▼

Monday, 21 January 2019

VIADUCT AND TRAINS, CORNWALL

Trenance Viaduct, Cornwall
I had to visit someone this morning and snapped a few quick photos while on my way - nothing special but it turns out there is a theme to them.

 The photo above shows part of the Trenance Viaduct, Cornwall.

 A viaduct was first built here in 1858 but had to be replaced in 1899. It's quite a construction as it has ten piers and is 115 feet (35m) high and 720 feet (220m) long.

 The photo below is a small river - made white by china clay deposits - running under the viaduct.
River under Trenance Viaduct, Cornwall
Purely by chance, as I was approaching a footbridge over the railway lines I heard a train. I rushed to the top of the bridge and managed to get a photo - but not the front of the engine! The train was transporting china clay - I seem to have mentioned china clay quite a lot recently - see my post: China Clay Country for example
66155 china clay train, Cornwall
I quickly went to the other side of the bridge to take another photo as the train thundered through St.Austell station.
China clay train passing through St.Austell Station, Cornwall
The train would have travelled over the Trenance Viaduct I mentioned at the beginning of this post. So, along with china clay, it all fits together nicely - purely by chance. That is, if there is such a thing as chance, coincidence synchronicity etc. But that's a whole different conversation!
at

4 comments:

  1. Unknown21 January 2019 at 16:56

    There is a second row of pillars in front of the one that supports the stone bridge. Could it be that the previous bridge was a wooden bridge similar to the one that is modelled at the Pendon Museum ?
    See : https://pendonmuseum.com/about/dartmoor-scene.php
    The wooden structure is on the top left photo. It can be enlarged.
    Laurent

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mike Perry22 January 2019 at 09:29

      Spot on Laurent! Yes, there was originally a wooden bridge using the old pillars - there were actually over 40 such constructions on the line. There is a photo of the Trenance viaduct with the wooden bridge on: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornwall_Railway_viaducts#/media/File:St_Austell_viaduct.jpg
      Thanks for your link.

      Delete
  2. David Bennett22 January 2019 at 11:30

    Very interesting images as usual. I prefer to see freight trains, far more interesting, I'm not an enthusiast (anorak) but I recognise the loco as a Type 66. AKA "Flying Shed".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mike Perry23 January 2019 at 08:49

      Thanks David. I know little about trains - passenger or freight - haven't travelled on one for decades! Thanks for the info about the "Flying Shed" I'll do a search to find our more.

      Delete