Everything about Plymouth Millbay Railway Station totally explained
Plymouth Millbay railway station was the original railway terminus in
Plymouth,
Devon,
England. It was used for passenger trains from 1849 to 1941.
History
The
South Devon Railway originally planned to bring its
broad gauge railway from
Exeter St Davids to the Eldad area of
Plymouth, terminating on a hill above Stonehouse Pool. In the event, it was redesigned to end at a station situated between
Union Street and
Millbay itself.
The railway reached a
temporary station at Laira on the eastern outskirts of Plymouth on
5 May 1848 and was extended to Millbay on
2 April 1849. At this time the station was just known as
Plymouth as no other stations existed in the town. The station became known as "Plymouth Millbay" after other stations were opened in the town in 1876-7 at
Mutley and
North Road.
A separate
ticket platform was erected just outside the station in
1851 and was used until
1896.
The South Devon Railway was
amalgamated into the
Great Western Railway (GWR) on
1 February 1876. The lines were converted to
standard gauge on
21 May 1892, although standard gauge goods trains were working to the docks from 1878 over
mixed gauge tracks. before reaching Cornwall Junction near the bridge carrying Five Fields Lane (now North Road West), where the line to
Penzance diverged to the north-west and that to London turned to the east.
Millbay Docks
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The Plymouth Great Western Docks were constructed, as was the railway, under the supervision of
Isambard Kingdom Brunel but they were owned by an independent company in which the railway invested. The inner basin was opened in 1857 but before the end of the year a gale had caused extensive damage which lead to financial trouble which caused the South Devon Railway to acquire an increasing share in the company until the railway took full control in 1874.
A siding had been laid into the docks in 1850 which crossed Millbay Road on a
level crossing and was worked by horses;
South Devon Railway 0-4-0 locomotives operated in the docks from 1873. Extensions were laid to the West Wharf and Graving Dock in the late 1870s and, from
18 June 1878 a third rail was added to allow access for
London and South Western Railway (LSWR) goods traffic. The first passenger trains started to run through to the East Quay in 1882, The GWR route was shortened by 20¼ miles on
1 July 1906 with the opening of the
Castle Cary Cut-Off line that avoided the "Great Way Round" through
Bristol Temple Meads, but in the early hours of
30 June 1906an
LSWR special had derailed at high speed passing through
Salisbury railway station, after which speeds returned to a more sedate pace, with trains taking around five hours.
Another small box was provided at Millbay Crossing to control the level crossing on Millbay Road.
Further Information
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