The Plym Valley Line Today
Our passenger operating line is nearly three-quarters of a mile long, from the southern terminus of the line at Marsh Mills up to Lee Moor Crossing via a point that has become known as World's End. The original line climbed up through, what is now our station area, on a 1:100 gradient. To allow us to build a platform and run round loop at Marsh Mills, we re-graded the bottom section of the line, so that it is level through the platform and loop. The line then climbs on a short 1:60 gradient, christened the "K2 incline", up to a point about 150 foot south of the Junction with the sidings, at No. 1 Point. We have a viewing area opposite the top of the climb giving visitors a view of the train as it comes out of the cutting, and over Marsh Mills North Junction. Unfortunately we cannot complete the northern end of the loop at present, as the sewage pipe and power cables serving the old M.O.D. depot, now owned by Princess Yachts, adjacent to the railway centre, are close to the surface at this point, and it will involve a major expenditure in order to culvert them, like the section under the mainline. The first section of the line opened in 2001 and the second section up to Lee Moor Crossing was opened in May 2008.
After passing World's End the line passes over a bridge, under which are pipes that used to carry the china clay slurry down from Lee Moor to the clay dries at Marsh Mills, and starts climbing up towards a cutting. At either end of the cutting the line crosses the old Cann Quarry Canal on two stone bridges that had to have major repairs carried out on them before they could carry rail traffic again. Once clear of the cutting the River Plym can be seen on the west side of the train and the canal on the east side. Just past the one milepost measured from the original junction on the mainline, Tavistock Junction, the train stops until we can build the next part of the line.
A level crossing is being built to allow the cycle path, built on the trackbed of the Lee Moor Tramway, to cross the line as it is extended towards Plym Bridge a distanced of about 800 yards. A new platform will have to built at Plym Bridge to enable passengers to alight from the trains.
The new platform, that we have built at Marsh Mills was completed in 1998, and is long enough for us to use the two car Class 117 Diesel Multiple Unit, the original station is further south of our line, still sees regular freight trains passing through it, serving the adjacent china clay works on our eastern boundary. We plan to extend our platform southwards, so that it will eventually be able to cope with a 5 coach train. In 1989 the old G.W.R. station building at Billacombe, on the Yealmpton branch, was dismantled stone by stone, and this will be rebuilt at Marsh Mills and become the new station building. At present we have a station buffet, shop, waiting room and a toilet block on the platform and these will be relocated when Billacombe is re-built.
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