OLD DEVONPORT . UK
Plus parts of East Cornwall and West Devon
www.olddevonport.uk
 

©  Brian Moseley, Plymouth
Webpage created: March 24, 2019
Webpage updated: March 24, 2019

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CALLINGTON BRANCH  |  BRANCH LINE, BERE ALSTON STATION TO CALLINGTON STATION

KIT HILL SIDING

The Kit Hill Siding was situated on the Down side of the East Cornwall Mineral Railway, with a trailing connection for Down trains.  It could be only accessed by Up freight trains running towards Bere Alston.

This Siding was linked to the Kit Hill Quarry by means of a rope-worked incline tramway of 3 feet 6 inch gauge at right-angles to the main line.  The incline was around 1 in 5.  The steepness required a catch siding to be installed at the base to catch any wagons that might runaway, although that is not shown on the Ordnance Survey map of 1905. 

The Siding was included in the Railway Clearing House "Hand Book of Railway Stations, etc." for 1929

It is reported that the owners of the quarries, Messrs William Griffiths and Company, reached an agreement with the Southern Railway Company in 1940 to convert the tramway to standard-gauge so that it could be connected directly to the Siding.  This was done by closing off the Down facing points at the eastern end and instead giving access by a facing point in the Up direction.  The curve from the incline was made of 2¼ chains radius, and a catch point was installed at the base of the 1 in 8 incline and ran straight in to a earth bank near the roadway level crossing.  A 5-ton crane was also installed at the point where the incline line joined the siding.  When this new arrangement was brought in to use is not known.  Kit Hill Siding was thus only accessible to Down trains towards Callington.

Kit Hill Siding was taken out of use on December 21st 1954.  It was not included in the Railway Clearing House "Hand-Book of Railway Stations, etc." in 1956.

  The data about the alterations in 1940 are taken from the www.trainweb.org website.