When it comes to railways in Cornwall, what first comes to mind is the Great Western Railway and its engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and before them, Richard Trevithick, the father of the steam locomotive. At the heart of the duchy sits the Bodmin & Wenford Railway, conveniently situated within driving distance of major resorts. Its route from Bodmin Parkway to Boscarne Junction includes part of the original Bodmin & Wadebridge Railway; historically, it has a peculiar history by virtue of its original isolation and later as the meeting point of two railway ‘empires’. Opened in 1834, the year after Trevithick’s death in Dartford at the age of 62, it was built to carry minerals to the port at Wadebridge from the Wenfordbridge and Ruthernbridge branches, while returning trains carried sea sand used to improve agricultural land. Another branch ran into Bodmin North to carry passengers, although trains were irregular.
The Bodmin & Wadebridge was the first steam-powered railway in the duchy, but it operated on a shoestring. Floods in 1847 washed away several bridges and it was bought by the London & South Western Railway, which was hoping to get a foothold into the county for an eventual push westwards. Three 1834-built original carriages from the B&WR are preserved in the National Railway Museum. The present Bodmin Parkway station, originally named Bodmin Road, was built by the Cornwall Railway and
