The Cornish China Clay Branches are a number of railway branch lines that serve facilities that produce or process China Clay. The area of Cornwall north of St Austell stretching from Bodmin Moor towards Truro is known for the extraction and processing of commercial volumes of China Clay, and with the expansion of the railways in the 19th century a number of lines were constructed to access various mines and clay-dries. Some branches have closed over the years, but several still operated into the 21st century although much of the China Clay traffic has transferred to road transport. In 2020 rail traffic remained in the shape of regular trains running between Parkandillack and the wharves at Carne Point where the large volumes required to be loaded onto ships for export would make road transport uneconomic.
China Clay areas While various clay dries were located alongside passenger lines, particularly the Par - Newquay line, most were served by freight-only lines of varying lengths, sometimes meandering to serve the varying locations. The longest branch diverged from the Par - Newquay line at St Dennis Junction, and while one part of this branch continued to the Cornish Main Line at Burngullow, the other ran further west, terminating at Meledor Mill. In addition there were shorter branches diverging between Luxulyan and Roche towards Carbis wharf, Wheal Rose and Carbean, and a further branch extending northward from near St Austell to Lansalon. Outside this area, the most notable freight-only branch serving clay dries was the ex-LSWR line to Wenfordbridge.
Transport of China Clay by rail China Clay in Cornwall has generally been "mined" from Clay pits by washing the clay and transporting it in suspension to a handling facility known as a "Clay Dry". Here the clay is held in settling tanks and then dried to a powder before being transported. Early use of China Clay was in pottery and it has been transported to the Staffordshire Potteries for over 100 years. For most of that time, dried clay was loaded into open wagons which were covered by a tarpaulin, and due to the nature of the product some China Clay companies owned their own wagons dedicated just to transporting the Clay. In 1945 the Great Western Railway, which served almost all of the China Clay areas in Cornwall, built a fleet of 500 open wagons specifically for the transport of China Clay, and these continued in use by British Railways after nationalisation. In the early 1970s the wagons had a metal bar added over which the tarpaulin was placed making a tent-like cover over the wagon and had zinc linings added, these "Clay-hood" wagons being synonymous with trainload china clay for over 20 years. These wagons worked to all of the Cornish Clay facilities, often being taken to a nearby yard before being formed into complete trains that travelled both to the Stoke-on-Trent area and over the comparatively short distance either to the port of Par or particularly to Carne Point at Fowey where the China Clay was loaded directly into vessels for export.
While bulk transport of China Clay was in open wagons, clay of a particularly high quality was bagged and transported in vans. Like the Clay Hoods these were originally of wooden construction and comparatively short wheelbase, but as larger air-braked wagons (CDA) were introduced in the 1980s these were replaced by larger curtain-sided wagons. At this time rail transport of Clay powder also changed with the introduction of large air-braked bogie wagons of 57 tonne capacity, which also facilitated the transport of "ball clay" where the clay remained in a sticky form rather than a dry powder. These wagons were privately owned by Tiger Rail and became known as "Clay Tigers", being a familiar sight on trains to the potteries, and also on trains to Sittingbourne in Kent and to several locations in Scotland for use in the paper industry. These were supplemented by the conversion of aggregate hoppers for use with China Clay, these often being used for wagonload freight, and the development of a flow of clay slurry in tank wagons which were of both four-wheeled and bogie types and operated specifically to paper mills.
St Dennis junction - Burngullow line
The line from St Dennis Junction to Burngullow has its origins as two separate lines. The northern section was constructed by Squire Treffry as a tramway and opened around 1852 to the China Clay workings on Hendra Downs with a stationary engine at the Hendra Downs end. This line was later altered with a track designed for locomotive haulage diverging from the foot of the Hendra Downs incline and meeting the southern line near Drinnick Mill.
The southern part of the line was originally constructed to Broad Gauge in 1869, and the northern part, constructed to standard gauge, had a third rail added to make it mixed gauge. This extension of the broad gauge was never used and may have been of poor construction. The whole line was converted to standard gauge only as part of the GWR gauge conversion in 1892.
The line from Parkandillack south remained open in 1977, as did the sidings at Drinnick Mill but the track between Parkandillack and St Dennis was lifted. After this closure some wagons ran away over the end of the line and a train consisting of rerailing equipment and a crane hauled by a Class 47 attended, one of the few times that the type operated on the branch. There were proposals to divert trains to Newquay over the line and away from the Par - Newquay line in the 1990s, but these came to nothing and the line remains freight-only so that in 2006 there was a daily return trip to Parkandillack of China Clay hoppers booked to run Monday to Friday. In 2021 trains continue to run on the branch between Burngullow and Parkandillack hauled by Class 66 locomotives.
Gothers Siding Originally a loop on the east side of the line allowing trans-shipment of China Clay from a gauge tramway that ran for east and then south to serve Higher Gothers China Clay Works and then beyond to serve Lower Gothers China Clay Works. Constructed in 1879 the siding was referred to as Pochin Siding after H.D. Pochin who owned the Higher Gothers works and constructed the tramway. In 1929 the tramway had a branch added to serve a local Mica works, but the tramway closed in 1932 when H.D. Pochin was merged with other companies to form English China Clays Lovering Pochin, and the siding was lifted soon after.
Whitegates siding Located west of the village of St Dennis, it consisted of a single siding on the west side of the line with a loading platform and access controlled by a Ground Frame. The siding officially closed on 4 January 1965.
Hendra Downs Tramway The original purpose of the line when built was to provide easy access to the mines and Clay Works on Hendra Downs. This section of the line continued for about and terminated at an engine house. There is no evidence that this section was locomotive operated and the tracks were removed some time before 1914.
Parkandillack Originally this short line was built to serve the China Clay Works of the St Dennis & Parkandillack China Clay Company, with an additional siding on the east of the line added in 1925 and a further siding on the western side to serve the works of United China Clays Limited. The original line, some in length, was accessed by a loop on the east side of the line. Due to an increase in traffic caused by the "Carpella Break", in 1911 a Signal Box was built to control movements, but this was closed in 1922 when the "break" was closed by a deviation and was replaced by a Ground Frame. The access loop was extended in 1958 and in 1972 the whole layout was expanded with an additional siding with its own loop. In 2021 there are weekday trains timetabled to destinations such as Fowey Carne Point and Exeter Riverside Yard, although these may run as required.
Treviscoe and Kernick sidings Originally a loop on the east side of the line to serve the Central Treviscoe and General China Clay and China Stone Company, the loop was controlled by two ground frames and closed in 1934. Less than south of Central Treviscoe was a single siding on the west of the line for the Greater Treviscoe China Clay Company whose works were connected to the siding by a tramway and incline. Access to this siding was controlled by a Ground Frame. In 1911 a set of parallel sidings were installed on the opposite side of the line to Greater Treviscoe siding variously referred to as Treviscoe Siding and Kernick Siding, but later settling on the term Kernick Sidings. A Signal Box opened in 1913 and closed in 1950 to be replaced by 2 Ground Frames, with some track alterations being carried out at the same time. Greater Treviscoe Siding was removed in 1967 and further alterations were made to Kernick Sidings in 1971. These sidings are still in use in 2021, but are considered part of the Parkandillack complex for timetable purposes.
Trethosa siding A short siding curving away on the south side of the line to serve the English China Clays works. The siding was removed in 1948 and the site has now been excavated as part of a clay pit.
Little Treviscoe Siding A loop with an additional siding to serve another Clay Dry operated by English China Clays Ltd. Sources differ on the actual facility and the size and location of a tramway that may have fed the siding. The loop was controlled by 2 Ground Frames, and the siding and part of the loop were removed in 1967 so that, by the 1970s, there was just a short siding on the north side of the line remaining. Both the siding and the facility that it served were removed before 2020.
Goonvean Three separate sidings were located near to Goonvean. Firstly on the south side of the line a complex of up to 3 sidings serving a facility of the Goonvean China Clay Company about distant with access controlled by a Ground Frame, the whole being removed in 1976 with most of the trackbed converted to use as a private road. Restowrack siding on the north side of the line was constructed after 1913 and served another facility run by the Goonvean China Clay Company, also having access controlled by a Ground Frame. Finally a further siding on the south side of the line with a Ground Frame controlling access, serving a small loading platform adjacent to the road. This siding, barely long, was taken out of use in 1965. Access to the three sidings near Goonvean stretches over a length of just .
Luke's sidings On the south side of the line, two sidings referred to as Luke's Old Siding and Luke's New Siding. Both of these were short open sidings serving different parts of the Goonamarris China Clay and Stone Works with access to each controlled by an individual Ground Frame. Located about apart, the Old siding was removed in 1960 and the New siding in 1963.
West of England Siding A short siding serving the West of England China Stone Quarries which brought China Clay up by an inclined tramway, and by a second tramway of about running onto Restowrack Downs. From the 1930s until the 1960s this longer line was operated using two Simplex 0-4-0 petrol mechanical locomotives. The siding was removed in 1968.
Drinnick Mill, Nanpean and Carloggas