Newham Branch from Penwithers Junction to Truro Riverside

[KeithMacdonald]

Has anyone ever seen any pictures of the Newham Branch from Penwithers Junction to Truro Riverside?

 

Penwithers Junction, besides being the start of this little local Newham branch, was also the route to the "other" line to Newquay, from Chasewater Junction via Perranporth.

 

The trackbed is now a footpath, visible on Geograph

https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/4688257

 

The old OS maps on NLS show where the railway was at Truro Riverside.

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16&lat=50.25507&lon=-5.06079&layers=168&b=1&marker=50.257,-5.157

 

Truro Riverside might make a nice waterside modelling location.

 

[brianusa]

A recent CRS Magazine had a very comprehensive article on this line.  Somebody actually walked the remains now almost a jungle.  Another article on Penwithers  Junction was also featured back along.

 

Brian.

 

[Andy Kirkham]

Some excellent photos and recollections here http://www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk/newham-branch.html

 

In 1971 we were staying with family friends in Penzance.I got permission to go off on my own to do the Falmouth branch and noticed this mysterious branch  bearing off at Penwithers Junction.  The Falmouth branch was a bit of an anticlimax as the service then terminated at "The Dell". How I wish I'd got off at Truro and strolled down to explore Newham. Of course I had no idea it was on the eve of closure.

Edited June 24, 2022 by Andy Kirkham

[chris p bacon]

I walked it in about 1981, easy enough to access and I took pics, but a house move means they're packed away at present.

[KeithMacdonald]

@Andy Kirkham - thanks for the link! 😀

 

 

[DavidLong]

I remember seeing a P4 layout which was based on Newham at the Wells show a few years ago. I haven't seen it since and i don't believe that it was ever covered on RMweb. Does anyone else recall anything about it? I'm fairly certain that it was located in pre-grouping days, possibly even in the 19th century.

 

David

[stivesnick]

Hi 

 

The Middleton Press book "Branch Lines to Falmouth Helston and St Ives" has a few pictures of the Newham Branch 

 

Nick 

 

 

[Kris]

15 hours ago, brianusa said:

Somebody actually walked the remains now almost a jungle.

I'm sure that I read somewhere (recently) that there was going to be some work happening on the footpath/cycle path to make it more usable. 

[chris p bacon]

It's always worth taking a look at Youtube to see what's there.

 

 

 

[Ramblin Rich]

Coincidentally, @Stubby47is planning a layout

 

[brianusa]

The track with the 55xx tank looks in remarkably good shape for the year.

 

   Brian.

[D-A-T]

18 hours ago, DavidLong said:

I remember seeing a P4 layout which was based on Newham at the Wells show a few years ago. I haven't seen it since and i don't believe that it was ever covered on RMweb. Does anyone else recall anything about it? I'm fairly certain that it was located in pre-grouping days, possibly even in the 19th century.

 

David

https://www.scalefour.org/layouts/newham.html

[D-A-T]

I’m also sure the Railway Modeller had an article on Newham as an alternative to Ashburton. It would be back in the 80s I think. 

[AndyH]

The old goods shed still survives. Apart from the footpath and associated bridges on the route not much actually remains at Newham.

There are plans in the Wiltshire Council Archives of the track layout and a 1930’s storage shed. A former carriage was used as a store, as seen in a few photos.

Andy

[enz]

15 hours ago, D-A-T said:

I’m also sure the Railway Modeller had an article on Newham as an alternative to Ashburton. It would be back in the 80s I think. 

 

You're quite right. November 1987 from the NMRA mag index at http://www.olimpia.com:8084/SearchPage.html  and from my hoard of mags (small hoard but luckily included).  The author (AM Lawrence) particularly notes the similarity of the trackplan to Ashburton's.

 

Hope this is of interest. E.

[RailWest]

On 24/06/2022 at 22:55, KeithMacdonald said:

Penwithers Junction, besides being the start of this little local Newham branch, was also the route to the "other" line to Newquay, from Chasewater Junction via Perranporth.

 

 

Eh - not sure what you meant here ?

That's rather like saying that (say) Aller Junction was the route to the Kingsbridge Branch via Brent :-)

[St Enodoc]

11 hours ago, RailWest said:

Eh - not sure what you meant here ?

That's rather like saying that (say) Aller Junction was the route to the Kingsbridge Branch via Brent :-)

According to Cooke section 10, in the early (broad gauge) days there was a direct connection from Chacewater to Newham, crossing the Truro - Falmouth line on the level with a linking chord and joining the Truro - Chacewater line to the west. There was no direct connection from Newham to Falmouth. That's what I understood @KeithMacdonald to be referring to.

[The Stationmaster]

Bit of a tangle developing here methinks.  

 

The original route WCR route from the Chacewater direction was extended from Truro Road to its new Truro terminus at Newham in 1855.  The link towards Newham at Penwithers Jcn survived until 1893 according to Tony Cooke.  It presumably went in connection with the works to convert to double track the two parallel single lines between Truro (Higher Town) and Penwithers Jcn - where a new signal box was provided which close to the formation of the original line from the Chacewater direction towards Newham.  incidentally as it was a West Cornwall Railway line it would have originally been a narrow gauge (from the proper, GWR, perspective😇) route.  And according to the tables in MacDermott it was among the 10m22ch of West Cornwall lines that were never converted to mixed gauge; only the WCR main line from Truro to Penzance had broad gauge rails - from March1867

 

So in 1893 the direct link between Chacewater and Newham ceased to exist.  The Chacewater, actually Blackwater East Jcn - Perranporth - Newquay line did not open until 1903 (and then only as far as Perranportth, not reaching Shepherds (and thus effectively creating the through route to Newquay) until 1905.

 

So a train could never have made a through journey from Newham to Newquay without two intermediate reversals.

[Stubby47]

Shepherds, Shepherds.... I've heard of that before...