In 1896 the Cornwall Minerals Railway was taken over by the Great Western Railway. The GWR saw an opportunity to boost its passenger trade in Cornwall, in competition with the London and South Western Railway, by linking the increasingly popular holiday resorts of Newquay, Perranporth and St. Agnes.

The East Wheal Rose branch was upgraded to carry passenger trains and became part of a new route beginning at Chacewater on the main line to London. The completed passenger line was opened to the public in 1905 and greatly improved the mobility of local people who could now get to the market town of Truro by train.

During the Second World War the line was upgraded to mainline standard for use as a diversionary route in case the line between Truro and St Austell was blocked by an enemy air raid. If you look carefully at the bridge at Metha half way along our steam railway, you will see that it was widened in order to allow wartime traffic, including tanks on flat wagons, to pass through.

From the 1930s until the late 1950s this branchline to the coastal resorts was very busy, particularly with summer holiday-makers. However, by the early 1960s road transport was becoming increasingly competitive and the government called for a review of the nationalised network. Dr. Beeching's report recommended that, among many other lines he considered to be uneconomic, the branch from Newquay to Chacewater should close.

On 4th February 1963 the last standard gauge train ran along the branch line and the track and railway bridges were quickly removed.

Ten years later, in 1973, Eric Booth bought our section of the old railway line and the story of Lappa Valley Steam Railway began.