Ingra Tor Halt railway station

Ingra Tor Halt railway station was located on the 10.5 mile long single track Princetown Railway in Devon, England, running from Yelverton to Princetown with four intermediate stations.[3] It was opened with only a basic wood platform and shelter in connection with the short-lived re-opening of the adjacent quarry. Its later traffic was entirely walkers and it was retained in an attempt to counter competition from local bus services and encourage tourist traffic.[2]

Princetown Railway
Locale West Devon Dates of operation 1883 – 1956 Successor line Great Western Railway Line length 10 ^1⁄2 miles (16.9 km) Track gauge 4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Princetown Foggintor siding King Tor Halt Swell Tor siding Ingra Tor Halt Lowry Road Crossing Burrator & Sheepstor Halt Prowse's Crossing Dousland Yelverton South Devon and Tavistock Railway

The old trackbed near Ingra Tor.

Ingra Tor Halt
Site of Ingra Tor Halt
Location
Place	Princetown
Area	West Devon
Coordinates	50.5318°N 4.0392°W / 50.5318; -4.0392
Grid reference	SX5557272219
Operations
Original company	Great Western Railway
Post-grouping	Great Western Railway
Platforms	1
History
2 March 1936[1]	Station opens
3 March 1956[2]	Station closed to passengers
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z

History

The branch line was authorised in 1878 and opened on 11 August 1883.[4] Yelverton was the junction for the line when the halt opened, two other stations had been added to the line in the 1920s, Burrator and Sheepstor Halt in 1924, King Tor Halt in 1928.[5] Much of the route followed the course of the old Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway.[2]

The freight traffic on the branch line included granite from the rail served quarries[2] of Swelltor and Foggintor which were closed in 1906.

Owned by the Princetown Railway until 1 January 1922, the company then merged with the Great Western Railway (GWR). The line passed to British Railways (Western Region) in 1948 and closed on 3 March 1956.[2] The track was lifted on December 1956.[6]

Much of the old track formation now forms the route of the Dousland to Princetown Railway Track,[2] and only the concrete base of the shelter at the halt remains.[2]

Micro-history

At the time of the opening of the halt in 1936 the single fares were: to Princetown, 11½d First Class or 7d Second Class; to Burrator Halt, 9d and 5½d; to King Tor Halt, 7½d and 4½d; to Dousland, 1s 1d and 7½d; to Yelverton, 1s 5d and 10d; and to Plymouth, Millbay, 3s 8d and 2s 3d. A Cheap Day Return ticket to Plymouth cost 2s 3d Third Class; or to Princetown and back for 7d.[7]

At one time a notice at the halt stated that passengers should keep dogs on a leash due to the presence of adders.[2] This is now in the Plymouth Railway Circle collection and can be seen in the Lee Moor Tramway Shed which is generally opened on special event days at Buckfastleigh Station on the South Devon Railway.

Services

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Burrator and Sheepstor Halt Line and station closed		Great Western Railway Princetown Railway		King Tor Halt Line and station closed

References

Notes

1. Butt, Page 127
2. Mitchell, Page 114
3. Moseley, Brian (October 2011). "The Route, 1947 [GWR Princetown Branch]". The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History. Plymouth Data. Archived from the original on 23 August 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
4. Moseley, Brian (December 2011). "Princetown Railway". The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History. Plymouth Data. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
5. Atterbury, Page 34
6. Moseley, Brian (August 2012). "Princetown Branch [BR]". The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History. Plymouth Data. Archived from the original on 7 March 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
7. Moseley, Brian (December 2012). "Princetown Branch [GWR]". The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History. Plymouth Data. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2015.

Sources

• Atterbury, P. (2006) Branch Line Britain: A Nostalgic Journey Celebrating a Golden Age. Newton Abbot : David & Charles.
• Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0508-1. OCLC 60251199.
• Mitchell, David (1994). British Railways Past and Present - Devon. Wadenhoe : Past and Present. ISBN 1-85895-058-9.

External links

• Photos of the line today
• Dousland to Princetown Railway Track