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Cambrian Railways

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Cambrian Railways owned a total of 230 miles of track, over a large area of mid-Wales. The system was an amalgamation of a number of railways which were incorporated in 1864, 1865 and 1904. The Cambrian connected with two of the larger railways to give connections to the North West of England, via the London and North Western Railway; and with the Great Western Railway for connections between London and North Wales. The name is continued today in the route known as the Cambrian Line.

Contents

[edit] The Cambrian Railway System

[edit] Constituent railways

The earliest section of the Cambrian was the section from Three Cocks to Talyllyn. This had been opened in 1816 as part of the Hay Railway, a tram-road worked by horses connecting the town of Hay with the Brecknock and Abergavenny Canal at Brecon. The western section was sold to the Brecon and Merthyr Railway; the eastern section became part of the Mid-Wales Railway (see below).

In the following list the dates are: date of incorporation; opening date

  • Oswestry and Newtown Railway 30 miles: June 6 1855; 1860-61
  • Llanidloes and Newtown Railway 12.25 miles: August 4 1853; 1859. Until 1861 this section of the line was completely isolated
  • Newtown and Machynlleth Railway 23 miles: July 27 1857; 1863
  • Oswestry, Ellesmere and Whitchurch Railway 18 miles: August 1 1861; 1863-64
  • Aberystwyth and Welsh Coast Railway 86 miles: July 26 1861; 1863-69
  • Mid-Wales Railway 45.5 miles: August 1 1859; September 1 1864. This Railway maintained complete independence from the Cambrian until 1 January 1888, when the latter took over working the line; and on 1 July 1904 when the two Railways amalgamated.

The Wrexham and Ellesmere Railway opened in 1895. Wrexham was the largest town served by the Cambrian.

[edit] Other railways within the Cambrian system

  • The Van Railway (serving lead mines) 6.5 miles: built 1871
  • The Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway (WLLR) 9 miles gauge 2ft 6in opened April 4 1903. The WLLR closed for all traffic on November 5 1956; it is now a heritage railway.
  • Tanat Valley Light Railway (Llynclys - Llangynog) 15 miles: opened January 5 1904; closed (passenger traffic) 1951
  • Mawddwy Light Railway 6.75 miles: incorporated Jul 5 1865; closed (passenger traffic) 1951
  • The Vale of Rheidol Railway 11¾ miles gauge 1ft 11¾ins: built 1902 absorbed 1913.

[edit] Branch lines

(The information in this section was taken largely from The Railway Year Book 1912.)

[edit] Feeder lines

The Cambrian had "junctions" with many of the independent Welsh narrow-gauge lines, including

[edit] Accidents

A head on collision occurred at Abermule on 26 January 1921, killing 15 passengers, including Lord Herbert Vane-Tempest, a director of the company and son of the 5th Marquess of Londonderry. The accident was caused by a confusion between the staff at Abermule whereby the driver of the train in the station was given back the token he had just handed over (i.e. the one for the section of track he had just travelled over). It would have been impossible to give him the token for the next section. The driver did not check which token he had and set off. He soon collided with the Aberystwyth to Manchester express coming the other way (which did possess the right token for that section).

[edit] Other information

The headquarters of the Cambrian Railways was at Oswestry. The building still stands (2004), although detached from the railway lines and in use for commercial purposes. The largest station premises on the line were at Aberystwyth; in 1911 there were 91 locomotives and one rail motor car amongst Cambrian's rolling stock.

A registered museum dedicated to the history of the Cambrian system is run by the Cambrian Railway Society in Oswestry.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links


The "Big Four" pre-nationalisation British railway companies

v • d • e</div>

Great Western • London Midland & Scottish • London & North Eastern • Southern

GWR constituents: Great Western Railway • Cambrian Railways • Taff Vale Railway
Barry Railway • Rhymney Railway • (full list)
LNER constituents: Great Central • Great Eastern • Great Northern • Great North of Scotland
Hull & Barnsley • North British • North Eastern • (Full list)
LMS constituents: Caledonian • Furness • Lancashire & Yorkshire • Glasgow & South Western
London and North Western • Midland • North Staffordshire • (Full list)
SR constituents: London and South Western Railway • London, Brighton and South Coast Railway
South Eastern Railway • London, Chatham and Dover Railway • (Full list)

See also: History of rail transport in Great Britain 1923 - 1947 • List of companies involved in the grouping

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