The Pentewan Railway was a British narrow gauge railway in Cornwall

Cornwall

Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

. It was built as a horse-drawn tramway carrying china clay

Kaolinite

Kaolinite is a clay mineral, part of the group of industrial minerals, with the chemical composition Al2Si2O54. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral sheet of alumina octahedra...

 from St Austell

St Austell

St Austell is a civil parish and a major town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated on the south coast approximately ten miles south of Bodmin and 30 miles west of the border with Devon at Saltash...

 to the harbour at Pentewan

Pentewan

Pentewan is a coastal village and former port in south Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated at three miles south of St Austell at the mouth of the St Austell River....

. In 1874 the line was rebuilt by engineer John Barraclough Fell

John Barraclough Fell

John Barraclough Fell , was a British railway engineer and inventor of the Fell mountain railway system.Fell spent the early part of his life in London, living with his parents. About 1835 he moved with them to the Lake District. In 1840, he married a 25-year-old woman named Martha in Kirkstall,...

 and converted to locomotive working, at which time the gauge was changed from to . The line ran from a clay store in St Austell town, and followed the course of the St Austell River

St Austell River

The St Austell River properly known as the River Vinnick, but historically called The White River, is a long river located in south Cornwall, United Kingdom....

. It serviced a number of small Mica

Mica

The mica group of sheet silicate minerals includes several closely related materials having highly perfect basal cleavage. All are monoclinic, with a tendency towards pseudohexagonal crystals, and are similar in chemical composition...

 works and other industries along the line, including the St Austell gas

Gas

Gas is one of the three classical states of matter . Near absolute zero, a substance exists as a solid. As heat is added to this substance it melts into a liquid at its melting point , boils into a gas at its boiling point, and if heated high enough would enter a plasma state in which the electrons...

 works, for which it provided coal. Coal was also taken to the mica kilns, as well as to the end of the line in St Austell, and an unloading point near London Apprentice

London Apprentice

London Apprentice is a village in south Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated in the St Austell River valley approximately two miles south of St Austell....

 for transport to the nearby Polgooth

Polgooth

Polgooth is a former mining village in south Cornwall, United Kingdom. It lies mainly in the parish of St Mewan and partly in the parish of St Ewe...

 tin

Tin

Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...

 mines. Baltic

Baltic region

The terms Baltic region, Baltic Rim countries, and Baltic Rim refer to slightly different combinations of countries in the general area surrounding the Baltic Sea.- Etymology :...

 timber was also taken from Pentewan to St Austell for making barrels. Although the line never officially operated a passenger service, it once took a sunday school

Sunday school

Sunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...

 group and brass band to Pentewan. The line's only coach was reserved for its owners, the Hawkins family. There are also second-hand accounts of men who "hitched a ride" by sitting on the loaded wagons.

For the duration of its existence as a locomotive worked line, there was only one driver and fireman, a father and son team. The fireman, J. H. Drew, together with his father, wrote a detailed account of life working on the Pentewan railway. The writings were edited by Dr Michael Lewis, and published by Twelveheads Press in 1986 as a book entitled "Rail & Sail to Pentewan".

Locomotives

Name	Builder	Type	Works Number	Built	Withdrawn	Scrapped	Notes
Pentewan	Manning Wardle Manning Wardle Manning Wardle was a steam locomotive manufacturer based in Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.- Precursor companies :The city of Leeds was one of the earliest centres of locomotive building; Matthew Murray built the first commercially successful steam locomotive, Salamanca, in Holbeck, Leeds,...	0-6-0 T	461	1873	1886	1896
Trewithan	Manning Wardle Manning Wardle Manning Wardle was a steam locomotive manufacturer based in Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.- Precursor companies :The city of Leeds was one of the earliest centres of locomotive building; Matthew Murray built the first commercially successful steam locomotive, Salamanca, in Holbeck, Leeds,...	0-6-0 T	994	1886		1901
Canopus	Manning Wardle Manning Wardle Manning Wardle was a steam locomotive manufacturer based in Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.- Precursor companies :The city of Leeds was one of the earliest centres of locomotive building; Matthew Murray built the first commercially successful steam locomotive, Salamanca, in Holbeck, Leeds,...	0-6-2 ST	1547	1901			Later worked at WD West Drayton
Pioneer	Yorkshire Engine Company Yorkshire Engine Company The Yorkshire Engine Company was a small independent locomotive manufacturer in Sheffield, England. The Company was formed in 1865 and continued to produce locomotives and carry out general engineering work until 1965...	2-6-2 T	757	1903			Built for the Chattenden and Upnor Railway Chattenden and Upnor Railway The Chattenden and Upnor Railway was a narrow gauge railway serving the military barracks and depot at Upnor and associated munitions and training depots... , purchased 1913 Had odd front buffers

Remains

There are few remains of the old railway system.

A set of complete points are still in situ outside an old engine shed.
An unusual weigh bridge is also still in existence although being grown over.

There is now a cycle/footpath which follow the route of the railway