Ivatt 2-6-2T No.41316 shunting at Bere Alston on 29th April 1963. One of the final Crewe built batch, No.41316 was built in June 1952 and worked from a number of Southern Region sheds before arriving at Plymouth’s Friary shed in late 1956. It was transferred to Laira in May 1963 when Friary closed.

Opened throughout from Callington to here at Bere Alston in 1908 this line provided a fresh means of transport of the locally mined tin , arsenic and particularly copper by rail down to the port of Plymouth , replacing the previous slow and lengthy passage down the tidal River Tamar by barge .
Although the northern end of the branch line from Gunnislake to Callington was closed in 1966 the section southwards from Gunnislake to here at Bere Alston was reprieved due to difficult and lengthy alternative road access , particularly from Plymouth , and a single line now runs from Plymouth North Road to here at Bere Alston , with reversal being necesary before onwards passage to Gunnislake, crossing from Devon into Cornwall over the Calstock viaduct on its way.