The gauge East Cornwall Mineral Railway was opened to Kelly Quay at Calstock on 8 May 1872. Wagons with goods from the mines around Gunnislake and Callington were brought down the hillside on a cable-worked incline with a gradient of 1 in 6. The Plymouth, Devonport and South Western Junction Railway opened the station on 2 March 1908. This line was a branch from Bere Alston to Callington Road and crossed the River Tamar on Calstock Viaduct. A steam-powered lift was attached to the downstream side of the viaduct which could raise and lower wagons to the quays below, making it one of the highest such lifts in the country. It was connected to the station goods yard by a second parallel steel stub viaduct. A short section of the narrow gauge line was retained to serve a lime kiln, but the wagon lift and all the sidings were taken out of use in September 1934. Fruit and flowers were an important part of the traffic carried on the railway and were still carried by train from Calstock until the mid-1970s.
Description
The single platform - on the right of trains arriving from Plymouth - is situated on a sharp curve which makes it difficult to see trains approaching from Gunnislake. It is on the hillside towards the edge of the village.
Services
Calstock is served by trains on the Tamar Valley Line from to. Connections with main line services can be made at Plymouth, although a small number of Tamar Valley services continue to or from.
Community railway
The railway from Plymouth to Gunnislake is designated as a community railway and is supported by marketing provided by the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership. The line is promoted under the "Tamar Valley Line" name. Two pubs in Calstock take part in the Tamar Valley Linerail ale trail, which is designed to promote the use of the line. The line is also part of the Dartmoor Sunday Rover network of integrated bus and rail routes.
Calstock Viaduct
The viaduct is high with twelve wide arches, and a further small arch in the Calstock abutment. Three of the piers stand in the River Tamar, which is tidal at this point and has a minimum clearance at high tide of. It was built between 1904 and 1907 by John Lang of Liskeard using 11,148 concrete blocks. These were cast in a temporary yard on the Devon bank opposite the village. The engineers were Richard Church and WR Galbraith. It is a Grade II* listed structure.
