52°44′38″N3°21′36″W / 52.744°N 3.360°W /52.744; -3.360
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Talybont |
| Locale | Wales |
| Dates of operation | 1897–1899 |
| Successor | abandoned |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 2 ft 3 in (686 mm) |
| Length | 7+3⁄4 miles (12.47 km) |
ThePlynlimon and Hafan Tramway was a2 ft 3 in (686 mm) gaugenarrow gauge railway inCardiganshire (nowCeredigion) inMid Wales. It ran fromLlanfihangel station (later renamedLlandre station) on theCambrian Line, through the village ofTal-y-bont and the valley of theAfon Leri, into the foothills ofPlynlimon Fawr. It was built to serve thelead mines atBwlch Glas and stone quarries aroundHafan[1] and opened in 1897, closing just two years later.[2] The line was a little over 7 miles (11 km) long and, despite running a short-lived passenger service, it served no communities of more than 100 people.
Mining of minerals in the hills east of Tal-y-bont dates back as far as 1698, with the Hafan Mine, which principally producedlead, but alsocopper andzinc ores.[3]
In 1890, Captain John Davis of Tal-y-bont and Thomas Molyneux, an industrialist ofEarlestown in Lancashire, joined forces to exploit minerals from local mines including Hafan Mine, and to develop grit stone quarries on Hafan mountain.[4] Molyneux proposed building a tramway from Hafan to the coast atYnyslas along the Leri Valley from Hafan through Talybont to Dolybont, and then running down and acrossCors Fochno using the canalised embankment of the Leri diversion constructed by theAberystwith and Welsh Coast Railway, to a Dock suitable for coasters at Ynyslas. However theCambrian Railways would not permit the tramway to cross its line at any point betweenMachynlleth andAberystwyth, leaving no alternative but to unload into barges to get under the bridge at Ynyslas, and then tranship to coasters on the other side.
Much thinking went on as to how to get to the sea elsewhere: in frustration,Clarach Bay was considered but ship loading would have been very difficult. A tramway under Ynyslas bridge was considered but discounted due to obvious tide problems, even a line alongside the main line to Aberystwyth Harbour was considered. Transhipping at Ynyslas was discounted as too costly a procedure. In the end it was decided the only option was to go to the Cambrian Railways'Llanfihangel station, even though Mr Molyneaux had previously stated that much benefit would be lost by their not having direct access to a port.
Construction commenced on 11 January 1896,[5] but was briefly brought to a halt by theGogerddan Estate as agreements for the final route had not been signed. Some months afterward construction resumed. The mines and tramway to this point had been funded by Molyneaux, but on 24 October 1896 he sold his holdings to the Plynlimon & Hafan Co. Ltd. for £14,000 of the new company's ordinary shares – meaning he held 46.6% of the new company, and became its Managing Director – with his son holding the post of General Manager and Engineer (having been involved for some while).
By late 1896, the trackbed of the line was largely complete. After much delay, track materials were delivered in January 1897, with the first rails being laid at Tal-y-bont on 11 January by contractor Mr. Price of Newtown.[6] Tracklaying progressed quickly and in May the first locomotiveVictoria arrived on site. During December, Molyneaux had asked Sir P. P. Pryse "...to try to get Sir James Szlumper to adopt the P&H gauge of 27in for the proposed Devils Bridge line".Szlumper decided to build theVale of Rheidol Railway to a gauge of1 ft 11+3⁄4 in (603 mm) due to the sharp curves required for the line.
The first test run of Victoria was a limited success. On 5 June, another attempt was made with the locomotive propelling two trollies and pulling a third. Just before Glanfred Lane level crossing a piece of timber was spotted lying across the rails. One of the men on the leading trolley, Richard Owen Roberts, tried to kick the timber away while the train was in motion, but he slipped and fell underneath the train and was killed when the locomotive ran over him.[7] Three other men on the trollies were severely injured in the accident. The railway had suffered a spate of stones and timbers being laid across the tracks, though this was by far the most serious outcome of this vandalism.[8]
In August 1897, the second locomotiveTalybont arrived along with the line's first passenger carriage. On 19 August a trial train was run as far as the bottom of the Hafanincline, although the track betweenLlanfihangel and Tal-y-bont was not laid to a high enough quality to permit passenger services to begin immediately.
From late 1897, freight service began on the line. The formal opening to passengers took place on 28 March 1898, although trains only ran on Mondays, connecting with the Cambrian Railway's Market Day Special to Aberystwyth. The majority of passenger trains in the line's short history stopped at Tal-y-bont as there were few houses to be served further east of that village.
The passenger service only ran until the summer of 1899 and the entire company went into voluntary liquidation on 19 December 1899 the last train having run sometime before that date.
Not long after closure, the company operating the Bryn-yr-Afr Mine attempted to reopen the line to serve their needs, but nothing came of it.
In 1910, Cardiganshire County Council suggested to the company that they explore re-opening the tramway as astandard gauge branch of the Cambrian Railways.[9][10] However, this also came to nothing. The track remained in place until 1914 when it was taken up, though the stretch of line through the Bwlchglas Farm property remained intact until scrapped by the landlord in 1926.
The main line (which was marked by steep gradients) terminated at the foot of the Hafan Incline, while a mineral extension led from the top of the incline to a granite sett quarry operated by theBagnall locomotiveHafan.
Molyneaux had proposed a tunnel under Hafan so to serve the Bryn-yr-Afr Mine, but this was only a dual step in the 'grand plan' for a connection south to the Devils Bridge line and the other northerly connections that were on Mr Molyneaux's mind.
During the railway's brief operation of a passenger service, there were two stations served by the line;[11] these were:
Although regular passenger trains terminated at Tal-y-bont, occasional services ran further east for approximately 5 miles (8 km) to the foot of the incline.[11]
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Today the trackbed formation from Pontbrengeifr to the Hafan incline remains largely open and intact and can be walked; much of the formation of the mineral extensions at the top of the incline is also traceable. Between Pontbrengeifr andTal-y-bont sections of the trackbed remain intact, but others have been eroded away by theAfon Leri and are heavily overgrown which makes walking it more difficult. There is now little to see of the former exchange sidings atLlandre, this is a playground adjacent to the former standard gauge station.
Starting at the formerLlanfihangel/Llandre station, the route between the Llandre station and today's A487 road has been obliterated by road widening in Llandre village on the B4353 road, and with houses and gardens along Glan-Fred Lane before reaching the A487 road. Road widening (in the late 1970s) of the A487 buried another section of trackbed, but a short distance still exists prior to Tal-y-bont on the east side of the road, now used as a short segregated cycle path between two hedges.
Traveling further to the north alongside the A487 before turning eastward, Tal-y-bont station and engine shed has been buried by several houses. The trackbed turns east and re-appears as a prominent shallow embankment alongside a narrow road. This narrow road eventually merges with the trackbed before disappearing into a field. Then trackbed crossed some fields before crossing the Afon Leri near the road junction with the unclassified road to the Cyneiniog valley. The trackbed closely follows this road between Pontbren-geifr on a prominent trackbed on the north side of the road to a level crossing of the road to Ty Nant farm.
The trackbed then moves to the south side of the road into a wooded section and can easily be followed for some distance before it rejoins the road at a white cottage. It then moves to the north of the road and adjacent to a sharp bend in the road is a deep cutting. Beyond this, the trackbed again moves to the south side of the road and can be easily followed to the remains ofBwlch Glas mine. Part of the mine structures were built over the remains of the trackbed as the mine was expanded and operated after the tramway closed.
Beyond the mine, the trackbed rises on an embankment with a missing under bridge. It gradually climbs eastward on the south side of the Cyneiniog valley before reaching the foot of the Hafan incline. This section had the remains of wooden sleepers that could be seen in the 1990s.
None of the passenger stations or any buildings or structures have survived to the present day.
The Plynlimon and Hafan was one of the most obscurecommon carrierrailways inBritain. It shared its unusual gauge with only three other public railways in Britain: the nearbyCorris Railway andTalyllyn Railway and theCampbeltown and Machrihanish Light Railway inScotland.
Molyneaux's had long-term ambitions to connect the Plymlimon and Hafan to the Corris Railway, and he also unsuccessfully pressed the promoters of theVale of Rheidol Railway to adopt the same gauge, which if adopted would have created a2 ft 3 in (686 mm) system in the area to rival the2 ft (610 mm) gauge lines aroundPorthmadog.[14] Since theCorris Railway had originally had access under the Cambrian line atMachynlleth for its horse-worked extension toMorben, it might have been possible to revive this section of line as a linking route, but it was another step again to link to the Talyllyn.[14] However, the P&H'sloading gauge was both taller and wider than its two northern neighbours, and so none of its rolling stock could have been used on either Corris or Talyllyn, suggesting that no link was seriously contemplated. This also meant that neither line were interested in buying any of the P&H rolling stock after it closed.
The tramway owned three steam locomotives; these were:
The tramway had only one passenger carriage, a rather ornate vehicle with end balconies andclerestory roof. After the tramway closed the coach was transported toLlanbadarn Fawr near Aberystwyth for use as a summer house, but decayed many years ago.[19] A replica has been built and is running on theLaunceston Steam Railway in Cornwall.
Some of the tramway's wagons accompaniedTalybont to the Vale of Rheidol, and, much rebuilt, remain there to this day.
