The West Cornwall Railway was a railway company in Cornwall, Great Britain, formed in 1846 to construct a railway between Penzance and Truro. It purchased the existing Hayle Railway, and improved its main line, and built new sections between Penzance and Hayle, and between Redruth and Truro, and opened throughout in 1852.
When the Cornwall Railway reached Truro in 1859, rail travel between Penzance and London was possible, by changing trains.
Later, however, the West Cornwall company was called on to carry out certain mandatory improvements; it lacked the funds to undertake the work, and it was forced to sell its line to the "Associated Companies"—in effect the Great Western Railway, from 1 January 1866.
The main line of the West Cornwall Railway is still in operation at the present day, forming the western end of the Cornish Main Line railway.
Hayle Railway
The Hayle Railway had been opened as a mineral railway in 1837 between copper and tin mining districts near Redruth, and sea ports at Hayle and Portreath. The line was very lightly engineered, with light T-section rails on stone blocks. There were four rope-worked inclined planes on the system, which was standard gauge. Passenger traffic began to be carried on the main line between Redruth and Hayle, but the physical limitations of the system were significant.
A scheme to connect Penzance and Truro
Local interests promoted a scheme to extend the Hayle Railway at each end of its main line so as to link Penzance and Truro. They formed the West Cornwall Railway company, and their proposal was to lease the extensions to the Hayle Railway and to arrange for that company to work the whole line. The atmospheric system was proposed for the Truro to Redruth section. (In this system, stationary engines create a partial vacuum in a pipe between the rails, and vehicle at the head of the train carries a piston, entered into the pipe, to achieve traction.) The scheme was estimated at £160,000.
However a parliamentary bill in 1845 was defeated, chiefly because of concern about the delays and inconvenience due to two rope worked inclines on the main line, at Angarrack and Penponds.
A second bill was promoted, receiving the Royal Assent on 3 August 1846, giving powers to purchase the Hayle Railway and construct deviations to eliminate the inclined planes, and to complete the route between Penzance and Truro. The company's capital was to be £500,000 with borrowing powers of £165,000, and a head office in London.
The line was to be broad gauge, "subject to the liability to lay additional rails of the gauge of any railway which might thereafter be constructed through Cornwall to Truro". The main line was to be from Carvedras in Truro (close to the present-day station), with branches to the Truro River and to Falmouth, and to Penryn and to St Ives. (In fact none of the branches was built, except to Newham on the Truro River, and the line never reached Carvedras.)
Possession of the Hayle Railway was taken on 3 November 1846, the purchase price being paid in 4,000 West Cornwall shares, and by taking over the Hayle company's debts, amounting to £47,960. Money was extremely scarce at this time due to the collapse in investor confidence after the railway mania, and for some time, the new company was unable to undertake the new construction, only continuing to operate the original Hayle Railway network.
When finance became available, it was decided to build the new route sections in standard gauge, so as to avoid the expense of converting and relaying the existing Hayle Railway sections, which were already in that gauge; parliamentary powers to do so were obtained in 1850. However the powers granted were conditional upon the West Cornwall laying broad gauge rails on six months' notice from any connecting broad gauge line.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel was the company's engineer, and he proposed the use of Barlow rails, a rail section with a very wide base, that was laid directly in the ballast without sleepers or other support, with a very considerable saving in first cost. This is said to be Brunel's first experiment with this rail section. As stated, the Hayle Railway's own T-section rail and stone block track was retained where appropriate but in the event "Much reconstruction [had] been necessary, and much of the old line between Hayle and Redruth [had] been relaid." Several new viaducts were required, including Angarrack and Penponds, in each case on account of the deviation to by-pass the inclines.