The Helston Branch was opened by the Helston Railway Company in 1887 as a standard gauge branch from the main line to Helston, with the intention of extending to the Lizard, although this was never done. The line specialised in transportation of broccoli (known as cauliflower in the rest of the UK) and also ran a lively passenger service to the main line at Gwinear Road. Unfortunately the branch closed in 1962 and the only visible remains are the Goods Shed (now a hall within a shelter housing complex) and part of the platform. Three useful books have been written, of which two are still in print (see References). The author of this website has researched the private owner wagons of the Helston Gas Company, the only ones known to have been associated with the branch. His 'O' Gauge model railway incorporates Helston station and also a fictitious station called Rosewarne Junction (see map below) from where a short branch to Leedstown might have been built.
History of Helston Station History of Helston Signal Box Links
Goods Shed (now a hall in a sheltered housing complex)
Platform
Goods Yard Approach (North side of embankment that used to hold the carriage shed)
Road overbridge between Helston and Cober Viaduct
G A Anthony, "The Hayle, West Cornwall and Helston Railways", The Oakwood Press, 1968.
S C Jenkins, "The Helston Branch Railway", No 184, The Oakwood Press, 1992, ISBN 0 85361 424 5
V Mitchell and K Smith, "Branch Lines to Falmouth, Helston and St Ives", Middleton Press, 2001. ISBN 1 901706 74 5
Helston Railway Preservation Society
Keith Gowen's 3 mm scale layout of Helston....
© Copyright Robert A Smith, 2005-7