Gorran, Mevagissey and Charlestown Railway

The Gorran, Mevagissey and Charlestown Railway was a railway company formed in 1884, from the merger of the Gorran Railway Company and the Charlestown and Porthpean Tramway Company Limited. The company was given permission to construct a line from St Austell to Gorran Haven, with rights to the GRC lines from Gorran Highlanes to Gorran Central and from Caerhays to Central.

History
The line was built to standard gauge, and as a result was seen as a thorn in the side of the Broad-Gauge Great Western Railway- who were very annoyed at the standard gauge London and South Western Railway's influence in Cornwall and especially a line built a few miles from their main line to Penzance. The line was taken over by the LSWR and the GWR as a joint venture in 1916, upon which some of the existing locos were scrapped, and the newer companies' stock used instead. In 1923 the LSWR shares passed into the hands of the newly-formed Southern Railway, who in turn handed complete control over to the GWR. The GWR  closed the line in 1924 completely, with the last train leaving Gorran Central double-headed by the two Sharp, Stewart 4-4-0s, Charlestown and Mevagissey.

Route
The Route of the GCMR was from St Austell to Charlestown, through to Porthpean, London Apprentice Road, Pentewan, Mevagissey, Portmellon and terminating at Gorran Haven (Gorran Central). The Branch started at Gorran Highlanes, pausing at Gorran Churchtown, Gorran North (where there was a spur to Central). The other started at Central, and ran from Boswinger to Caerhays with a small private line that was constructed to Roseland from Caerhays.

Locomotives and Rolling Stock
The original locomotives were inherited from the constituents. Four Tank engines came from the GRC, all built by Beyer, Peacock to a 2-4-0 wheel arrangment. Three tank engines came from the CPTCL, Two of a 2-4-2 nature and the other being a larger 'Atlantic' 4-4-2T. These Seven were inadequate for the line, and and order was placed with Sharp Stewart for two 4-4-0 Tender engines, based on those provided for the Furness Railway and Cambrian Railways. The engines, named Charlestown and ''Mevagissey. Two other locomotives, both 0-4-4Ts, were built by Beyer Peacock, They were christened Pentewan and Portmellon. For goods traffic, an 0-6-4T was built, and named Gorran, ''in 1890. Two years later, this was joined by a further 0-6-4T called Caerhays. Upon takeover by the LSWR and GWR as a joint venture in 1899, LSW and GW locos found their way onto the branch- Beattie 'Well tanks' and 'Auto tanks' were both common sights, as were the M7 and T9 classes of the LSWR, with the GWR providing 517 and 'Dean Goods' class locos.

Forty Carriages were built, of four, six and bogie wheeled variants, while goods stock was in the form of four wheel vans and wagons. Two Royal Mail vans, both six-wheelers, were used on the line, and the 'Gorran Mail', the daily service from St Austell, became something of an institution, right up until closure.

The original locomotives were gradually replaced by LSWR and GWR locomotives after takeover- however both the 4-4-0s and 0-4-4Ts survived until 1924. At least ten carriages survived the takeover, and four were still in use in 1949. All four were destroyed by a fire near Mevagissey station in 1972.

Livery
The locomotive livery was a deep Navy Blue, with Black, Vermillion and White lining. Coaching livery was panelled teak with a red stripe horizontally. Wagons and vans were in a French Grey with Black Ironwork and the letters G M & C R in red on the sides. The Mail vans wore a deep red livery with gold leaf and G M & C R, along with ROYAL MAIL, written along the sides.

The Railway Today
Hardly anything remains of the GMCR today, however- the grand station building of Gorran Central remains, now as the 'Llawnroc' hotel. Apart from that, and some rusting trackbed near the site of Gorran Churchtown station, nothing of the route survives.