The line was surveyed in 1879 by John Barraclough Fell who was also the consulting engineer to the nearby Pentewan Railway.
Fell's survey was notable for its use of ten wooden viaducts, which were an unusual feature for a British railway.
The railway was a private line, built to serve clay traffic, but part of the agreement with the landowners over whose land it passed was that it would carry local passengers.
In 1925 the main line was replaced with a standard gauge branch of the North Devon and Cornwall Junction Light Railway.
The Torrington and Marland was cut back to a 1½ mile stub and the internal quarry lines.