Caradon Hill Railways 

The Companys  
And the lines
The success of South Caradon mine gave rise to a network of railways and tramlines that linked the heights of Bodmin moor to the coast at Looe.This transport infrastructure enabled mines to grow by providing an export route for the ore and import route for coal and timber. LCR provided the backbone to this system a which fed down through the LLUC ( later a railway) to the LHC quays. The Kilmar Railway extended the system to include new sources of granite traffic whilst the KJR allowed the locomotive haulage to be introduced to the depths of Bodmin moor. 
This web page summarises the key lines and companies that supported the mining industry around Caradon Hill. 
 
History
Scenes along the route
The Footpath
Grassmere Lane
Gomena Incline
West Caradon mine
Branches ,sidings and extensions.
South Caradon Branch  
Right into the dressing floors of this great mine.
West Caradon Branch 
An incline off the line to Minions
Tokenbury Branch 
From the South Caradon Branch to Tokenbury corner across the Southern slopes of Caradon hill.
The Kilmar railway 
From Minions exetending the line Northwards.
The Kilmar Junction Railway 
Around the Eastern side of Caradon hill.
South Caradon Mine Tramway 
Around the Southern slopes Caradon hill
South Caradon Mine Dressing floor Tramway 
A network on the Seaton Valley floor
 
LCR trackbed running through West Caradon mine LCR  
The Liskeard and Caradon Railway 


Opened 1846  
line lifted 1917 
Ran from Moorswater to Cheeswring Quarrys  
Length about eight  and a half miles. 
Carried Copper,tin,Coal and granite. 
The liskeard and Cardon Railway was built to carry Copper and Granite from the Caradon hill area down to the Canal basin of the Liskeard and Union canal. It existed as the result of the amazing success of the South Caradon mine and in return enabled that mine to grow by providing transport for its thousands of tons of ore.The railways fate was sealed with the closure of South Caradon and it carried little traffic after the collapse of Caradon's mining industry in 1882. 
The line finished its days under the control of the GWR who lifted the rails in 1917.   

Before the 1860's the railway was gravity worked with horses pulling the wagons up the gradient from Moorswater and the loaded trucks running back downhill. Its first steam engine was obtained in 1861 and from 1862 the line was jointly operated with the LLUC railway to provide a through service from Bodmin moor to the Sea at Looe. 
In addition to the original main line several extensions and branches existed serving the industries around Caradon hill. The addition of the Kilmar junction railway in 1877 to bypass Gonamena Incline  has left an unusual feature of a circular trackbed running all the way around Caradon hill. A feature normally only seen on the boards of model railways. 

Today much of the trackbed lies clearly visible on the open ground of Bodmin moor and the section from Crows Nest Village to Minions forms part of a public footpath. Unfortunately little remains to be seen of the route from the moors to Liskeard. 
 

 
History
 
LLUC 
The Liskeard and Looe Union Canal 


Opened in 1827 towards the end of the Canal age  
Replaced by a railway in 1860. 
Ran from Terrace near Looe to Moorswater below Liskeard a distance of about six miles. 
Built to carry sand,lime and agricultural produce but became a key link in the transport of Ore and Granite from the moors at Caradon to the quays at Looe.
View of Plashford Lock
Lock remains at Plashford Bridge 
Spring 2002
The Liskeard and Looe Canal started to develop the agricultural land around Liskeard mainly by providing a route for the sea sand and limestone needed to enrich the soil. 
The discovery of rich reserves of copper by the Clymo brothers in 1837 on Caradon hill changed the purpose, character and fortune of the canal in a massive way. The canal became part of the industrial boom that was sparked by the opening of South Caradon mine. Mines and quarries replaced the farmers and agricultural merchants as the Canals largest customers.But as Ore and granite replaced lime and sand the transport infrastructure down to Moorswater became overloaded and in 1846 the Liskeard and Caradon Railway was built to link the canal with the mines at Caradon Hill. 
The inability of the Canal to cope with the demand led to the LLUC replacing it with a railway in 1860 that ran along its towpath. This was operated jointly with the LCR to form a through link from the moors of Caradon to the Quays at Looe. The Railway retained the name of the Canal however until 1895 when it became the Liskeard and Looe Railway. As a canal the lower waterway saw some minor use up to as far as sandplace until about 1910 when the last traffic ceased. 
Today the canal bed and remains of some of the 24 locks can be seen, heavily overgrown, from the railway as it follows its route down to Looe. The Liskeard and Looe railway was taken over by GWR and a passenger service from Liskeard is still operated by Wessex trains under the title of the Looe Valley Line.
 
 
LHC 
Looe Harbour commissioners 


Established 1848 to improve the overstreached facilities at Looe. 
Looe was the export port for the Ores from Caradon Hill. 
 
Buller quay at Looe
The popular holiday destination of Looe on the South Cornish coast now looks an unlikely location for a harbour that played a major role in a Victorian Industrial boom.But,the transport links of the  LLUC and LCR made Looe the export port for the great mineral wealth of Caradon hill and the  import port for all  the coal and other materials needed by the mines. Looe harbour was also the loading port for the granite from the Caradon quarries and in later years handled China clay traffic. The traditional competitor to Looe harbour for the mineral trade was St Germans but the railway link from quay side to mine ensured that only the Menheniot ores normally went to in that direction. 
The vast quantities of ore that piled up on East Looe's quays awaiting shipment overloaded this small Cornish Harbour and the LHC was founded to improve the facilities. New quays and a breakwater were constructed in an attempt to match the original fishing harbours facilities with the huge demand created by the mines up on Bodmin moor. 
Today the site of the ore quay is a towns car park, run by the commissioners and commercial cargos no longer pass through the harbour .
 
 
 
Branches ,sidings and extensions.
North Kilmar Tor Branch 
From near the terminus to a small quarry on the Tor.  
Bearah Tor Branch 
To a quarry under Berah Tor 
Sharptor Siding  
Loop siding and Coal Depot 
Trewint Line 
The uncompleted Northern Extension
Phoenix Branch 
Minions to the Phoenix Mine
 
Kilmar Railway 


Established 1858 as an extension to the LCR to serve new granite quarries. 
Built by the Cheeswring Granite company and worked by the LCR. 
Purchased by LCR in 1879. 
Ran from Minions to Kilmar Tor across open moorland.
This railway ran right into the depths of Bodmin moor terminating at two branches beneath the rocks of Bearah Tor and Kilmar Tor at a height of over 1100 feet and about thirteen miles from Looe.It was bought in 1879 by the LCR  as part of its plans to link up with the London and South Western Railway. The railway carried Granite and the closure of the quarries in 1882  marked the end of traffic on the line.Some of the route did become part of a proposal for a railway extending Northwards across the Moor to Trewint but only earthworks on this line were ever  completed.
 
 
 
Branches ,sidings and extensions.
East Caradon mine branch  
Tokenbury to the dressing floors of East Caradon mine
Marke Valley Branch 
Tokenbury to the Mines in the Marke Valley.
Minions Link 
Simplifying the track layout at Minions.
 
KJR 
Kilmar Junction Railway 


Built in 1877 by the LCR 
Ran around the Eastern side of Caradon Hill  
By passing the Gonomena Incline.
 The Kilmar Junction railway was a new route for part of the Looe and Cardon Railway . The line  ran from the end of their Tokenbury branch to Minions and by passed the bottleneck caused by the incline plain at Gonomena. The KJRs construction allowed locomotive working of the upper part of the LCR. From the railway a branch line ran down to serve the mines in the  Marke Valley
 No public right away exists on Caradon Hill .
On many mine sites in Cornwall dangers may still exist, many hidden.
This web site is published as a resource to those using the public right of way from Crows Nest to Minions.