Nancegollan railway station

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Coordinates: 50°08′33″N 5°18′19″W / 50.1426°N 5.3053°W / 50.1426; -5.3053
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Nancegollan
General information
LocationNancegollan, Cornwall
England
Coordinates50°08′33″N 5°18′19″W / 50.1426°N 5.3053°W / 50.1426; -5.3053
Grid referenceSW639321
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyHelston Railway
Pre-groupingGreat Western Railway
Post-groupingGreat Western Railway
Key dates
9 May 1887Opened
5 November 1962Closed for passengers
5 October 1964Closed for freight

Nancegollan railway station located in Nancegollan, Cornwall served an important agricultural district and was also the railhead for the fishing port of Porthleven.[1]

History[edit]

The station opened on 9 May 1887 when the Helston Railway opened the line between Helston and Gwinear Road on the Great Western Railway mainline to Penzance.[2][3]

The line was operated by the Great Western Railway and absorbed by that company on 2 August 1898.[3]

Originally it had a single passenger platform on the upside and a goods loop without a platform;[4] the connections were operated by a ground frame. In 1937 the facilities were considerably extended, with a full crossing facility for passenger trains and longer platforms on both lines, as well as a loop line behind the up platform and a large goods yard.[5]

In 1941 the station's goods sidings were further modified and extended in connection with airfield construction in the locality, and a new signal box with a lever frame that had been relocated from the Cornish Main Line at St Germans. A second, metal, bridge was also built at this time to carry the road over the new goods yard access lines. A camping coach was positioned here by the Western Region from 1958 to 1962.[6]

Due to the line's "uncoloured" classification, heavy locomotives such as GWR Classes 43XX 2-6-0 Tender Engine and 51XX 2-6-2T Tank Engines were allowed as far as Nancegollan only.[7] Although larger locomotives did run past Nancegollan in the branch's dying days the Class 22s ran on the branch even though they were a GWR blue classification, higher than the branch line.

In April 1957, Nancegollan won £10 (£238.65 in today's money[8]) in the British Railways Western Region Station Gardens Competition.[9]

The branch was closed for passengers on 5 November 1962. Goods traffic continued for a further two years, finally ceasing on 5 October 1964; the track was lifted by mid-1965.[2][10][11]

Preceding station Historical railways Following station
Praze   Great Western Railway
Helston Railway 		  Truthall Halt

Station Masters[edit]

The following people are known to have been Station Masters at Nancegollan Station, with approximate dates show.

  • S.J. Jeffery, Station Master (? - July 1955 - December 1957)[12][13]
  • A. Knight, Station Master (? - ?)[14]
  • T. Williams, Station Master (January 1958 - ?)[15]

The site today[edit]

Today the site of Nancegollan is an industrial estate.[16] There are plans for the Helston Railway to extend the line into Nancegollen at some point.

Gallery[edit]

  • The bridge at Nancegollen is still standing.
    The bridge at Nancegollen is still standing.
  • The site of Nancegollen station still with a lamp poking through the shrubbery
    The site of Nancegollen station still with a lamp poking through the shrubbery
  • The site of the station in 1973, nine years after it closed
    The site of the station in 1973, nine years after it closed
  • A Station lamp that can now be seen in a garden.
    A Station lamp that can now be seen in a garden.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Nancegollan Station, Helston Branch Railway, about 1887". Museum of Cornish Life. Helston Museum. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  2. ^ a b Quick, Michael (2022) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (PDF). version 5.04. Railway & Canal Historical Society. p. 327. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 November 2022.
  3. ^ a b Grant, Donald J. (2017). Directory of the Railway Companies of Great Britain (1st ed.). Kibworth Beauchamp, Leicestershire: Troubador Publishing Ltd. p. 260. ISBN 978-1-78803-768-6.
  4. ^ "Nancegollan station on OS 25 inch map Cornwall LXX.13 (Breage; Crowan; Sithney)". National Library of Scotland. 1908. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  5. ^ Oakley, Mike (2009). Cornwall Railway Stations. Wimborne Minster: Dovecote Press. ISBN 978-1-904-34968-6.
  6. ^ McRae, Andrew (1998). British Railways Camping Coach Holidays: A Tour of Britain in the 1950s and 1960s. Vol. Scenes from the Past: 30 (Part Two). Foxline. p. 95. ISBN 1-870119-53-3.
  7. ^ Becket, W. S. (n.d.). Operation Cornwall. Caernarvon: Xpress Publishing. ISBN 1-901056-25-2.
  8. ^ Archives, The National. "The National Archives - Currency converter: 1270–2017". Currency converter. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  9. ^ "Station Garden Competition". British Railways Magazine (Western Region). 4: 111–112. April 1957.
  10. ^ Hurst, Geoffrey (1992). Register of Closed Railways: 1948-1991. Worksop, Nottinghamshire: Milepost Publications. p. 30 (ref 1458). ISBN 0-9477-9618-5.
  11. ^ Atterbury, Paul (2011). Along Lost Lines. Cincinnati: David & Charles. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-7153-2706-7.
  12. ^ "Examination Successes". British Railways Magazine (Western Region). 6: 137. July 1955.
  13. ^ "Promotions and Transfers". British Railways Magazine (Western Region). 8: 337–339. December 1957.
  14. ^ Ivey, William Frederick. "Helston Branch Railway". Helston History.
  15. ^ "Promotions and Transfers". British Railways Magazine (Western Region). 9: 18, 20, 22. January 1958.
  16. ^ "Google map image from the Nancegollen industrial estate". Retrieved 1 September 2017.
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