Meldon Quarry is a granite quarry

Quarry

A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...

 in the parish of Meldon

Meldon, Devon

Meldon is a village in West Devon in the English county of Devon. Situated close to Okehampton, its best known feature is the Meldon Quarry, from which granite is still extracted...

, West Devon

West Devon

West Devon is a local government district and borough in Devon, England. Towns in the district include Chagford, Okehampton, Princetown, and Tavistock, where the council is based....

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. Meldon Quarry railway station

Meldon Quarry railway station

Meldon Quarry railway station is a railway station at Meldon in Devon.- History :The station was originally constructed in the 1920s as Meldon Quarry Halt. It had no public access and functioned as a staff halt for quarry workers, their families and railway staff working at Meldon Quarry...

 is a railway station which serves the quarry.

History

The station was originally constructed in the 1920s as Meldon Quarry Halt. It had no public access and functioned as a staff halt for quarry workers, their families and railway staff working at Meldon Quarry. The quarry originally had no metalled road access and some quarry workers and their families lived in cottages nearby. The halt was used by them for access to and from Okehampton. The halt was not shown in the public railway timetable and local passenger services only called by special arrangement. A workmen's service from Okehampton also operated during this time using a workmen's coach attached to one of the ballast trains. The platforms of the halt were constructed using standard components manufactured at the Exmouth Junction

Exmouth Junction

Exmouth Junction is the railway junction where the Exmouth branch line diverges from the London Waterloo to Exeter main line in Exeter, Devon, England. It was for many years the location for one of the largest engine sheds in the former London and South Western Railway...

 Concrete Works and the platforms were very narrow and short, about the same as as a single coach. They were situated at the east end of Meldon Viaduct between the viaduct and Meldon Quarry signal box.

The Beeching Report in 1963 recommended that the Exeter to Plymouth Line be cut back to Okehampton

Okehampton

Okehampton is a town and civil parish in West Devon in the English county of Devon. It is situated at the northern edge of Dartmoor, and has an estimated population of 7,155.-History:...

 and when this was implemented the Halt became disused in 1968 on the closure of services between Okehampton and Bere Alston. It was later totally demolished during modifications to the rail layout and access at the western end of Meldon Quarry.

Bow

Bow railway station, Devon

Bow railway station was a railway station serving the town of Bow and the hamlet of Nymet Tracy in Devon. Bow lies about 8 miles west of Crediton.- History :...

, North Tawton

North Tawton railway station

North Tawton railway station was a railway station serving the town of North Tawton in Devon, England. North Tawton lies on the river Taw.- History :The station was originally opened by the London and South Western Railway in 1865...

, Sampford Courtenay and Okehampton

Okehampton railway station

Okehampton railway station is a railway station serving the town of Okehampton in Devon, England. Heritage train services currently operate on certain weekdays, weekends and bank holidays...

 lost their passenger services from 1972. The line survived, however, for the purposes of freight thanks to the activities of the British Rail

British Rail

British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...

 ballast

Track ballast

Track ballast forms the trackbed upon which railway sleepers or railroad ties are laid. It is packed between, below, and around the ties. It is used to facilitate drainage of water, to distribute the load from the railroad ties, and also to keep down vegetation that might interfere with the track...

 quarry

Quarry

A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...

 at Meldon

Meldon, Devon

Meldon is a village in West Devon in the English county of Devon. Situated close to Okehampton, its best known feature is the Meldon Quarry, from which granite is still extracted...

, three miles from Okehampton, which had an output of 300,000 tons per year. The quarry survives to this day, although it is now owned and operated by Aggregate Industries

Aggregate Industries

Aggregate Industries, a member of the Holcim Group, is an aggregates, construction and building materials group, with its base in the United Kingdom. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by Holcim in 2005.-History:...

.