Penzance railway station photo-survey (33)

Image: © Andy F Taken: 17 Oct 2009

This milepost (the two verticals below the numerals indicate quarter-miles so the notation indicates 326½ miles) stands midway along platform 1 at Penzance railway station, terminus of the former Great Western Railway's West of England mainline from London. It is reputedly the highest-numbered railway milepost in the UK. The original wooden station was opened by the West Cornwall Railway in 1852. The WCR was taken over by the GWR which constructed the current station which opened in 1879. Substantial improvements were made by the GWR in 1937. The station passed from the GWR to British Railways (Western Region) in 1948 when the railways were nationalised and is now operated by First Great Western. The current ticket office and buffet date from the 1980s. The station stands beside the sea (partly on reclaimed land) and the main buildings are constructed of local stone. Platforms 1, 2 and 3 terminate inside a 'train shed' with an arched roof; however, platform 4 on the south side of the station is uncovered. The extensive carpark and bus station southeast of the station were originally storage sidings and a large goods yard. One of the principal outbound traffics was fish from nearby Newlyn. For earlier photos of Penzance with semaphore signals and locomotive-hauled trains see [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1309200] , [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/814593] , [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1309207] , [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1215918] and [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/101797] .

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