all were worked by railmotor. The first GWR-operated motor bus service in the area was instituted from Yealmpton to Modbury, the originally projected terminus, from 2 May 1904. The route was initially popular, particularly in the Plymouth urban area when railmotor trains operated the passenger service, providing a relatively frequent service at convenient stopping points as residential development took place on the periphery of the city. By 1905 it was decided to open a new stopping place, Mount Gould and Tothill Halt, located on the Mount Gould Junction to Cattewater Junction loop, considered to be part of the Yealmpton line. The halt opened on 2 October 1905, and the line here was double track so there were two platforms; it was described by the Inspecting Officer as being "a new stopping place for motor cars" (i.e. the railmotors). However it proved less attractive than anticipated, and it was closed on 1 February 1918. The line between Plymstock and Yealmpton was at first worked as a single section by electric train staff. Plymstock was a LSWR signalbox. Brixton Road later had a signal box, from 1905, breaking the branch into two sections, but it was closed in 1924 or 1925. When the passenger service was withdrawn in 1930, the signalling was converted to one engine in steam and Yealmpton box was abolished. By the 1920s competition from motor buses had substantially reduced passenger numbers. The decline was so severe that passenger services were withdrawn from 7 July 1930, with goods traffic only continuing. Steer Point and Elburton Cross stations were demolished, and the remaining stations were rented. However, during the two summers following closure to passengers, the GWR experimented with a Saturday train service, in 1931 and 1932. Second World War During World War II Plymouth suffered an exceptional volume of bombing attacks during the Plymouth blitz, and many workers in essential industries wished to take lodgings in communities outside the city. To accommodate this need, unadvertised workmen's trains were introduced on the branch from 21 July 1941. The Millbay terminus in Plymouth had already suffered from bombing and it had been closed to passengers, so this service used Plymouth, North Road station (the present-day Plymouth station) as its terminus. However, there were problems with congestion at that station, and from 3 November 1941 the service was transferred to operate from the LSWR (by now the Southern Railway) Plymouth Friary terminus.