page_title: Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway
section_title: Extension to Sutton Pool, and first contracts
hierarchical_section_title: Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway / Origins / Extension to Sutton Pool, and first contracts
caption_attribution_description: English: On Plymouth &amp; Dartmoor Railway England at route divergence Kings Tor
context_page_description: The Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway was a 4 ft 6 in gauge railway built to improve the economy of moorland areas around Princetown in Devon, England. Independent carriers operated horse-drawn wagons and paid the company a toll. It opened in 1823, and a number of short branches were built in the next few years.
  The Lee Moor Tramway was opened as a branch of the original line in 1856; the extraction of china clay had become an important industry, and the LMT brought the mineral down to processing areas and to shipment at Plymouth. The LMT too operated with horse traction, in conjunction with steam locomotives and rope worked inclines.
  The Omen Beam Tramway was an independent tramway for the gathering of peat from the moor above Dartmoor prison, for the manufacturing of naphtha.
  The P&DR cost much more than the estimate and the intended generation of agriculture on the moor did not take place. The railway was dominated by a trading company who used it for bringing granite to Plymouth for coastal shipping transport. China clay deposits on Lee Moor were exploited and a branch of the P&DR was built to bring the mineral to Plymouth.
context_section_description: The line was to run from Crabtree to Princetown; Crabtree was chosen because it gave access to tidal water, at a small dock on the River Plym near the Rising Sun Inn there. The location was about 2½ miles (4 km) east of the centre of Plymouth. However the wharf would only be accessible at high tide and the river approach was lengthy and awkward, and it was decided to extend the course of the railway westward to reach Sutton Pool. Accordingly, a further Act of Parliament, passed on 8 August 1820, was needed authorising the extension, and also a branch to the Cattewater. This added £7,200 to the projected cost of the line. The whole of this extension was referred to as the branch railway, being considered a branch from Crabtree. William Stuart was now appointed to superintend the construction. At this time the Company had contemplated acting as dealers in granite, that is suppliers of the mineral at Plymouth, rather than simply carriers. There is reason to believe from Committee minutes that they intended to do so, but the necessary clauses were not inserted into the 1820 Act.
  In April 1820, contracts had been let to  William Bailey for the supply of cast iron rails; they were to be of the fishbelly pattern 2 ft 10 in (864 mm) long and 6 inches (150 mm) deep; they were to be butt jointed at the supports on stone blocks. The gauge was to be 4 ft 6 in (1,372 mm), it is not clear who chose this, or why. A contract for the construction of the formation was let to Hugh McIntosh of London in June 1820, for 9s 3d per yard; it was to be a single line with a number of passing sidings (referred to as "turnouts")—two per mile. Some sidings — at least at Roborough and Yelverton — were to be constructed of granite blocks dressed to as to provide a flange guide, similar to the construction of the main line of the Haytor Granite Tramway.
  On 21 September 1820 the Committee signed a momentous agreement with the firm of Johnson and Bryse. They had acquired tenancy rights to extract granite from Dartmoor and needed to bring it down to Plymouth for use there in the breakwater project, and to coastal shipping for onward transit. They would pay a flat rate of 2s 6d per ton irrespective of distance for a volume averaging 8,000 tons per annum: a steady income of £1,000 a year for the Company. This was ratified at a meeting of all the proprietors on 3 March 1821.
caption: North of Kings Tor; the P&DR route goes straight ahead, and the later Princetown Railway route turns left
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