Cornwall Railway

The Cornwall Railway was a 7 ft 1⁄4 in (2,140 mm) broad gauge railway between Plymouth in Devon to Falmouth in Cornwall, England. It was built in the second half of the 19th 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; 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 Truro to Falmouth, originally part of its main line, never fulfilled its potential and soon became a branch line. Nonetheless, the entire route (with some minor modifications) remains open, forming part of the Cornish Main Line from Plymouth to Penzance. The Truro to Falmouth branch continues to operate today; it is now branded as the Maritime Line.