A visit to London for a design conference took place early in the year, and we were accommodated in the Hotel Kennedy next to Euston Station, and that gave opportunity for visiting this and the nearby stations. Knowing that Long Rock depot was to be redeveloped, quite a few of the shots I took were a record of what was there, and the process of demolition and rebuilding. I was greatly saddened that my “playground” for many years was to be removed, but also excited by the prospect of what was to come. In September, the first signs of air-conditioned Mk2D carriages arrived for training, and were soon taking the top link services up the line behind Class 50s. That heralded the end of the ‘Westerns’ too, as they could not handle that sort of stock, and they were downgraded to more menial duties. Knowing this, I recorded a few of the remaining locos, even though their ubiquity had really rather bored me for several years.
D1021 “WESTERN CAVALIER” begins its passage out of Penzance Station’s platform 3. When lengthened in WW2 days, these platforms were faced with concrete and infilled with rubble. 760120D16-PNZ-D1021-LIG_U
50017 is the train engine for my journey to London early on this rainy day. The granite wall behind covers cliffs excavated to uniformity and faced in West Cornwall Railway days. 760120D17-PNZ-50017-PAS_U
86237 and a Class 87 wait side by side at Euston, heading down passenger services to the north. The 87’s marker lights are lit, but the 86 has to rely on its head code to warn of its approach. 760120D18-EUS-LOCOS-PAS_D
The builder’s plate of an electric loco. Seeing so many new railway sights meant I tended to neglect record-keeping. Generally unlike the WR, the loco’s paintwork appears in very good order. 760120D19-EUS-ELOCO-BDR_P
1071 “WESTERN RENOWN”, having uncoupled and pulled forward from its platform 3 arrival, pumps out exhaust as it awaits permission to bypass its stock via platform 2 for egress. 760214D21-PNZ-D1071-PARKD
Ponsandane Crossing showing its lifting barriers and tv cameras. The incline to the goods platforms enabled lorries to park beside the wagons for loading, but they have long remained empty. 760214D22-PDN-CRSNG-GDS_Y
The Shunters’ Mess building at Ponsandane, convenient for supervising the open-air platform activity. The building was allowed to simply decay once the Yard closed. 760214D23-PDN-SHU_M-VI_NE
Ponsandane goods platforms looking west. The two buildings just beyond them housed Mounts Bay Coaches to the left and ‘Bousefield Bros’, Birmingham’s agricultural store on the right. 760214D24-PDN-G_YRD-VIS_W
Ponsandane Yard looking north east. In the centre lie the coal stockades, and behind the row of vans is the jib of J H Bennetts’ crane, used to load its lorries with domestic coal. 760214D25-PDN-G_YRD-VI_NE
The Shunters’ Mess looking west, beside spoil from recent trackwork. Peeping through the trees beyond is Trevarrack, just inland of Chyandour, and the buildings of the heliport, to the right. 760214D26-PDN-SHU_M-VI_NW
Ponsandane Goods Shed, built in 1936, showing offices and toilet block at the western end. The closed roller shutters and lack of nearby vehicles suggest business is not very healthy. 760214D27-PDN-G_SHD-VI_NE
Goods vehicles and passenger carriages occupy sidings east of Ponsandane Goods Shed. The foreshore path intimates the sand dunes the railway is built upon. 760214D28-LRK-C_SDG-VIS_W
A view very familiar to me as it was taken from my favourite vantage point overlooking Long Rock depot – a hollow in the dunes, out of the wind. 08840 and other locos wait between duties. 760214D29-LRK-LOCOS-PARKD
A rake of oil tanks dominates this view of Long Rock MPD as D1030 “WESTERN MUSKETEER” and other locos wait duties. These buildings made a rather grim “welcome to Penzance”. 760214D30-LRK-L_YRD-VIS_W
This is the turntable site beside Long Rock MPD’s buildings. A makeshift buffers marks the end of one of the former approaches, and the curving impression from the left, another. 760214D31-LRK-C_SDG-VIS_W
A westerly view from a former approach road to Long Rock MPDs turntable across to the Goods Shed. The hut presumably gave Shunters shelter, and a telephone link to the nearby signal boxes. 760214D32-LRK-W_TWR-VIS_E
A view of Long Rock depot’s coaling stage from ground level on its most exposed angle. Extending from the building was once a wooden screen to protect staff from rain and wind. 760214D33-LRK-E_SHD-VI_NE
The back of the sheds – in a very sorry state! The diesel roads were in the left portion, and that on the right was disused. The staff Mess was the separate building to the front left, with the supervisor’s office the windows behind. 760214D34-LRK-E_SHD-VI_NE
Looking up line from the far west of Camborne station, 50026 passes through with a single van. Its headcode has been reset to zeros, and it bears a Laira allocation patch. 760407A00-CBN-50026-GDS+D
Long Rock Coaling Tower’s mound has been penetrated by earth-moving equipment, showing its spoil constitution. Gaunt telegraph poles and dark portal add a funereal feel to the scene. 760407A01-LRK-WTR_T-DMLTN
A closer view of the removal of some of the west end and side of the mound under Long Rock’s Coaling Tower. The”calling on” siding, once before it and where many a goods train awaited its path, has already been lifted. 760407A02-LRK-WTR_T-DMLTN
Recovered rails lie piled at the side of Long Rock depot, awaiting loading into the flat wagons adjacent. Oil tanks stand beside, and the railway workers’ houses behind. 760407A10-LRK-L_YRD-RAILS
Near Long Rock shed’s fuel unloading road, the contractors have cleared space for some of their site buildings. Buffers and a coiled fuel hose mark the end of the fuel download area. 760407A11-LRK-L_YRD-VI_SE
Contractors E Thomas’ water tank tower and portacabin offices are viewed from behind Long Rock shed. The other buildings are ‘Chy an Mor’ – a terrace of railway workers houses. 760407A12-LRK-WTR_T-VIS_W
A “less-substantial” water tank tower marks the offices of the contractors E Thomas at the rear of Long Rock shed – its orange and white colour scheme contrasting with its dull surroundings. 760407A13-LRK-WTR_T-VIS_E
The entrance to Ponsandane Goods Yard shows a couple of temporary contractor’s signs; a more permanent 1970’s ‘National Carriers’ one; and a 1950’s vintage entrance sign. 760407A14-PDN-SIGNS-VI_SW
Bereft of its water tank capping, the deep foundation piers of the coaling tower – normally hidden under the mound on which it “sat” – are revealed among tumbled girders and brick piles. 760407A16-LRK-WTR_T-DMLTN
Diggers continue to remove the access slope on the east side of the remains of Long Rock depot’s coaling stage. In the background, Class 50 locos await attention before returning to duty. 760407A17-LRK-WTR_T-DMLTN
A ladder shows a closer inspection of demolition progress has been made on the remains of Long Rock depot’s Coaling Stage. Three huge concrete beams protrude from the surface nearby. 760407A18-LRK-LRK-WTR_T-DMLTN
An empty lorry waits its turn to collect spoil from Long Rock depot’s Coaling Tower mound with a Class 47 and two Class 50 locos behind. The flat wagons to the left are for rail recovery. 60407A19-LRK-L_YRD-VIS_N
There is an intrusion into a pastoral scene behind as a road-borne crane with tall jib lowers cement into a pit in the oil storage terminal area beside Long Rock MPD. Stacks of pipes lie nearby. 760407A20-LRK-CRANE-VI_NE
Remains of Long Rock depot’s water tank are cut into more manageable sizes for transportation as a digger moves debris and onlookers stand around. A Class 50 waits nearby. 760407A21-LRK-WTR_T-DMLTN
Smoke rises beyond stacked metal sheets from Long Rock’s Water Tank as they are cut into smaller pieces. 50004 is parked in the background, with gas cylinders before it. 760407A22-LRK-WTR_T-DMLTN
The skeletal remains of the girders once supporting Long Rock depot’s Water Tank show stark against the clear sky. The front face of the building below has fallen and a pier hangs at an angle. 760407A23-LRK-WTR_T-DMLTN
A digger loads a lorry with concrete remnants of Long Rock Coaling Tower beside its sparse remains. Once a huge landmark dominating the local skyline, it is now a sorry-looking stump. 760407A24-LRK-WTR_T-DMLTN
With a clear view of Long Rock depot behind, a digger dumps spoil gouged from the remnants of the Coaling Tower mound into a lorry. The nearby skip is for light metal recovery. 7604A25-LRK-WTR_T-DMLTN
Having refueled, 50035 runs off Long Rock shed to pick up a timetabled movement from Penzance Station. Long Rock’s industrial estate (left) and village (right) appear behind the fencing. 760407A26-LRK-50035-LIGHT
Long Rock depot looking west, with 50035 before it. This once fine Churchward building consists, from left to right, the “steam shed”, “diesel shed”, ‘Fitting Bay’ and ‘Pump House. 760407A27-LRK-L_YRD-VIS_W
D1070 “WESTERN GAUNTLET” waits at the head of a short freight in the yard at Penzance Station amid vehicles parked here while reconfiguration was going on in Ponsandane yard. 760410A01-PNZ-D1070-GDS_U
D1023 “WESTERN FUSILIER” waits in the station’s pilot road at Penzance with a couple of vans. While the sidings out east were being altered, space was at a premium, and the station area rather full. 760428Z15-PNZ-D1023-PILOT
D1005 “WESTERN VENTURER”, with a mildly battered front end, heads an up freight in Penzance’s station yard. Such trains didn’t normally protrude far enough to snag these points. 760603A14-PNZ-D1005-GDS_U
Long Rock’s shed is no longer dwarfed by the bulk of the Coaling Tower – perhaps for the first time ever (depending on which was originally built first). Track panels await reclamation. 760605A15-LRK-L_YRD-VIS_W
Pushed hard into a bay platform at Penzance Station to optimise space over the pointwork, D1056 “WESTERN SULTAN” and a couple of Class 46s stand out of use. Cones mark the absence of some fence panels. 760605A19-PNZ-D1056-PARKD
With a clumsily arranged and torn headcode, 47033 passes through Eastern Green with an up passenger service, applying power as it accelerates towards Ponsandane crossing. 760628A22-PDN-47033-PAS_U
Temporary stop blocks have been positioned on the seaward side of Ponsandane Goods Shed to delineate storage roads from work on the new depot. The shed remains relatively unused. 760628A23-PDN-STOPS-VIS_N
A foundation trench for the main new building has begun, and the strata of the sand spit it was built upon can be clearly seen. A temporary access track to the old shed runs behind. 760628A24-LRK-C_SDG-VI_NE
The foundation trench for the new depot building at Long Rock has been lightly fenced-off and a base mix partially laid. Stacked track panels lie behind the new shed access road. 760628A25-LRK-C_SDG-VIS_N
The foundation pit excavation is extended beside Long Rock depot by a digger, heaping up spoil beside it. A food store, suspended on rat-proof piers, is shown to the east of the Goods Shed. 760628A26-LRK-C_SDG-VIS_W
Long Rock depot fronted by a snaking temporary line to it, built so movements to it don’t crowd up the only main line access via the single track. A “Western” and “Brush” wait behind. 760628A27-LRK-L_YRD-VIS_W
The last of the ex-Coaling Tower is loaded onto a lorry by a digger at Long Rock depot. Recently erected ‘STOP’ and ‘LIMIT OF SHUNT’ signals stand back-to-back in the foreground. 760628A28-LRK-WTR_T-DMLTN
The final stages of soil removal from Long Rock depot’s Coaling Stage mound is happening as recovered metal is stacked up. The depot building now looks less substantial, and vulnerable. 760628A29-LRK-WTR_T-DMLTN
In an area once used to store wagons of ‘loco coal’, the odd loco, and condemned stock, five stop blocks lie together near Long Rock crossing, awaiting the laying of new track to them. 760628A30-LRK-STP_B-L_YRD
In corporate style of white on orange, a hand-painted ‘E Thomas’ contractor’s sign has been fixed to the paling fencing behind the stop blocks on the road approach to Long Rock crossing. 760628A31-LRK-SIGNS-VIS_W
This view across Long Rock MPD is taken from the crossing nearby, showing a couple of stop blocks awaiting track being laid to them. Workmen wear minimal clothing in the heat. 760628A33-LRK-TRACK-L_YRD
Framed between the bracket and position shunting signals, at Ponsandane where ‘Sloper’s Siding’ joins the former upline, 50038 pulls hard to overcome inertia on an up passenger service. 760628A34-PDN-50038-PAS_U
Penzance’s two shunters – 08840 and 08643 – are seen together at Ponsandane. In the middle distance where the rock armour begins, the dune path becomes a granite embankment. 760628A35-PDN-08840-SHU_S
The switchgear house under Chyandour cliff next to Penzance Signal Box portends an electric signalling future. Rather incongruously, manually activated signal wires still run before it. 760628A36-PNZ-SIG_B-VI_NW
With an errant windscreen wiper, D1070 “WESTERN GAUNTLET” rests by Penzance Station’s goods awning with a down freight. A GWR trolley, and BR’s later ‘BRUTE’ versions, wait nearby. 760812A16-PNZ-D1070-GDS_D
The site of Laira’s former steam shed shows 5 ‘Western’ locomotives, a few single units and a class 25 amidst the coaching stock. ‘Westerns’ with missing windows are presumably withdrawn. 760826A01-LAI-SDNGS-VI_NE
On a dull day, split-headcode 45021 powers towards Plymouth Station from Laira. Once along this stretch, earlier in the century, there was a station halt here for use by shed workmen. 760826A02-LAI-45021-LIG_D
Replete with recently-fitted metal headcode panel and position lights, 46063 runs downhill from Mutley Tunnel towards Plymouth Laira for servicing or attention of some sort. 760826A03-LAI-46063-LIG_U
The first air-conditioned coach assigned to Penzance rests against the buffers in the station yard, presumably for staff familiarisation. To its left is the boiler house and a few more sidings. 760907A01-PNZ-COACH-PARKD
The first rake of air-conditioned rolling stock stabled at Penzance stands in the goods platforms at Ponsandane. The high point of Fountain Court stands on the skyline beyond. 761001A01-PDN-COACH-PARKD
A battered and work-worn contractor’s shunter lies parked behind ballast wagons at Ponsandane, supporting hoppers and leveling girders. It shows a surprising amount of apparent use. 761002A01-PDN-SHNTR-PARKD
Stark against a glowering sky, the girder structure of Long Rock’s new depot is assembled. The pit has concrete foundations in place, and a crane loads from a cement mixing lorry. 761002A02-LRK-HST_D-VIS_W
47252 and 50006 head up passenger services from Penzance Station’s platforms on a rather dismal morning. An NCL truck and articulated trailers await duties, parked on the platform. 761106A02-PNZ-47252-PAS_U
Old and new lights at Eastern Green where the modern (2-aspect, shunting and indicator) awaits use and the old (a bulls eye oil lamp) marks the position of the sea siding buffers. 761106A03-CHY-SIGNL-VIS_N
The view across to the parish church of Penzance from Ponsandane shows a sandy beach punctuated with rock reefs. The arm of the harbour closest once held a siding from the station area. 761106A04-CHY-HARBR-VI_SW
Riders exercise their horses between Long Rock and Eastern Green. The indentation in the sand dunes is the site of a WW2 gun emplacement – now buried under sea defences. 761106A05-LRK-ST_MM-VI_SE
An unprecedented visitor to Penzance is 24054, parked up in the sidings behind Mount’s Bay Coaches’ building. On the end of the buffer beam is an electric jumper, with some switches beside it. 761106A06-PDN-24054-PARKD
D1015 “WESTERN CHAMPION”, in ‘tired’ livery, rumbles with a passenger service into Penzance Station below the prominent ‘Hotel Royale’. The first carriage is unusually a buffet. 761106A07-PNZ-D1015-PASS_D
Long Rock’s new depot building in very much its final form – the building clad and roof surmounted with extractor fans. Roller doors, fire doors and fueling shelters still have to be added. 761218A04-LRK-HST_D-VI_NE
Showing a collision-damaged front end, D1022 “WESTERN SENTINEL’ heads an up service from Penzance on 18th December. The driver looks back along Platform 2 through the drizzle for the ‘right away’ signal, and on the other side the station pilot is parked up with a GUV to add to a similar service. The stark tower of St Mary’s Church overlooks the scene. 761218A01-PNZ-D1022-PAS_U
With its red marker light emanating warmth in an otherwise dismally damp scene, 47129 and a Class 50 head up a train for Paddington on 18th December 1976. A railman strides purposefully down the platform, past the two machines whose bulks give the impression of power and purposefulness, and the array of BRUTEs which are parked on the man’s other side. 761218A02-PNZ-47129-PAS_U
With an appropriate array wound up in the headcode box, D1010 “WESTERN CAMPAIGNER” is parked up in the sea sidings at Chyandour – my brother Roy standing beside it. The nearest track ends with a buffer stop and bulls eye lamp that I was tempted on more than one occasion to “liberate” – but always resisted – and the raised walkway began thereafter. 721218A03-CHY-D1010-PARKD
The Eric Curnow Collection 