What a delightful view as it used to be , and how I remember the location from the ' fifties.
4590 is approaching Laira Junction and heading up to Plymouth North Road on what would be a service from Tavistock, having come on to the main line at Tavistock Junction, with the River Plym in the background and Saltram Park on the far side.
What is of special interest, however, is in the foreground of this really splendid shot, is that the inlet from the Plym on this side of the tracks is now covered by the main road into Plymouth, with the tracks runnning immediately alongside that road, so all the foreground depicted here has vanished under concrete and tarmac .
The picture is taken from the road at its original location.
The water in the tidal estuary of the River Plym is at a low level in this view and it always looked better , as it does today , when the water was high and the mud was covered !
4590 has probably worked down from the terminus of the branch at Launceston , or possibly just from Tavistock South , running via Yelverton on the line which opened to Tavistock in June of 1859 , being extended to Launceston in 1865 .
Running through delightful wooded valleys , often on viaducts such as those at Walkham and Grenofen , the line provided the citizens of Plymouth with opportunities of visiting picnic areas at Shaugh Bridge and Clearbrook as well as providing a through service to and from Plymouth for both passenger and freight until its closure to passenger traffic over that snowy weekend at the end of December 1962, with freight services lasting for a further two years.