Forest Railroad, Dobwalls, Cornwall
The Forest Railroad at Dobwalls, near Liskeard in Cornwall was once a major tourist attraction. It was opened in 1970 by John Southern who progressively turned his pig farm into a superb network of two 7 ¼ inch miniature railways based on The Denver and Rio Grande Railroad and the Union Pacific Railroad in the USA.
By the beginning of the 1980s the railway network had been fully developed with some superb miniature locomotives which included the only working Union Pacific “Big Boy” – WILLIAM JEFFERS in the world. Other attractions followed, including the development of Mr Thorburn’s Edwardian Countryside a museum dedicated to displaying the large collection of Thorburn Wildlife prints which had been collected by the owner, this museum of prints was accompanied by a period refreshment rooms.
During the 1990s the site became more of a general theme park and was marketed as the Dobwalls Adventure Park. It was this point your web master stopped visiting as the emphasis was switching away from the railroads. Dobwalls Adventure Park closed in 2006 and was partly redeveloped, into a campsite and luxury holiday home development, known as Falcon Ridge, before going into administration.
The site has now been acquired by a new developer who appears to be continuing the plans for luxury holiday home development under the name Southern Halt.
Your web master visited The Forest Railroad quite a few times in the 1980s and was able to photograph the system at its peak. It is highly unlikely such an impressive miniature railway system will ever be developed again in the UK.
After closure of Dobwalls the locomotives were sold to a new owner in Dorset who planned to develop a miniature railway system associated with a Garden Centre. Unfortunately this intention was frustrated by a council planning decision. The council decision resulted in the locomotives being sold on again to a new owner in Australia.
The Forest Railroad at Dobwalls certainly brought a lot of pleasure to many people during the 35 years or so of its existence and scanning these slides brought back many happy memories.
Read MoreBy the beginning of the 1980s the railway network had been fully developed with some superb miniature locomotives which included the only working Union Pacific “Big Boy” – WILLIAM JEFFERS in the world. Other attractions followed, including the development of Mr Thorburn’s Edwardian Countryside a museum dedicated to displaying the large collection of Thorburn Wildlife prints which had been collected by the owner, this museum of prints was accompanied by a period refreshment rooms.
During the 1990s the site became more of a general theme park and was marketed as the Dobwalls Adventure Park. It was this point your web master stopped visiting as the emphasis was switching away from the railroads. Dobwalls Adventure Park closed in 2006 and was partly redeveloped, into a campsite and luxury holiday home development, known as Falcon Ridge, before going into administration.
The site has now been acquired by a new developer who appears to be continuing the plans for luxury holiday home development under the name Southern Halt.
Your web master visited The Forest Railroad quite a few times in the 1980s and was able to photograph the system at its peak. It is highly unlikely such an impressive miniature railway system will ever be developed again in the UK.
After closure of Dobwalls the locomotives were sold to a new owner in Dorset who planned to develop a miniature railway system associated with a Garden Centre. Unfortunately this intention was frustrated by a council planning decision. The council decision resulted in the locomotives being sold on again to a new owner in Australia.
The Forest Railroad at Dobwalls certainly brought a lot of pleasure to many people during the 35 years or so of its existence and scanning these slides brought back many happy memories.
