Sir Thomas (1762-1833) initially served as the private secretary to the Prince of Wales (later King George IV) and founded the settlement of “Prince’s Town”. Following the closure of his first project,  Dartmoor Prison in 1815, he turned his endeavours to other ideas for bringing prosperity to the town and area.

At this time, the Plymouth breakwater was under construction and granite from King’s Tor quarry, owned by the Johnson brothers was in great demand, being shipped by horse, cart, and canal.. Also peat, flux and ores were going off the moor with sea sand, timber and coal coming in, again by slow and costly transport. Sir Thomas thus conceived the idea of a railway which he thought would bring significant benefits – both to the area and “interested parties.”

Following an Act of Parliament in 1819, the railway was launched to over 1,000 people at a grand breakfast ceremony. A single track of 4ft 6in gauge, comprised of granite sleepers, cast iron rails and horse drawn, it was opened in 1823. There were various local subscribers involved in the setting up of the Plymouth & Dartmoor Railway Company (P&DRC), including landowners and those with certain interests – Lopez, Maristow, Elford and Lockyer amongst the names, along with the Johnsons at King’s Tor quarry, Wm. Shillabeer was appointed as surveyor and Wm Stuart (the breakwater engineer) as chief engineer.

Initially the route was planned to ascend on steep gradients , difficult for horses, but thanks to Stuart, an alternative route was decided upon , more circuitous but with less climb, from Crabtree Wharf on the Plym to King’s Tor quarry. Despite his initiative it seems Stuart fell out of favour. The Wharf was often stranded at low water so an extension  was then built to Cattewater and a new route opened via Saltram (Earl Morley’s land) and a branch to Cann Quarry. Finances were often under strain with many loans and changes of partners and ownership.

By 1826 the company had run out of money and it was the Johnsons who came to the rescue taking on the mortgage and forming the New P&DRC, Tyrwhitt died in 1833. There was considerable traffic on the line, especially in granite though Tyrwhitt’s original idea of opening up the moor to agriculture and development were not fulfilled. However, GWR saw opportunities in steam and the demand for passenger transport, taking over the top section in 1877 and the rest by 1883 – the original tramway finally closing. The GWR line closed in 1956.

Through his innovative use of AI and unique humour Simon illustrated his talk with images of various sections en-route, many of which can be seen today, including the Leigham tunnel (2^nd of its kind in the world), the Crabtree weighbridge, granite sleepers and mileposts, halts and sidings, and the stable block above Clearbrook.