End of an era as last train leaves Trevarno station

HELSTON Railway Preservation Society invoked the spirit of Sir Winston Churchill as the last train left its station at Trevarno.

The station has had to be closed following the sale of the nearby manor house and grounds where the station was built.

Four of the passengers who took the last train leaving from Trevarno, from left, Malcolm Lightfoot, David Gott, Mike Gregson and Marcus Wade.
Matthew Laugher performed guard duties on the last train.
The engine drivers who were on the footplate of the last passenger train from Trevarno – Steve Ford, Stephen Thomas and Marcus Laugher.

The society is now building a new station at Prospidnick, further up the mile of railway line it has already put down.

Membership secretary Barbara Barnes quoted Churchill on the society's website: "This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is the end of the beginning."

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She added: "Like Churchill, we are looking forward, in our case to our new future at our new base."

The last passenger train from Trevarno was, fittingly, full of supporters – including a number of new ones – as well as "some doughty veterans from the earliest years of our project".

Mrs Barnes said: "It was with some sadness that we bid goodbye to our base, which has served us so well over the past few years."

After the train left, members removed the remaining bits and pieces which needed to be cleared and prepared to shunt rolling stock out of the platform siding into the cutting.

The final act was to remove the running board, which will be re-used at the new site.

There was still some work to be done at Prospidnick, including a ramp to be completed and a surface mesh to be fixed. Then there was the need for safety checks in time for the opening of the new station last week. The railway will remain open until Sunday.