Photo: Geof Sheppard, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsA twisting single-track branch that reverses at Coombe Junction and follows the tidal East Looe river down a wooded valley to the fishing port of Looe.
The Looe branch is one of the oddest in Britain. Trains leave Liskeard from a separate platform at right angles to the main line, drop steeply in a loop beneath the main line viaduct and reach Coombe Junction Halt, where the driver changes ends. The train then heads south along the old Liskeard and Looe Canal alignment beside the East Looe river.
The valley is thickly wooded and the river tidal, with herons and egrets on the mudflats; the line calls at St Keyne Wishing Well Halt, Causeland and Sandplace on request before arriving at Looe station on the riverside, a short walk from the harbour and the beach at East Looe.
Class 150 units work the branch. A Ride Cornwall ranger at £21 covers the branch, the main line and Cornwall's buses for a day.
After the reversal at Coombe the line follows the east side of the East Looe River, so the river and estuary are on the right.
Sides are given facing the direction of travel. Miles are approximate from the start of the journey.
The branch was originally a canal and mineral line which came down the valley from Moorswater; the link to Liskeard was added later at an awkward angle.
About five minutes on foot along the river to the bridge and East Looe.
Only for the curious; it is one of the least-used stations in Britain, though a few trains stop by request.
Scenic lineBrunel's railway along the Exe estuary and the open sea at Dawlish and Teignmouth, the most photographed stretch of main line in Britain.
Scenic lineFour miles along the cliffs above Carbis Bay and Porthminster beach to St Ives, widely rated the most beautiful branch line in England.
Scenic lineOut of Plymouth beside the Tamar, over the 120-foot Calstock Viaduct and up a steep, reversing branch into the old mining country around Gunnislake.