HATS TO THE RESCUE

LOOE VALLEY LINE | 1860-1879

An early passenger on the Looe Valley Line, courtesy of the National Archives

For the Looe Valley Line's first 20 years it was freight only. The only way people could board was to pay to transport their hat and then hop on too.

From its creation in 1860 until 1879, the railway to Looe was a freight only operation.

It carried copper ore and granite down from the mines to the north, and coal and limestone back up the other way.

However on occasion, special excursions were laid on whereby members of the public could travel the line via an ingenious workaround.

Passengers were allowed to pay to transport their hat, umbrella or other items on the train and were then given a 'free pass' to accompany their belongings.

The excursions gave the public their first taste of a railway which would later be instrumental in bringing tourists to Looe.

As part of our Looe Valley Line heritage project, we re-created the "hat as train ticket" concept on the modern day branch line, as shown in the clip below.

The video, featuring Geoff Marshall, is taken from our mini-documentary series about the history of the line.