About Yelverton Station
Yelverton Station, situated at the junction of the Princetown Branch and the Plymouth to Tavistock and Launceston lines, was a key stop on the Princetown Railway. Opened on 1st May 1885, the station served as the main transfer point for passengers traveling to Princetown, located high on Dartmoor.
The layout of Yelverton Station, though compact, was relatively complex. The main line ran through the station, adjacent to the down platform, before continuing into a 641-yard tunnel under Roborough Down. On the other side of the station, there was a passing loop forming the up line, and the Princetown Branch platform formed a distinctive “V” with the up platform. This island arrangement was connected by a standard Great Western Railway (GWR) iron overbridge and accessed via a footpath leading from the nearby road.
The down platform was slightly longer than the up platform and was surfaced with Staffordshire blue bricks etched with a diamond pattern to prevent slipping. The platform was backed by spiked iron railings that separated it from the access road. In the centre of the down platform stood the main station building, constructed of vertical wooden planks and featuring a slate roof. The building housed a ticket office, waiting rooms, and other facilities, all covered by a canopy that extended halfway over the platform.
Yelverton Station also featured a goods yard, a corrugated iron pagoda shelter, and a water crane positioned at the northern end of the platform. A large wooden nameboard reading “Yelverton—change for the Princetown Branch” dominated the station’s southern end until the branch line closed in 1956.
After the closure of the Princetown Branch, Yelverton continued to serve passengers on the main line until 1962, when the station finally closed to all traffic. The iconic station and its intricate layout were gradually dismantled, leaving only traces of its former significance in the landscape .
In Brief
Yelverton Station did not exist when the Princetown Railway Company opened its line to Princetown in 1883. It was then known simply as Yelverton Junction as both passenger and freight trains for Princetown ran through Yelverton Tunnel to Horrabridge Station.
The Great Western Railway Company had provided a siding here, on the Down side, which required the opening of the first Yelverton Signal Box around 1876 when the London and South Western Company’s trains started to use the Launceston Branch south of Lydford Station to access Plymouth.
The Station, located at 7 miles 37 chains mile post mileage from Tavistock Junction, was opened on 1st May 1885 and in addition to having Down and Up platforms, it also had a separate platform at an angle for the Princetown Branch trains.
A turntable with a radius of 23 feet 6 inches was provided, primarily for turning the snow-ploughs that were necessary on the Princetown Branch during the winter months.
As stated in “The Official Hand-book of Station 1956,” Yelverton Station handled passengers, parcels, miscellaneous traffic, horse boxes, and prise cattle vans. However, it did not have a crane.
Princetown Branch trains ceased to use Yelverton Station on or after 5th March 1956, and Yelverton Signal Box was closed on or after 4th May 1959. After these closures, both Down and Up trains utilised the Down platform.
Yelverton Station was closed to passenger traffic on and after 31st December 1962, when the Launceston Branch also ceased operations.
“YELVERTON [GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY] opened 1 May 1885 (Western Morning News 1st); closed 31 December 1962**” (source: here).
Research note:
1921 – 1932 J. Thomas, Station Master