page_title: Liskeard and Looe Railway
section_title: Operation at Coombe
hierarchical_section_title: Liskeard and Looe Railway / Operation at Coombe
caption_attribution_description: English: Diagram of Coombe Junction signalling in the period 1930(?) to 1956; Cornwall, England
context_page_description: The Liskeard and Looe Railway was a railway originally built between Moorswater, in the valley west of Liskeard, and Looe, in Cornwall, England, UK, and later extended to Liskeard station on the Cornish Main Line railway. The first section was opened in 1860 and was owned by the Liskeard and Looe Union Canal Company, whose canal had earlier been built to convey sea sand and lime up the valley of the East Looe River, for the purpose of improving agricultural land.
  When copper and tin ores were discovered on Caradon Hill, they were brought down to Looe Harbour over the canal; the volume of traffic became too much for the canal, and the railway was built. It was short of money and operated with a single hired locomotive at first, carrying minerals from Caradon to the sea at Looe, as well as coal and machinery, and some agricultural materials up the valley.
  Passenger traffic was started in 1879, and at the same time mineral extraction was already declining.
context_section_description: From the 1930s until the end of steam operation, the passenger train timetable involved two trains crossing at Coombe Junction, at a time a little after 10.00 a.m. The layout at Coombe in the 1950s had only the terminal platform line and the through Goods Line (with no platform) towards Moorswater.
  When steam operation was replaced by diesel multiple units, this obviously became much simpler.
  At the present time, working from Coombe Junction to Looe is by train staff under "one train only" regulations. The electric train token between Liskeard and Coombe Junction has a key attached to operate the ground frame at Coombe Junction, so that the junction points there can be operated by the train crew.
caption: The Coombe Junction layout in the 1950s
exif: {}