Miniature railway in Cornwall?

[bnm]

Not sure if this is the right board for this query, so Mods, please feel free to move.....

As a child I remember visiting a miniature railway in Cornwall, that was (I think) somewhere no more than an hours drive from St Austell. Very sketchy memories and as I can't find online what I'm looking for I guess it is now closed.

I remember models of American Union Pacific locos running around quite an extensive layout in a large country park, with various other attractions, including fairground rides.

During a previous trawl of the internet I did (I think) find the location and the name of said railway, but I've forgotten and now I cannot find what I'm looking for.

I remember visiting this location with my Grandma in the early 1980s and I've got a photo of me standing next to a yellow Union Pacific miniature loco. Unfortunately my scanner is having a hissy-fit at the moment so I can't upload it.

Any help, or weblinks, greatly appreciated.

bnm.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Thanks to a very quick reply on another forum I've located the place that was in the dark recesses of my memory.

Dobwalls Adventure Park, near Liskeard.

Also found some photos:

http://homepages.tesco.net/~jksharman/_dobwalls.htm

If anyone has any more photos I'd be happy to see them.

 

[Ploughman]

Sounds like Dobwalls.
Closed down and sold off stock about 2 years ago maybe more.

 

[Greenback]

Yes, sounds very much like Dobwalls, which was just to the west of Liskeard. We went there when I was a child too, and I thought it was wonderful. I was very sad when it closed.

 

[fgwrich]

Yes, sounds very much like Dobwalls, which was just to the west of Liskeard. We went there when I was a child too, and I thought it was wonderful. I was very sad when it closed.

Same here - it was always the place to go back via on family holidays from Kernow, rather sad to hear about it's fate...

So sad to hear, because apparently the site was sold off to create a development of ECO Homes / Holiday Cottages named Falcon Ridge - As usal, a webpage with all the flashy flashy pictures of Kernow, Surfing and the houses, but no history about the place or former pictures of its past...

http://www.falconridgeliving.co.uk/index.html

Might want to be a tad picky about their site...

Set on a 30-acre site on the crest of a ridge offering fantastic views and surrounded by rolling Cornish countryside, Falcon Ridge enjoys a unique atmosphere and sense of tranquility

Well not so tranquil and peacefull as the website may make it out to be - actually its rather close to the recently opend A38 Dobwalls By-Pass & Liskeard Improvements... Just type in Dobwalls Adventure Park on Google Maps / Satillite and you'll see how close it is...

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=dob...code_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CBkQ8gEwAA

Sadly the stock has also left the country too - it did move to a smaller railway at a Bournemouth Garden Centre, but that seems to have folded too resulting in the rolling stocks third move, this time to Australia...

Just found this wiki article too...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dobwalls_Adventure_Park

Shame really, as like everyone else, i too have very fond memories of the place - in both riding round on the railways, having fun in the 'Woodland Adventure Park' with my brother {Dont Laugh, that was a while back!} and just being albe to watch the FGW, Wessex and Virgin Loco Hauled services cross over Moorswater Viaduct...

Ah Well, times change i suppose

 

[GearJammer]

I remember as a kid i went to Dobwells with my parents for a day trip from are home near Portsmouth, the chap that was driving the UP Big Boy was that surprised that we'd come so far just for the trains that he gave us a free ride!
They were great locos, my favorites were the UP Big Boy and the D&RGWR 2-8-2, really is a shame that they've gone to Australia, im now absolutely kicking myself for not going and seeing them when they were near Bournemouth!

 

[manaichain]

I was going to say Lappa Valley, that's built on the track bed of the Truro-Newquay line i think, what's Dobwalls like, similar?

 

[sprinterguy]

I was going to say Lappa Valley, that's built on the track bed of the Truro-Newquay line i think, what's Dobwalls like, similar?

Wrong tense, the question to ask is what was Dobwall's like. There seems to be some similarities in intent between the Lappa Valley and Dobwall's and their reason for existing, but the rolling stock of Dobwall's was completely different to that of the Lappa Valley.

 

[Greenback]

When I was a child I thought Dobwalls was far superior to the Lappa Valley. Still, at least the latter is still going!

Dobwalls was more like a small theme park really.

 

[richw]

When I was a child I thought Dobwalls was far superior to the Lappa Valley. Still, at least the latter is still going!

Dobwalls was more like a small theme park really.

im not sure if lappa is still going? passed along the A30 recently and they've painted it out on the brown signs!

 

[sprinterguy]

im not sure if lappa is still going? passed along the A30 recently and they've painted it out on the brown signs!

Well, it's still got an active website and is advertising Christmas specials running in December. Not conclusive proof of it's continued existance, but a reasonable rule of thumb to suggest that it hasn't folded just yet.

 

[richw]

Well, it's still got an active website and is advertising Christmas specials running in December. Not conclusive proof of it's continued existance, but a reasonable rule of thumb to suggest that it hasn't folded just yet.

hopefully the christmas specials on the website are a good sign, although a local nightclub closed in July, and has started being knocked down for a housing redevelopment is still advertising for Christmas Partys!

 

[Sun Chariot]

although a local nightclub closed in July, and has started being knocked down for a housing redevelopment is still advertising for Christmas Partys!

HAHAHA! :roll:
I can imagine some confused housewives, when the ravers stomp through her kitchen, empty her drinks cabinet and relieve themselves on her flower-beds...