Par - Fowey

[trebor79]

I find myself wondering why this route was converted to a private haul road by ECC.
Given a lot of the china clay traffic was and is transported by rail, wouldn't it have made more sense to retain the branch as a private railway?

 

[yorksrob]

I suppose it might be because they already have the railway from Lostwithiel ?

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

BR did a deal with ECC in 1968 to sell Par to Fowey in exchange for a commitment that a minimum tonnage of clay would be sent by rail to Fowey via Lostwithiel, and 'up-country' to the Potteries etc. The Lostwithiel - Fowey passenger service ceased in 1965, so there was spare capacity. For their part ECC had long wanted road access to Fowey, it being far more suitable as a harbour than their own shallow and very tidal affair at Par. The myriad number of pits, with difficult or no rail access meant that road was the preferred solution. The main road between Par and Fowey was (and is) hopelessly inadequate to take HGVs. There was also considerable anti-rail political pressure at the time with BR required to realise its assets where possible. ECC initially took a lease on the railway-owned jetties at Fowey; not sure what the current status is with Imerys their successor. Sadly the china-clay industry is now a shadow of its former self, although Imerys have just made a new 2 year contract with DB for continuing rail transport.

 

[trebor79]

BR did a deal with ECC in 1968 to sell Par to Fowey in exchange for a commitment that a minimum tonnage of clay would be sent by rail to Fowey via Lostwithiel, and 'up-country' to the Potteries etc. The Lostwithiel - Fowey passenger service ceased in 1965, so there was spare capacity. For their part ECC had long wanted road access to Fowey, it being far more suitable as a harbour than their own shallow and very tidal affair at Par. The myriad number of pits, with difficult or no rail access meant that road was the preferred solution. The main road between Par and Fowey was (and is) hopelessly inadequate to take HGVs. There was also considerable anti-rail political pressure at the time with BR required to realise its assets where possible. ECC initially took a lease on the railway-owned jetties at Fowey; not sure what the current status is with Imerys their successor. Sadly the china-clay industry is now a shadow of its former self, although Imerys have just made a new 2 year contract with DB for continuing rail transport.

Ah, I see. I guess this boils down to ECC wanted to find a way to get road lorries into Fowey, and converting one or other of the railway branches was the only practicable way of achieving that?
I suppose the Par route was the best one to use, as that's where the clay driers are. It's a bit unfortunate though, as the location of the jetty facilities precludes any reinstatement of a passenger service from the Lostwithiel direction.

Thanks for the informative reply.

 

[delt1c]

Isn’t there a tunnel on the route which is controlled by traffic lights for one way working ?

 

[Dr Hoo]

Ah, I see. I guess this boils down to ECC wanted to find a way to get road lorries into Fowey, and converting one or other of the railway branches was the only practicable way of achieving that?
I suppose the Par route was the best one to use, as that's where the clay driers are. It's a bit unfortunate though, as the location of the jetty facilities precludes any reinstatement of a passenger service from the Lostwithiel direction.

Thanks for the informative reply.

Fowey seems to have a population of under 3,000 and isn't far from a station anyway. Several much larger towns in Cornwall don't have a (National Rail) station.

 

[trebor79]

Fowey seems to have a population of under 3,000 and isn't far from a station anyway. Several much larger towns in Cornwall don't have a (National Rail) station.

Massive influx of day trippers with limited parking options. Plus all the yachtie types.

A park and ride would do very nicely indeed. But I guess you could talk nicely to Imerys and do it with buses along the haul road rather than reinstate the railway.

 

[30907]

Just to clarify: the line under discussion ran from St Blazey not Par, so was only useful for freight.

 

[Meerkat]

Massive influx of day trippers with limited parking options. Plus all the yachtie types.

A park and ride would do very nicely indeed. But I guess you could talk nicely to Imerys and do it with buses along the haul road rather than reinstate the railway.

Where you going to build the car park?