• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Hayle Heritage Centre

Visit Us For Free!
Closed until further notice
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • About Us
    • What we do
    • Volunteering
    • Events
    • Talks and Tours
    • Our Blog
    • History of the Trust
    • Churks, Clidgy & Doodle-Dashers Third Edition – Now for sale online!
  • Industrial Heritage
    • Engineering
    • Shipping
    • World Heritage Status
  • Collections
    • Introduction
    • Collection Highlights
    • Oral History Collection
    • Pre-history
    • Exhibitions
      • Previous exhibitions
      • Online exhibitions
    • Hayle Community Archive
    • Conservation
  • Educational Resources
    • Maps & Trails
  • Visit Us
    • Getting here
    • Facilities and access
    • Shop
You are here: Home / Collection Highlights / Bridge Rail

Bridge Rail

  May 16, 2017  

One of a number of large, industrial objects on show in our outdoor display area.

Collection Highlight - Great Western Railway Bridge Rail
Railway Bridge Rail
Collection Highlight - Great Western Railway Bridge Rail
Railway Bridge Rail

The Hayle Railway opened in 1837 to link the foundry and docks at Hayle with the mines of Camborne and Redruth. This single track, standard gauge (4ft 8 ½ inches between the rails) railway was operated by steam locomotives except on two steep, rope-hauled inclines.

From about 1841 these trains began to carry passengers and in 1846 the line was integrated into the West Cornwall Railway's new 23 mile line between Truro and Penzance, which avoided the two inclines and followed the route that still exists today.

The Chief Engineer for this project was Isambard Kingdom Brunel. His work included the magnificent viaducts in Hayle (the original timber version, developed into the current brick structure in 1886) and nearby Angarrack.

In 1866 the West Cornwall Railway converted to broad gauge (7ft ¼ inches between the rails), allowing it to link with the Great Western Railway (GWR) and on 1 March 1867 history was made when the first through passenger train ran from London Paddington to Penzance.

However, broad gauge was a short lived project; the whole of the GWR converted to standard gauge in 1892, by which time the local line had officially merged with the Great Western line - 'God's Wonderful Railway'.

The West Cornwall Railway was mostly made up of Barlow rail (designed to be held in place by ballast alone, thus requiring no sleepers) and Bridge rail (this rail was bolted to longitudinal wooden supports with sleepers only every few feet – the section pictured is a rare example, discovered on Trevassack Farm, Hayle, and donated to the Heritage Centre in early 2017). This type of rail was used by Brunel on the GWR.

  

Primary Sidebar

Our Contact Details

Hayle Heritage Centre
Harvey’s Foundry Trust
John Harvey House,
24 Foundry Square
Hayle, Cornwall,
TR27 4HH

Tel: 01736 757683
Email: enquiries@hayleheritagecentre.org.uk

Opening Times

In light of government advice regarding the Coronavirus, we will be closed until further notice.

Check our Facebook and Twitter pages, or give us a call in advance of visiting.

Footer

Contact Us

Hayle Heritage Centre
Harvey’s Foundry Trust
John Harvey House,
24 Foundry Square
Hayle, Cornwall
TR27 4HH

Tel: 01736 757683
Email: enquiries@hayleheritagecentre.org.uk

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

OUR LOCATION

Content © Hayle Heritage Centre
Hayle Heritage Centre is owned by Harvey’s Foundry Trust. The Trust is a UK Registered Charity no. 1112920
Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy

Supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund

Website Sitemap | Admin
Website designed & developed by Fibonacci Designs

 Menu

  • About Us
    • What we do
    • Volunteering
    • Events
    • Talks and Tours
    • Our Blog
    • History of the Trust
    • Churks, Clidgy & Doodle-Dashers Third Edition – Now for sale online!
  • Industrial Heritage
    • Engineering
    • Shipping
    • World Heritage Status
  • Collections
    • Introduction
    • Collection Highlights
    • Oral History Collection
    • Pre-history
    • Exhibitions
      • Previous exhibitions
      • Online exhibitions
    • Hayle Community Archive
    • Conservation
  • Educational Resources
    • Maps & Trails
  • Visit Us
    • Getting here
    • Facilities and access
    • Shop