One of the 1946 LMS-built Ivatt tanks paired with a 1952 example coming off the Callington branch at Bere Alston on 30th April 1963. No.41206 was transferred from Liverpool Bank Hall to Friary in October 1961 and then to Exmouth Junction in January 1963; No.41302 had been at Friary since 1957. The taller chimney fitted to the later engines of the class is apparent in this picture.
The line in the foreground is the main Southern line from Exeter on the right via Cowley Bridge Junction and Okehampton across North Dartmoor to Plymouth on the left.
The section of the former main line remains open from Plymouth North Road to here at Bere Alston , where reversal of the still existing local passenger service on the little branch line to Gunnislake is necessary , subsequently crossing from Devon into Cornwall high above the River Tamar on the impressive Calstock Viaduct..
Closure of the branch line northwards from Gunnislake to Callington took place in 1966 , followed by closure of the main line from here to Meldon at Okehampton two years later, although a reopening of the main line from Plymouth to Exeter is just one of the proposals now put forward to avoid the continuing problems n the sea wall at Dawlish on the main Western line .
In times past this area of the Tamar Valley was a source of locally mined tin , arsenic and especially copper and this branch line provided a vital link to the port of Plymouth for such materials .