Lappa Valley Steam Railway

Template:Short description Template:No footnotes Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Heritage Railway

The Lappa Valley Railway is a Template:Track gauge minimum-gauge railway located near Newquay in Cornwall. The railway functions as a tourist attraction, running from Benny Halt (Template:Coord) to East Wheal Rose (Template:Coord), where there is a leisure area with two miniature railways.

History

Treffry's Tramway

In 1843, Joseph Treffry suggested building a tramway between Par and Newquay, with a branch line to the East Wheal Rose silver lead mine, which at the time was entering its most prosperous period. Treffry spent six years trying to overcome public opposition to the tramway and was forced to modify his intended route. The Treffry Tramways were eventually built from Newquay to St. Dennis with the branch line to East Wheal Rose, and the first load of ore left East Wheal Rose on 26 February 1849 in horse-drawn tubs. 1874 saw the Treffry's network of tramways taken over by the Cornwall Minerals Railway, who introduced steam locomotives to the line.

Great Western Railway

The Great Western Railway took over the Cornish Minerals Railway in 1896, and incorporated the East Wheal Rose branch into a new railway from Newquay to Chacewater via. Perranporth. This new railway was opened in 1905, and enabled passengers to reach the market town of Truro much quicker than they had before. The Newquay to Chacewater branch line also proved popular for holidaymakers. The railway closed on 4 February 1963 under the Beeching cuts.

Lappa Valley Steam Railway

The Lappa Valley Steam Railway was established by Eric Booth in the 1970s. The trackbed was cleared of the thick undergrowth that had grown since the closure of the railway in 1963, and Template:Track gauge gauge track was laid for Template:Convert between Benny Halt and East Wheal Rose. A brand new steam locomotive Zebedee was built for the line by Severn Lamb, arriving in early 1974 with 4 locally-built carriages. The railway opened to the public on 16 June 1974. A large boating lake was dug at East Wheal Rose in 1975 to drain the area, and the whole East Wheal Rose area landscaped. More locomotives arrived from Longleat in 1976, with more carriages also being built at the time. In the 1970s a Template:RailGauge gauge railway was laid around a smaller boating lake, whilst a third railway, of Template:Track gauge gauge, running a further Template:Convert along the old trackbed was opened in May 1995.

In 2014 a new owner acquired the railway and made various improvements. A new visitor attraction called the 'Engine Shed' opened in 2021.

The route of Lappa Valley

East Wheal Rose

At East Wheal Rose, the Template:Track gauge gauge Newlyn Branch Line and Template:Track gauge gauge Woodland Railway depart from the top station on the Newlyn Branch Line, where there is another children's play area.

There are two lakes, the biggest being the boating lake, the second smaller lake being the wildlife lake, a crazy golf course and many children's play areas. Also there are a gift shop and licensed café, and a brick path maze depicting the first steam locomotive built by Richard Trevithick, along with many walks through the valley.

Stocklist

Number	Name	Gauge	Type	Builder	Built	Origin	Notes
1	Zebedee	Template:RailGauge	Template:Whyte	Severn Lamb	1974	Built for Lappa Valley	Rebuilt from Template:Whyte in 1990.
2	Muffin	Template:RailGauge	Template:Whyte	Berwyn Engineering	1967	Longleat House	Arrived in 1976
3	Ruby	Template:RailGauge	Template:Whyte	Exmoor Steam Railway	1997	Formerly named Dennis, built for Brocklands Adventure Park	Arrived July 2015
4	Ellie	Template:RailGauge	Template:Whyte	Exmoor Steam Railway	2006	Originally built for a private line, was regauged from 12 1/4 inch gauge	Ellie seen during the winter of 2021 Arrived August 2017
50	City of Truro	Template:RailGauge	B-B DH	Alan Keef Ltd	2023	Built for Lappa Valley	<ref name="IRS 1122">Template:Cite journal</ref> <ref name="LappaValley">{{#invoke:citation/CS1\|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	City of Derby	Template:RailGauge	BR Class 23 'Baby Deltic'	Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway	2003	Markeaton Park Light Railway	Arrived September 2016
	Arthur	Template:RailGauge	0-4-0DM	RA Lister and Company	1952	Worked at Longleat for a number of years	Works Number 20698
	Duke of Cornwall	Template:RailGauge	4w-4wPH	Severn Lamb	1981	Carlyon Bay, St Austell
	Eric	Template:RailGauge	Template:Whyte	Alan Keef	2008	Built for Lappa Valley	Named after the founder of Lappa Valley
	The Duke	Template:RailGauge	Template:Whyte	Alan Keef	2014	Built for the Wells Harbour Railway	Arrived in 2021
	Howard	Template:RailGauge	Template:Whyte	Alan Keef	2005	Built for the Wells Harbour Railway	Arrived in 2021. Steam Outline.
		Template:RailGauge	4-4wPH	Mardyke	1980		HST
		Template:RailGauge	4w+4wPH	Mardyke	1982		Model of Advanced Passenger Train