Plymouth Millbay railway station
| Plymouth Millbay | |
|---|---|
After the 1903 rebuilding
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| Location | |
| Place | Plymouth |
| Area | Devon |
| Operations | |
| Original company | South Devon Railway |
| Pre-grouping | Great Western Railway |
| Post-grouping | Great Western Railway |
| History | |
| 5 May 1849 | Opened |
| 1859 | Junction for Cornwall Railway |
| 1941 | Closed to passengers |
| 1969 | Closed to goods traffic |
| 1971 | Line closed |
| Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom | |
| Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z |
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Plymouth Millbay railway station was the original railway terminus in Plymouth, Devon, England. It was used for passenger trains from 1849 to 1941. It was rebuilt in 1903.
The South Devon Railway originally planned to bring its 7 ft (2,134 mm) broad gauge railway from Exeter St Davids to the Eldad area of Plymouth, terminating on a hill above Stonehouse Pool. In the event, it was redesigned to end at a station situated between Union Street and Millbay itself.
The railway reached a temporary station at Laira on the eastern outskirts of Plymouth on 5 May 1848 and was extended to Millbay on 2 April 1849. At this time the station was just known as Plymouth as no other stations existed in the town. The station became known as "Plymouth Millbay" after other stations were opened in the town in 1876-7 at Mutley and North Road.
A separate ticket platform was erected just outside the station in 1851 and was used until 1896. This enabled all tickets to be checked while the train paused outside the station and the opportunity was often taken for the engine to be detached and sent to the engine shed at this time and the train was then propelled into the platforms by a pilot engine.
The station was expanded ready for the opening of the Cornwall Railway on 4 May 1859 and the on 22 June 1859. The railway encouraged the private venture of the Plymouth Hotel Company to open the Duke of Cornwall Hotel opposite the station in 1862.
The South Devon Railway was amalgamated into the Great Western Railway (GWR) on 1 February 1876. The lines were converted to 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge on 21 May 1892, although standard gauge goods trains were working to the docks from 1878 over mixed gauge tracks. The station was extensively rebuilt in 1900-03 when the old wooden buildings were replaced by a new stone terminus.
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Wikipedia