Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway

of 22 Great Winchester Street, London

1819 May 20th. Meeting in support of the 'Plymouth and Dartmouth Iron Rail-Road' railway held by William Elford and seven (named) persons at the London Tavern

1819 May. Meeting in support of the railway held by Charles Tyrwhitt at the London Tavern

1819 July. Authorised by 59 Geo. III., c. 115, of July 2nd, 1819. The railway ran from Bachelor's Hall, west of Princetown and "at no great distance from the prison erected for the reception of prisoners of war on Dartmoor," to Crabtree in the parish of Egg Buckland, ie. to Laira.

1819 October 16th. Meeting calling for payments from subscribers. William Burt is Clerk.

1820 By I Geo. IV., c. 54, of July 8th, 1820, an extension to Sutton Pool was sanctioned. Incidentally, this addition carried the line to the south of the path later taken by the South Devon Railway, and the latter crossed the Dartmoor line on the level.

1821 January 22nd. Meeting calling for payments from subscribers.

1821 November 26th. Meeting calling for payments from subscribers.

1821 December. Legal dispute over land required from Addis Archer for the 'Dartmor Railway Company'.

1822 May 4th. Meeting calling for payments from subscribers. William Burt is Clerk.

1822 June 15th. Meeting calling for payments from subscribers.

1822 September 28th. Meeting calling for payments from subscribers.

1823 February 15th. Meeting calling for payments from subscribers.

1823 May 2nd. Meeting calling for payments from subscribers.

1823 July 21st. Meeting calling for payments from subscribers.

1823 September 19th. Meeting calling for payments from subscribers.

1823 A single line 23 mile railway opened. Later the route above Yelverton was taken over by the Princetown Railway and the Marsh Mills to Laira section became part of the South Devon Railway. The rails of the lower end of this line were removed in 1916.

1865 The company was reorganised and rearranged by Act of Parliament.

1883 A portion of the mainline was sold to the Princetown Railway. The London and South Western Railway acquired a portion of the Plymouth extension.

1888 In September the Cattewater extension opened for goods traffic.

1892 The Cattewater extension was opened for passenger traffic in August.

1923 The remaining 2.25 miles became part of Southern Railway.

1924 The line was now out of use, but, compared with other old railways, was hardly derelict. One very short length-about half a mile remained in actual use, but modernised. It formed a connection between the Great Western Railway and the Lee Moor China Clay Tramway, 6 miles long, which branch is crossed on the level by the Launceston branch of the Great Western Railway. That part of the extension south of the South Devon Railway is now absorbed in the sidings at Laira. Some part of the northern end of the Dartmoor Railway was used in the construction of the Princetown branch of the Great Western.

See Also

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