Laira shed's 5541 runs into Lydford having come down from the branch terminus at Launceston and is now heading for Tavistock South before descending through Yelverton and down through the Plym Valley to Plymouth North Road.
Distinctive in the background is the goods shed with its two openings of differing widths , dating back to 1874 when the Devon and Cornwall Railway line with its own broad gauge from Okehampton built on the Launceston side their own station alongside the Great Western station with its standard gauge of the Launceston branch .
Two separate stations existed here , side by side , each wth its own staff , until 1914 when the L.S.W.R. assumed control of both stations , this arrangment continuing during the following Southern Railway and later Southern Region times .
An extraordinary feature from 1917 was the construction of a single signal box built over the bounday dividing line of the two former Companies featuring two sets of signalling apparatus , one on each side of the ' box , and worked by a Southern signalman throughout its life until its closure in 1968 .
In its heyday Lydford had been an important centre for rail freight distribution , with milk traffic from the nearby creamery at Lifton being added to agricultural produce and a Government stores facility thereby increasing freight traffic at this busy little centre.