Moorswater railway station

Moorswater railway station was the centre of operations for the Liskeard and Caradon Railway and the Liskeard and Looe Railway. The two railways made an end on junction here. It was the site of the lines' engine shed, also a china clay works which is now used as a cement terminal.

History

The Liskeard and Caradon Railway was opened on 28 November 1844 from quarries on the moors north of Liskeard to Moorswater where goods were transshipped to the Liskeard and Looe Union Canal. At Looe they could then be transhipped again to sea-going vessels for transport further around the coast.

The canal was superseded by a railway on 27 December 1860 and passengers were carried on the Moorswater to Looe section from 11 September 1879. The Cornwall Railway, which opened in 1859, had intended to make a junction with the Liskeard and Caradon Railway near Moorswater but a lack of capital saw this scheme abandoned, the line passing high above the goods yard on the Moorswater Viaduct. The new station, which was situated just north of the viaduct, was used by passengers travelling into Liskeard, but from 1896 a platform was provided at Coombe where trains would call to set down passengers going to Liskeard railway station if they notified the guard, as the steep road from there to the station was considerably shorter than the route from Moorswater.

On 15 May 1901 passenger trains from Looe were diverted over the new loop line to Liskeard railway station and Moorswater station closed to...
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