Turnchapel Branch

The Turnchapel Branch was a London and South Western Railway (LSWR) single track branch railway line in Devon, England, that ran from Plymouth Friary station to Turnchapel. It crossed the River Plym and opened up the east side of the river to rail connections. The short line opened in 1892 (as far as Plymstock) and 1897 (throughout). It closed in 1951 to passengers, and in 1961 completely.

There were three intermediate stations, Lucas Terrace Halt (from 1905), Plymstock (opened 1892) and Oreston. There was a siding serving the Bayly Bartlett Wharf

The Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway (P&DR) had been built as a horse-operated tramway to open up the agriculture of the area around Princetown, on Dartmoor. That objective was largely unsuccessful, but the line proved useful in bringing granite down from quarries below Princetown to the tidal waters around Plymouth, for onward transport by coastal shipping. It had opened in 1823, but it increasingly became dependent on the Johnson Brothers who operated the quarries, and in 1865 shares in the Company were predominantly owned by William Johnson. The reconstituted company was not short of funds, and aside from the granite traffic it had the advantage of ownership of lands adjacent to the waters of the River Plym at Laira and elsewhere in Plymouth.

The London and South Western Railway (LSWR) was anxious to develop its interests in Plymouth and made an ally of the P&DR at a time, in the 1870s, when the rival Great Western Railway (GWR) was dominant.

The LSWR had established a terminal for goods services at Friary, on the east side of central Plymouth, opening in 1878. When they secured an independent route to Plymouth (over the Plymouth, Devonport and South Western Junction Railway) they greatly expanded the Friary site and built a passenger terminal there, as well as extending the goods facilities and providing locomotive serving facilities; these opened in 1891.

The P&DR had been encouraged by the LSWR to obtain Parliamentary powers to build a short line from Friary to Turnchapel with a branch to Clovelly Bay; the lien was to cross the River Plym to Pomphlett (later called Plymstock). The authorisation was granted on 2 August 1883 but not acted upon at once. However this incursion across the Plym alarmed the GWR, who feared extension into the South Hams and possibly a new competing line to Exeter, and opposing schemes to build from Pomphlett to Modbury were put forward. The initial frenzy was followed by calmer counsel and at length the Yealmpton branch was built and owned by the GWR, branching off at Plymstock.

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