Hayle Railway Realignments

15th January 2007

Closure:1852.

The advent of The West Cornwall Railway in 1852 finally linked the towns of Truro & Penzance for the first time. The new line inherited the pre-existing Hayle Railway route from Redruth to that town, itself commencing operations on the 23rd of December, 1837. A decade and a half was a long time in terms of railway engineering however; thus The West Cornwall came into possession of stretch of main line with two outmoded inclined planes at Penponds & Angarrack. Diversionary routes were built, in each case keeping the formation higher and involving a viaduct. This collection examines the scant but evocative remains of these early abandonments: Camborne - Penponds & Trenowin - Hayle.

The abutments of bridge 2 on a just detectable low embankment running parallel to Mill Lane in Penponds village. The much later redecking is itself now ramshackle and of forgotten purpose. 13th January 2007. 1200x1600 2007-01-13 14:36:36	Another view of bridge 2, with ramshackle redecking. 1600x1200 2007-01-13 14:36:44	The remaining abutment of bridge 3 along Mill Lane in Penponds. I walked this lane for years as a child and my eye skipped over this parapet time and time again before it began to reveal its mute, forgotten railway genesis. 1600x1200 2007-01-13 14:37:21	The abutments of Bridge 3 on Mill Lane in Penponds village. Abutments of this ridge reamin only on the west side, the lane presumably having been widened in the past century and a half. Here looking towards Camborne, 26th January 2007. 1200x1600 2007-02-04 18:04:24
A close up view of bridge 4 along Viaduct Lane. The bridge is intact as at the day of closure in 1852, save for some minor works to the abutments and parapet. 1600x1200 2007-01-26 16:55:00	Bridge 4, showing all the hallmarks of Hayle Railway design, still carries Viaduct Lane underneath the presumably much altered incline embankment nestling underneath the piers of the replacement viaduct. 26th January 2007. 1200x1600 2007-01-26 16:54:09