The LSWR had opened a line connecting Exeter with Holsworthy in 1879,[1] and by encouraging the NCR it planned to create railway access to previously inaccessible parts of the northern coastal area.

The Cornwall Railway ran east to west in the southern part of the county, and it had exhausted its financial resources in building its line through the difficult terrain.

The prospectus of the NCR company indicated that a extension of 24 miles (39 km) would be allow the railway to connect from Wadebridge to the county town of Truro.

c. ccliv) on 18 August, but money was scarce and construction was slow, so it was not until 21 July 1886 that the first section opened, and the line was completed in 1899.

There was a large slate quarry at Delabole, at the time said to be the largest man-made excavation in the world[4] and considerable traffic was derived from that.

Tourist and holiday passenger traffic was also sought, as by the end of the nineteenth century when the line was completed this business was well established at comparable locations elsewhere.

[8] However apart from Launceston and Wadebridge the very long single-track line served only small rural communities, and never achieved the importance that its promoters had hoped for.

[4] This request was granted though the North Cornwall Railway Act of 1894, which also included provisions for slight deviations in route and scheduling from previously approved plans.

[10] The building of the North Cornwall Line had been undertaken by four different financial entities for reasons of raising finance at a difficult time.

[11] While the process of grouping took practical effect at the beginning of 1923, although a number of technical requirements resulted in the official transfer dates varying.

As the costs of unproductive railway operation came into focus following the Beeching Report, the line had only its romantic appeal to offer, with even the highly seasonal summer holiday traffic falling away in the face of road transport and more attractive destinations.

[13] With the cessation of Padstow–Wadebridge services, Cornwall County Council purchased the trackbed from British Railways and in 1980 converted the bed to into the Camel Trail.

The thin population meant that little intermediate traffic was generated, and a passenger service of four or five daily trains was operated almost throughout the life of the line.

The single line route required several sections at a gradient of 1 in 73 to allow for the rise from near Sea Level at Padstow to a summit at 860 feet above Sea Level between Camelford and Otterham and the line constantly curved, typically with a radius of 30 chains, in order to follow the contours and avoid costly earthworks.

All the trains called at all stations with the exception of the Atlantic Coast Express, the 11:00 from Waterloo, which ran non-stop Exeter St Davids to Halwill, then Launceston, Otterham, Camelford, Delabole, Port Isaac Road and Wadebridge, arriving in Padstow at 4:24 after a 260-mile (420 km) journey.

Until the mid-1940s the weight restriction over Meldon Viaduct and the short turntable at Padstow prevented anything larger than the Southern Railway mixed traffic 2-6-0 types from working over the line.

Motive power in later years had been the T9 4-4-0 Greyhounds and the N class 2-6-0s but with Bulleid Pacifics, often on uneconomically short trains, putting in an appearance.

Once past Wadebridge the character changes as the line hugs the tidal River Camel until crossing Little Petherick Creek over a three-span iron bridge and rounding Dennis Hill, it reaches Padstow station which was located on a narrow strip of reclaimed land with the Atlantic Ocean, visible in the distance.

There was a passing loop, and the station building and signal box were both located on the up platform, with a siding behind serving cattle pens.

[15] The population of the surrounding area dropped between the building of the railway in the early 1890s and closure in the 1960s; it was always sparse and revenue poor resulting in various economies over the years.

In the late 1920s responsibility for the station was passed to the stationmaster at Otterham, and in 1930 the block instruments were moved from the signalbox to the Booking Office under the charge of a porter-signalman.

At 850 ft (260 m) above sea level it occupied the most exposed section of the line, open to the fury of Atlantic gales in winter - the LSWR planted a group of Scots Pines on the embankment above the down platform to provide some shelter from weather.

[27] Following the withdrawal of goods facilities on the line on 7 September 1964, the passing loop, sidings, and signal box were officially taken out of use on 7 February 1965, and the trackwork was removed that October.

No alterations were made to the station layout throughout its life; the sidings were officially taken out of use on 30 November 1965 after the end of goods traffic the previous year, but the signal box and passing loop remained operational until closure on 3 October 1966.

There was a considerable narrow gauge tramway network within the quarry, in existence before the construction of the North Cornwall line.

[32] As it was situated in the village itself, the station was better used than many on the route, and the proximity of the quarry ensured that freight receipts remained healthy.

The station building itself, like the goods shed, was substantially constructed out of local stone, as was the locking room of the signal box which was sited off the down end of the up platform.

The station was unmanned from 6 December 1965 and closed on 3 October 1966, although the building functioned for some time as a guest house and is now a private residence.

From 3 February 1907 the trackbed was widened and a second independent track was provided with the two lines running parallel to Wadebridge East signal box.

Betjeman travelled from London to his childhood holiday home in Trebetherick: "The emptying train, wind in the ventilators, Puffs out of Egloskerry to Tresmeer Through minty meadows, under bearded trees, And hills upon whose sides, the clinging farms hold bible Christians Can it really be that this same carriage came from Waterloo?