The Liskeard and Looe Railway was a railway originally built between Moorswater, in the valley west of Liskeard, and Looe, in Cornwall, England, UK, and later extended to Liskeard station on the Cornish Main Line railway. The first section was opened in 1860 and was owned by the Liskeard and Looe Union Canal Company, whose canal had earlier (from 1827) been built to convey sea sand and lime up the valley of the East Looe River, for the purpose of improving agricultural land.
When copper and tin ores were discovered on Caradon Hill, they were brought down to Looe Harbour over the canal; the volume of traffic became too much for the canal, and the railway was built. It was short of money and operated with a single hired locomotive at first, carrying minerals from Caradon to the sea at Looe, as well as coal and machinery, and some agricultural materials up the valley.
Passenger traffic was started in 1879, and at the same time mineral extraction was already declining. Seeing the disadvantage of being isolated from other railways, the Company built a connecting line between Moorswater and Liskeard station, on the main line; this was opened in 1901, and encouraged passenger and general goods traffic.
A peculiarity of the line is the circuitous route from Liskeard to Coombe, and the reversal there; there is a steep gradient to descend from Liskeard into the valley, and sharp curves.
The line remains open. Passenger trains are operated by Great Western Railway under the brand name "The Looe Valley Line".
General description
The Liskeard and Looe Railway can nowadays be more conveniently thought of as the Looe Branch. It leaves Liskeard station (on the broadly east-west Plymouth to Penzance main line) in a northward direction, turning in a narrow sweep to pass southwards under the main line, continuing to turn to reach Coombe Junction, again facing north. The original line from Looe continued northwards for a short distance at this point to Moorswater, connecting there with the Liskeard and Caradon Railway; nowadays this is reduced to a stub leading to a nearby private siding at Moorswater.
Passenger trains to Looe reverse at Coombe, and from there the line runs southwards, descending along the valley of the East Looe River, with intermediate stations at St Keyne Wishing Well Halt, Causeland, and Sandplace, finally reaching Looe. The entire route is single line, but the junction at Coombe and the extension to Moorswater there mean that the section is divided for operational purposes.
Origins
The agricultural land around Liskeard is of good quality, but tends to considerable acidity, and in the eighteenth and nineteenth century the best land was "improved" by spreading sea sand or lime on it, to neutralise the acidity. Large quantities of these commodities were required annually, and they were brought in from the coast by pack horse. In 1827 a canal -– the Liskeard and Looe Union Canal—was constructed, between Sandplace on the East Looe River and Moorswater, in the valley west of Liskeard. The canal was moderately successful.
From 1836, copper and tin ores were discovered in the Caradon area, and had to be brought to the sea for onward transport to market. Packhorse conveyance to Moorswater meant that the Canal could be used for part of the journey, but the difficulties of horse transport between the mines and Moorswater soon led to plans for the construction of a railway. The Liskeard and Caradon Railway was built to bring the ores, and also granite, down to Moorswater. At Moorswater the minerals were transferred to barges, which transported them down the canal to Looe, from where coastal shipping took them to market.
This brought considerable prosperity to the canal, and traffic volume rose, soon reaching the point where the canal was operating at full capacity. Consideration was then given to building a railway along the valley. A meeting held on 30 September 1857 confirmed this proposal, and a Special General Meeting of the Canal Company shareholders met on 13 October 1857; they agreed that they should build a railway. Parliamentary authority to do so was given, in the Liskeard and Looe Railway Act, on 11 May 1858. The Act did not establish a company of that name: the powers to build the railway were conferred on the existing Canal Company. £13,000 of additional share capital was sanctioned, with £4,000 of borrowing powers. Locomotive haulage was authorised, but locomotives were not to pass the end of Looe Bridge to reach Buller Quay on the level.