China Clay Waste Tip on Trenance Downs - geograph

The Lansalson branch line (also known as the Trenance valley line) was a railway line built by the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 mill ...

(GWR) to serve the

china clay Kaolinite ( ) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is an important industrial mineral. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral ...

industry in the Trenance valley near

St Austell St Austell (; kw, Sans Austel) is a town in Cornwall, England, south of Bodmin and west of the border with Devon. St Austell is one of the largest towns in Cornwall; at the 2011 census it had a population of 19,958. History St Austell was ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlan ...

, UK. The line was authorised by the GWR in 1910 and after setbacks due to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

the line opened to Bojea Sidings on 1 May 1920 for mineral and goods traffic only, and to Lansalson Sidings on 24 May 1920.E T MacDermot, ''History of the Great Western Railway'', vol II, published by the Great Western Railway, London, 1931 It closed in 1968.

China Clay

The mineral known as china clay in the UK, and as

kaolinite Kaolinite ( ) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is an important industrial mineral. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahed ...

in other countries, was discovered in large quantities in the 1830s, lying north and north-west of

. Much of the output was carted to Charlestown Harbour at first, and then to Pentewan over the

Pentewan Railway The Pentewan Railway was a narrow gauge railway in Cornwall, England. It was built as a horse-drawn tramway carrying china clay from St Austell to a new harbour at Pentewan, and was opened in 1829. In 1874 the line was strengthened for locomot ...

. As railways developed in Cornwall a number of direct access points connected the deposits, but the area close to St Austell was not among them, notwithstanding a proposal to extend the Pentewan Railway there in the 1880s. The china clay industry was subjected to heavy swings in its trade cycle, and a slump in 1903-4 was followed by an upsurge.

A branch line

The Great Western Railway decided to connect the Lansalson area by a short branch line running north up the river valley; engineering difficulties were minimal although the gradient would be heavy. The GWR authorised construction on 26 July 1910, but little progress was made before the onset of

, and work was suspended. A resumption was made at the end of hostilities, and the line opened to Bojea Sidings on 1 May 1920 and throughout to Lansalson Sidings on 24 May 1920. The line was single, with intermediate sidings operated by ground frame.

Route

The line was 1m 53c (2.5 km) in length. It left the

Cornish Main Line The Cornish Main Line ( kw, Penn-hyns-horn Kernow) is a railway line in Cornwall and Devon in the United Kingdom. It runs from Penzance to Plymouth, crossing from Cornwall into Devon over the famous Royal Albert Bridge at Saltash. It directly ...

at Trenance Junction, 600 yards (500 m) west of

St Austell railway station St Austell station is a Grade II listed station which serves the town of St Austell, Cornwall, England. It is from via . The station is operated by Great Western Railway, as is every other station in Cornwall. The station is situated on the h ...

, immediately east of Trenance Viaduct. It turned north and passed Carlyon Farm

kiln A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects made from clay int ...

in the

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

of Trethowel; a short distance north were Bojea sidings. The line crossed the road to Bodmin (B3274) then past Lower Ruddle wharf to Boskell sidings, then crossing to the western side of the St Austell or White River. The line terminated at Lansalson wharf in the village of

Ruddlemoor Treverbyn is a civil parish and village in mid-Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The church of St Peter is modern as the medieval chapel was closed at the time of the Reformation. The parish was formed from part of St Austell parish in 1847. T ...

. The gradient was 1 in 40 rising from Trenance Junction, almost without a break. There was a short length of double track at Trenance Junction, and siding connections at Carlyon Farm, Bojea, Lowell Ruddell, Boskell and Lansalson.Maurice Dart, ''West Cornwall Mineral Railways'', Middleton Press, Midhurst, 2005,

The site today

The line closed to traffic in 1968 but in 2005 the

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

bed has been converted into a

cycle trail Cycle, cycles, or cyclic may refer to: Anthropology and social sciences * Cyclic history, a theory of history * Cyclical theory, a theory of American political history associated with Arthur Schlesinger, Sr. * Social cycle, various cycles in soc ...

(apart from a small section due to a land usage disagreement) from Tremena Gardens in

to the Wheal Martyn china clay country park. The cycle trail forms part of a series called the Clay Trails. The sections relevant to this former railway line are the Wheal Martyn trail and the St Austell Trail.

References

External links

Photo of Lansalson pit
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lansalson Branch Line Rail transport in Cornwall Closed railway lines in South West England Railway lines opened in 1920 Standard gauge railways in England Railway lines closed in 1968