page_title: North Cornwall Railway
section_title: Route
hierarchical_section_title: North Cornwall Railway / Topography / Route
caption_attribution_description: English: This former-LSWR railway bridge over Little Petherick Creek near Padstow is now part of the Camel Trail cycleway in Cornwall, UK
context_page_description: The North Cornwall Railway was a railway line running from Halwill in Devon to Padstow in Cornwall via Launceston, Camelford and Wadebridge, a distance of 49 miles 67 chains. Opened in the last decade of the nineteenth century, it was part of a drive by the London and South Western Railway to develop holiday traffic to Cornwall. The LSWR had opened a line connecting Exeter with Holsworthy in 1879, and by encouraging the North Cornwall Railway it planned to create railway access to previously inaccessible parts of the northern coastal area.
  "There are few more fascinating lines than the one which leads to North Cornwall from Okehampton" says T.W.E. Roche in his popular tribute to the network of railway lines operated by the London and South Western Railway in North and West Devon and North Cornwall.
context_section_description: From Halwill the line describes a loop turning from north to south west; it runs downhill at gradients of 1 in 74 and 1 in 82 to join the valley of the River Carey, following this down for nearly 10 miles (16 km) to cross the River Tamar just east of Launceston, the first station actually in Cornwall. From a summit at Otterham, 800 feet (244 m), the line descends into the upper reaches of the Camel valley, passing through Camelford Station over 2 miles west of Camelford town and then leaving the valley for a gentle climb to the coastal uplands.
  At Delabole the line skirts the slate quarry, and then descends to the Allen valley, diving briefly through Trelill Tunnel (333 yards, 304 m), before returning to the Camel valley, crossing the river and joining the Bodmin and Wadebridge line into Wadebridge station.
  Once past Wadebridge the character changes as the line hugs the tidal River Camel until crossing Little Petherick Creek over a three-span iron bridge and rounding Dennis Hill, it reaches Padstow station which was located on a narrow strip of reclaimed land with the Atlantic Ocean, visible in the distance.
caption: The North Cornwall line crossed Petherick Creek on this three-span iron bridge, now used to carry the Camel Trail cycleway
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