Helston Railway - line re-opening plans

[whole diary]

[Lee]

A train will arrive at the Helston branch line next week for the first time in more than 40 years (link below.)
http://thisiscornwall.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=144125&command=displayContent&sourceNode=232450&contentPK=18241920&folderPk=108202&pNodeId=232470

A two-car diesel train will be making its way to Trevarno - by road - as part of ambitious restoration plans by the Helston Railway Preservation Company.

It will be a huge achievement for the group of volunteers , who have been working over the past few years to re-open the line which was closed in 1964.

Chairman Stuart Walker said: "This is another major milestone in our project to re-open the line."

"Helston Railway volunteers have been working really hard preparing the track bed and laying rails ready for the diesel unit to be delivered."

The train will be transferred to the recently re-laid track at Trevarno on Tuesday,  September 4 and Wednesday. Each car will be transported separately by road.

The train has been undergoing restoration work next to the main line at Gwinear Road.

It was acquired from the West Somerset Railway in May last year.

Since then Helston Railway Preservation Company volunteers have been working to prepare access for the train at Trevarno and re-lay more than 200 feet of track.

Anyone wishing to observe the arrival of the train is asked to do so at Trevarno and not at Gwinear Road. The Railway Group said parking there is restricted and the road will need to be kept clear at all times.

For more information about the group visit www.helstondieselgroup.co.uk

Also , the previous day will see a Ruston 0-6-0 shunt locomotive become the first item of rolling stock to arrive at Trevarno.

[vacman]

A train will arrive at the Helston branch line next week for the first time in more than 40 years (link below.)
http://thisiscornwall.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=144125&command=displayContent&sourceNode=232450&contentPK=18241920&folderPk=108202&pNodeId=232470

A two-car diesel train will be making its way to Trevarno - by road - as part of ambitious restoration plans by the Helston Railway Preservation Company.

It will be a huge achievement for the group of volunteers , who have been working over the past few years to re-open the line which was closed in 1964.

Chairman Stuart Walker said: "This is another major milestone in our project to re-open the line."

"Helston Railway volunteers have been working really hard preparing the track bed and laying rails ready for the diesel unit to be delivered."

The train will be transferred to the recently re-laid track at Trevarno on Tuesday,  September 4 and Wednesday. Each car will be transported separately by road.

The train has been undergoing restoration work next to the main line at Gwinear Road.

It was acquired from the West Somerset Railway in May last year.

Since then Helston Railway Preservation Company volunteers have been working to prepare access for the train at Trevarno and re-lay more than 200 feet of track.

Anyone wishing to observe the arrival of the train is asked to do so at Trevarno and not at Gwinear Road. The Railway Group said parking there is restricted and the road will need to be kept clear at all times.

For more information about the group visit www.helstondieselgroup.co.uk

Also , the previous day will see a Ruston 0-6-0 shunt locomotive become the first item of rolling stock to arrive at Trevarno.

I'm very good friends with someone who is heavilly involved in this project and they have come a very long way in a short amount of time! Well done!

[Andy]

They have indeed come a long way in a relatively short time. Was at Gwinear Road the weekend before last - saw the Blue Pullman heading through - and the class 103 dmu is coming along well.

As an exiled Helstonian who just missed the railway, which closed to passengers in 1962 and freight in 64, I am keenly following this project and can't wait to travel along a line I thought was gone forever.

The project is deserving of all the support and good wishes it can get. Who knows, one day "Helston" may become once more the most southerly station in the British Isles

[Andy]

For a report on the arrival of the first traction on the Helston branch since 1964, check out the following link.

http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=144143&command=displayContent&sourceNode=144131&contentPK=18314269&moduleName=InternalSearch&formname=sidebarsearch

The websites of the group are:
www.helstonrailway.co.uk 
www.helstondieselgroup.co.uk

[Lee]

The Helston Ralway Restoration Project is holding an open day on Sunday 25 May 2008. Their website can be found in the link below.
http://www.helstonrailway.co.uk/

[Conner]

Thanks for posting that Lee, I will pop along.

[Tinminer]

Thanks for that - will go along too - my son is one of the volunteer gang!

[oooooo]

Some more up to date photos of the project can be found on the diesel groups website here: http://helstondieselgroup.co.uk/

[Lee]

An update to an admittedly very old thread from the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Restored train line from Trevarno to Truthall Bridge gets 1,000 passengers

A railway line which opened to the public before Christmas after volunteer restoration work has had more than 1,000 passengers using it.

Helston Railway Preservation Society (HRPS) opened the line from Trevarno to Truthall Bridge in December.

The line was taken out of operation in 1965 as part of nationwide cuts recommended by Dr Richard Beeching.

HRPS has so far laid just under a mile of track and created a station platform at Trevarno.

Richard Barnes from the society said: "It was absolutely tremendous. We thought about the numbers we might get and suddenly we doubled and tripled that."

The line has taken five years and ^60,000 to build.

The group hopes eventually to create a mile (1.6km) of line and run trains to timetable.

[vacman]

BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) sloppy journalism again, the line was closed before the Beeching report was even published!

[Andy]

It was closed to passengers in 62, to freight in 64 and the rails were lifted in 65.
The article is also confusing with regard to distances, as the rails have not yet reached Truthall Halt. However, that should change by Easter, when 1 mile of the line will have been reinstated. As I understand it, the group hopes eventually to reinstate three miles of the line, from the outskirts of Helston to Nancegollan.

[Plymboi]

Would be nice to see NR^» (Network Rail - home page) services on this line. Helston is a hard place to get too, if your not driving!

[standardsingle]

Nice to read about this, but it does present challenges - I think some of the land is now in private ownership and may have been built on between Helston and Penzance.

[Andy]

Bus-rail connections to Helston (& beyond) are not that great (& getting worse). However, if the line were ever to be reinstated as part of NR^» (Network Rail - home page), its best bet would be as the terminus of a service to/from Truro via Redruth and Camborne. The site of its original junction with the main line, at Gwinear Road, meant that, in the age of the car, it didn't have a significant local traffic flow to tap into in the same way as, say, Falmouth-Truro. Although Helston has doubled in size since the days of the railway, I can't see an NR reopening ever happening but fingers crossed that the heritage line will continue to progress as much as possible.



 

[LiskeardRich]

Would be nice to see NR^» (Network Rail - home page) services on this line. Helston is a hard place to get too, if your not driving!

and its not even easy to get to by road, the main road between redruth and helston goes single track in several places!