Chris,Brian,
  I have got a pic of Goonbell being built,so hang fire until you see if its the same one.Its taken from Alan Bennett's "The Great Western Railway in Mid Cornwall"
 But if you have any pics of anything on the old branch that survives now,please just stick them on this thread.
 There's a website that has shots taken all along the remnants of the line,and at the end of the thread,I'll post a link to it along with a list of  further reading/books,magazines etc that will be of interest.

Cheers,John.B.

Sorry John, will stop trying to hijack your thread!

Chris,
 No bother,mate….its a forum,not a lecture room…all contributions gratefully recieved,as they say!
 :D  :D  :D
 Besides,you local lads probably know a lot more about the area than I do.(I'm getting all this from books,and you'll probably know as much,if not more,than the people who've written the books!!!)
 Lets not pooh pooh local knowledge!!!
Cheers,John.B.

WORK IN PROGRESS……..Waiting for pictures and diagrams to be scanned in…………………………………………………………………….
The first stop on the branch from Chacewater is Mount Hawke Halt,opened in 1905.It is a single platform typical GWR halt with just a corrugated pagoda-type shelter,built in a cutting accessed by steps down to the platform.
The above photo by P.Gray taken inJuly 1961 shows no.5562 with the 4.35 Newquay/Truro train.
After Mount Hawke,the line curves eastwards then northwards towards St.Agnes,the first station of note on the branch.As usual,the station was some distance from the village it served.
 The station in its original form was on a single line on the left going towards Newquay.The original station building had a canopy.(see pics)
  When the station was remodelled,the platform was removed along with the canopy.All doors that led to where the platform was were blocked off.
A new,island platform was provided,accessesed from the altered station building via a footbridge.Also,a signal box was added.There was now another passing place for trains here like there was further up the line at Perranporth.
 Compare pictures 1 and 3 both taken from the same spot showing old and new layouts!






  The next stop up the line was Goonbell Halt,leaving St.Agnes the line curves sharply eastward through a cutting to nearby Goonbell Halt.Again,like Mount Hawke Halt,a small single platform in a cutting with a solitary pagoda shelter.Passing through Goonbell Halt,we then cross over Goonbell Viaduct(built 1902/3),an impressive masonry structure of 5 arches that still survives today,having outlived the railway it once served.

ABOVE:Goonbell Halt 1905
 The Viaduct at Goonbell under construction;

 The line then curved northward again towards Mithian Halt.Another typical stereotype GWR halt.The 1st picture shows the original wooden platform as built in 1905,the second shows the halt rebuilt as a brick platform.




More to follow,folks…..next instalment Perranporth Beach Halt & Perranporth!!!
 Cheers,John.B.

John

Really good thread this keep it up.
If i can i will try and get a piccy of the Goonbell viaduct during the week and post it here it is still fully intact but does absolutely nothing now except perhaps a quick route for wildlife to get across.

cheers Brian.W

Cheers,Brian.
 Just looking at the 2 different layouts on St.Agnes,I was thinking that it would be nice to model it as a kind of Frankensteins'monster,bits of both.
 The cutesy-olde world of the original,with its awning and adverts on the fencing,but add the island platform/signal box/footbridge aspect as well.
……Best of both worlds!!!
 Bang on a fiddle yard either end…..Bob's yer uncle!Anyone stuck for a layout idea could do a lot worse.

Cheers,John.B.

This is really interesting :)

Great article and photos GJG.  Looking at St Agnes, it's amazing how they could cram so much extra into the space without it looking crowded.  Must have been very lateral thinking planners in those days !!  Looking forward to reading more.
 :wink:

Petermac

A similar rebuild took place at Penryn, with the station platforms being moved well away from the original building.  Must be a Cornish thing…

Christrerise said

A similar rebuild took place at Penryn, with the station platforms being moved well away from the original building.  Must be a Cornish thing…

Maybe they were just moving them further away from "England" Chris !!      

Petermac

And here is the old St Agnes Station building as it is today.
The actual platform was on the right hand side of the building where you see the gravel path.
It is now part of a little industrial estate.


cheers Brian.W

Maybe they were just moving them further away from "England" Chris !!      

Petermac

Well, can't blame them for that! :twisted:

Following the photograph of the Goonbell viaduct being constructed here are some photos of how it is todaywhich i took this morning.
It is totally unused now but from a distance it still looks in very good structural condition.
The first photo is showing the whole viaduct looking south towards it.
The second photo is from a similar angle the original build photo was taken.
The third photo shows the track run over the viaduct looking towards Goonbell.

The forth photo is of a little cattle creep that preceeds the viaduct on the Mithian side









cheers Brian.W

I always think it's a great pity these railway relics of bygone days are just left to decay.  Being a very practical kind of guy, I haven't the faintest idea what I'd use them for but they ought to be used !!!!!

In the village in Yorkshire where I grew up, there was superb iron single span viaduct over the river.  When they closed the line, it just rotted until someone got it listed.  The owners (I think BR) couldn't, or didn't want to restore/preserve it so sold it off for £1 - with the proviso that the new owner restored it.  It's now part of a track-bed footpath and stands resplendant in all (or most) of it's former glory.

Petermac

This weekend,I promise to carry on where I left off and post some more pics of the two Perranporth stops on the line,and after that,on towards Newquay!!
 I've not forgotten!!! :D

Cheers,John.B.

Excellent - looking forward to it

Next stop on our journey to Newquay is Perranporth Beach Halt,which was the last stopping place to be built on the line.Ironically,it remains the last one still in use,albeit in a different location!!!
 The sections were removed to Falmouth,where they now form the new Falmouth Town stop on that line.
 

Various views of Perranporth Station taken from the excellent "Branch Lines to Newquay"by Middleton Press.(contains many more excellent pics of the OTHER Newquay branch from Par.Recommended reading!

Note the differences to this (Chacewater)end of Perranporth Station.The earlier GWR original signage over the subway entrance in the older picture,and the corrugated iron hut that appeared behind the subway some time later.

At this point,I think its appropriate to mention the great help that our very own HenryParrott has been in my research on Perranporth.
 Not everything we need to know about how things ran is available from books,and his efforts to get info and pictures for me goes that extra yard.
Not only has he been out and about taking pictures for me,but has gone to the trouble of hunting down info from old inhabitants of Perranporth,not least Mr.Miners,whos father was the signalman at Perranporth.
 Much appreciated,Brian.
Also thanks to Chris Trerise,while I'm about it for his input on this thread so far.
 Cheers Lads,
                  John.B.  :)  :)

Fascinating photos and text.  I'm enjoying every installment.

 Mike

The black and white photographs are excellent. Really bringing back memories.