Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway

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The LSWR 0298 Class of 2-4-0WT are associated with the line. Two are preserved.

The Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway was a railway line built by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR).

The first steam-powered railway in Cornwall, opened in 1834, running from the port of Wadebridge on the Camel estuary to the settlement of Wenford Bridge, where a china clay works later developed which sustained the route. The movement of sea sand for agricultural use is normally given as the primary reason for construction.

It was unconnected to the rest of the LSWR system until 1895 when the North Cornwall Railway operated by the LSWR reched Wadebridge, and until then had an unstandardised array of rolling stock and locomotives.

It was noted for never having a passenger service on much of its length, only on the southern stretch between the two towns of its name. It was also noted for having "staithes", rather than stations, a term taken from canal terminology referring to the freight stations along its length. True "stations" were built for passenger services, of course.

When the rolling stock came to be standardised with the rest of the network, the age of the route gave some difficulties. There was a trial of SECR P Class 0-6-0 on the line, which was a failure because of the lightly-laid track and sharp curves, which made running difficult for locomotives not designed to accommodate it. As a result, three of the LSWR 0298 Class, Victorian locomotives designed for urban passenger duties, were retained on the line significantly past their life-expiry, and became a minor attraction in later years. They were eventually replaced by GWR 1367 Class dock tanks in 1962 after the line had been transferred to the Western Region of British Railways. This situation has parallels in the case of the Lyme Regis branch line.