Place Princetown Grid reference SX5652473206 2 April 1928 Station opens Platforms in use 1 | Area West Devon Post-grouping Great Western Railway Original company Great Western Railway | |
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3 March 1956 Station closed to passengers Similar Ingra Tor Halt railway st, Burrator and Sheepsto, Foggintor Quarry, Dousland railway station, Great Mis Tor | ||
King Tor Halt railway station was located on the 10.5 mile long single track branch railway line in Devon, England, running from Yelverton to Princetown with four intermediate stations. It was opened with only a basic wood platform and shelter in connection with the adjacent granite quarry and the associated worker's houses. Its later traffic was entirely walkers and like Ingra Tor Halt it was retained in an attempt to counter competition from local bus services and encourage tourist traffic.
History
The branch line was authorised in 1878 and opened on 11 August 1883. Yelverton was the junction for the line when the halt opened, three other stations had been added to the line in the 1920s, Burrator and Sheepstor Halt in 1924, Ingra Tor Halt in 1936. Much of the route followed the course of the old Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway. King Tor Halt was opened almost on the site of the old Royal Oak Sidings.
The freight traffic on the branch line included granite from the rail served quarries of Swelltor and Foggintor which were closed in 1906.
Owned by the Princetown Railway until 1 January 1922, the company then merged with the Great Western Railway (GWR). The line passed to British Railways (Western Region) in 1948 and closed on 3 March 1956. The track was lifted on 6 December 1956.
Much of the old track formation now forms the route of the Dousland to Princetown Railway Track, and only the concrete base of the shelter at the halt remains.