Railways In Plymouth
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Railways In Plymouth
The network of railways in Plymouth, Devon, England, was developed by companies affiliated to two competing railways, the Great Western Railway and the London and South Western Railway. At their height two main lines and three branch lines served 28 stations in the Plymouth area, but today just six stations remain in use. History The first uses of railway in the area were wooden rails used during the construction of docks facilities. Some were in use in the HMNB Devonport, Naval Dockyard in 1724, and in 1756 John Smeaton laid some more to help move materials in his workyard on the mainland which was preparing stonework for the Eddystone Lighthouse. In 1812 John Rennie the Elder, John Rennie laid a gauge metal tramway to help with the construction of the Plymouth Breakwater; rails were laid in the quarry at Oreston and on the breakwater, and loaded wagons were conveyed between the two on ships. A more conventional tramway was opened on 26 September 1823. The Plymouth and Dartm ...
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Dockyard 153380
A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are shipbuilding, built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial construction. The terms are routinely used interchangeably, in part because the Shipyard#History, evolution of dockyards and shipyards has often caused them to change or merge roles. Countries with large shipbuilding industries include Australia, Brazil, China, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, the Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, United States and Vietnam. The shipbuilding industry is more fragmented in Economy of Europe, ...
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Broad Gauge
A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS states, Baltic states, Georgia and Ukraine), Mongolia and Finland. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Irish Gauge, is the dominant track gauge in Ireland, and the Australian states of Victoria and Adelaide. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Iberian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in Spain and Portugal. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Indian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Argentina, Chile, and on BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) in the San Francisco Bay Area. This is the widest gauge in common use anywhere in the world. It is possible for trains on both Iberian gauge and Indian gauge to travel on each other's tracks with no modifications in the vast majority of cases. History In Gr ...
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Dual Gauge
In railway engineering, "gauge" is the transverse distance between the inner surfaces of the heads of two rails, which for the vast majority of railway lines is the number of rails in place. However, it is sometimes necessary for track to carry railway vehicles with wheels matched to two different gauges. Such track is described as dual gauge – achieved either by addition of a third rail, if it will fit, or by two additional rails. Dual-gauge tracks are more expensive to configure with signals and sidings, and to maintain, than two separate single-gauge tracks. It is therefore usual to build dual-gauge or other multi-gauge tracks only when necessitated by lack of space or when tracks of two different gauges meet in marshalling yards or passenger stations. Dual-gauge tracks are by far the most common configuration, but triple-gauge tracks have been built in some situations. Background The rail gauge is the most fundamental specification of a railway. Rail tracks and whee ...
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Consolidation (business)
In business, consolidation or amalgamation is the merger and acquisition of many smaller companies into a few much larger ones. In the context of financial accounting, ''consolidation'' refers to the aggregation of financial statements of a group company as consolidated financial statements. The taxation term of consolidation refers to the treatment of a group of companies and other entities as one entity for tax purposes. Under the Halsbury's Laws of England, 'amalgamation' is defined as "a blending together of two or more undertakings into one undertaking, the shareholders of each blending company, becoming, substantially, the shareholders of the blended undertakings. There may be amalgamations, either by transfer of two or more undertakings to a new company or the transfer of one or more companies to an existing company". Overview Consolidation is the practice, in business, of legally combining two or more organizations into a single new one. Upon consolidation, the original ...
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Launceston Railway Station
Launceston railway station ( kw, Lannstevan) was situated in Launceston, Cornwall, United Kingdom. It was served by both the Great Western Railway (GWR) and London and South Western Railway (LSWR). There were actually two stations adjacent to each other, the northern station serving the line to Plymouth, which was built by the Launceston and South Devon Railway (later GWR), and the southern station being on the North Cornwall Railway (for the LSWR) which was operated by the London and South Western Railway. The two stations unusually shared a "back to back" signal box from 1916, despite being operated by different railway companies. A connection between the two railways was provided in 1943. The GWR station closed to passengers in 1952, all trains then using the LSWR station. The Launceston Steam Railway now operates nearby. History The station was opened on 1 June 1865 by the Launceston and South Devon Railway, a broad gauge line that connected with the South Devon ...
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South Devon And Tavistock Railway
The South Devon and Tavistock Railway linked Plymouth with Tavistock in Devon; it opened in 1859. It was extended by the Launceston and South Devon Railway to Launceston, in Cornwall in 1865. It was a broad gauge line but from 1876 also carried the standard gauge (then referred to as ''narrow gauge'') trains of the London and South Western Railway between Lydford and Plymouth: a third rail was provided, making a ''mixed gauge''. In 1892 the whole line was converted to standard gauge only. The line closed to passengers in 1962 although sections at either end were retained for a while to carry freight traffic. A short section has since been reopened as a preserved line by the Plym Valley Railway. History Getting the Tavistock line authorised The Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway, a horse-worked line, had been constructed to bring minerals from quarries near Princetown to Plymouth; it opened on 26 September 1823. The South Devon Railway (SDR) built its line from Exeter to Plymouth, o ...
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Royal Albert Bridge
The Royal Albert Bridge is a railway bridge which spans the River Tamar in England between Plymouth, Devon and Saltash, Cornwall. Its unique design consists of two lenticular iron trusses above the water, with conventional plate-girder approach spans. This gives it a total length of . It carries the Cornish Main Line railway in and out of Cornwall. It is adjacent to the Tamar Bridge which opened in 1962 to carry the A38 road. The Royal Albert Bridge was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Surveying started in 1848 and construction commenced in 1854. The first main span was positioned in 1857 and the completed bridge was opened by Prince Albert on 2 May 1859. Brunel died later that year and his name was then placed above the portals at either end of the bridge as a memorial. During the 20th century the approach spans were replaced, and the main spans strengthened. It has attracted sightseers since its construction and has appeared in many paintings, photographs, guidebooks ...
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Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel (; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was a British civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "one of the greatest figures of the Industrial Revolution, hochanged the face of the English landscape with his groundbreaking designs and ingenious constructions." Brunel built dockyards, the Great Western Railway (GWR), a series of steamships including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship, and numerous important bridges and tunnels. His designs revolutionised public transport and modern engineering. Though Brunel's projects were not always successful, they often contained innovative solutions to long-standing engineering problems. During his career, Brunel achieved many engineering firsts, including assisting in the building of the first tunnel under a navigable river (the River Thames) and the development of the , the first ...
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Torpoint Ferry
The Torpoint Ferry is a car and pedestrian chain ferry connecting the A374 which crosses the Hamoaze, a stretch of water at the mouth of the River Tamar, between Devonport in Plymouth and Torpoint in Cornwall. The service was established in 1791 and chain ferry operations were introduced by James Meadows Rendel in 1832. Current operations The route is currently served by three ferries, built by Ferguson Shipbuilders Ltd at Port Glasgow and named after three rivers in the area: '' Tamar II'', '' Lynher II'' and ''Plym II''. Each ferry carries 73 cars and operates using its own set of slipways and parallel chains, with a vehicle weight limit of The ferry boats are propelled across the river by pulling themselves on the chains; the chains then sink to the bottom to allow shipping movements in the river. An intensive service is provided, with service frequencies ranging from every 10 minutes (3 ferries in service) at peak times, to half-hourly (1 ferry in service) at night. Serv ...
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River Tamar
The Tamar (; kw, Dowr Tamar) is a river in south west England, that forms most of the border between Devon (to the east) and Cornwall (to the west). A part of the Tamar Valley is a World Heritage Site due to its historic mining activities. The Tamar's source is less than from the north Cornish coast, but it flows southward and its course runs across the peninsula to the south coast. The total length of the river is . At its mouth, the Tamar flows into the Hamoaze before entering Plymouth Sound, a bay of the English Channel. Tributaries of the river include the rivers Inny, Ottery, Kensey and Lynher (or ''St Germans River'') on the Cornish side, and the Deer and Tavy on the Devon side. The name Tamar (or Tamare) was mentioned by Ptolemy in the second century in his ''Geography''. The name is said to mean "great water."Furneaux, Robert. The Tamar: A Great Little River. Ex Libris Press. 1992. Foot, Sarah. ''The River Tamar''. Bossiney Books. 1989.Neale, John. Discovering ...
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Cornwall Railway
The Cornwall Railway was a broad gauge railway from Plymouth in Devon to Falmouth in Cornwall, England, built in the second half of the nineteenth century. It was constantly beset with shortage of capital for the construction, and was eventually forced to sell its line to the dominant Great Western Railway. The Cornwall Railway was famous for building the majestic Royal Albert Bridge over the River Tamar and, because of the difficult terrain it traversed, it had a large number of viaducts, built as timber trestles because of the shortage of money. They proved to be iconic structures, but were a source of heavy maintenance costs, eventually needing to be reconstructed in more durable materials. Its main line was the key route to many of the holiday destinations of Cornwall, and in the first half of the 20th century it carried holidaymakers in summer, as well as vegetables, fish and cut flowers from Cornwall to markets in London and elsewhere in England. The section from Trur ...
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Devonport Railway Station
Devonport railway station serves the Devonport area of Plymouth in Devon, England. It is from via . It is managed by Great Western Railway. History The station opened with the Cornwall Railway on 4 May 1859. It was described at the time as "built of rubble masonry, in the Italian style of architecture, which style is adopted at all stations on the railway. It consists of an arrival, departure, and goods stations, the two former being stone structures, and the last a wooden erection". In 1865 the Royal Agricultural Show was held at nearby at Pennycomequick and so the opportunity was taken to enlarge the platforms at Devonport. A "refreshment booth" was also erected for the duration of the show to cater for the large number of visitors expected. The Cornwall Railway was amalgamated into the Great Western Railway on 1 July 1889. The Great Western Railway was nationalised into British Railways from 1 January 1948 which was in turn privatised in the 1990s. For a while after 194 ...
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