A delightful shot , expertly timed , and taken from a working northwards on the Southern region's line to Lydford , Okehampton and beyond with Laira's 5569 heading the other way on the branch line from Launceston down to Tavistock and Plymouth , the location beng south of Lydford where the Southern and Western lines run together before diverging at Tavistock with its two stations .
The original branch line to Tavistockfrom Marsh Mills , east of Plymouth , was extended from Tavistock to Launceston in January of 1865 with Lydford becoming a busy freight centre , its importance increasing during the wartime years with military encampments being established nearby , and like Tavistock it boasted two stations but with a single signal box serving both lines coming into operation in 1917