibility of staff on the ground, with the approaches controlled by the panel signal box at North Road."Friary B" signal box housed 45 levers and controlled movements within the passenger station. It closed on
21 July 1962 .ee also
*
Railways in Plymouth References
Further reading
*cite book| last = Leitch| first = Russell| title = Plymouth's Railways in the 1930s| publisher = Railway Correspondence and Travel Society| date = 2002| location = Peterborough| id = ISBN 0-901115-91-6
*cite book| last = Mitchell| first = Vic| coauthors = Smith, Keith| title = Branch Lines Around Plymouth| publisher = Middleton Press| date = 1997| location = Midhurst| id = ISBN 1-873793-98-7
*cite web | last =Mosley | first =Brian | title =Plymouth Friary station | work =Encyclopedia of Plymouth History | publisher =Plymouth Data | url =http://www.plymouthdata.info/Railways-Plymouth%20Friary.htm | accessdate = 2008-07-22
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.