85-580: The Ely Valley Railway ( EVR ) was a broad gauge railway company in South Wales, which opened a mineral line between Llantrisant station on the South Wales Railway main line and pits at Mwyndy and Penrhiwfer in 1860. It was unsuccessful financially, and was leased to the Great Western Railway in 1861. The network suffered from being on the broad gauge when many pits and rival railways used
170-601: A 999 year lease, taking £35,000 worth of EVR shares and guaranteeing 5% per annum on £80,000. This was agreed and was effective from 1 January 1861, being ratified by an act of Parliament of 29 July 1862. (in fact the Gyfeillon extension was never built.) At the time these discussions were proceeding, the Taff Vale Railway were encouraging the promotion of what became the Llantrisant and Taff Vale Junction Railway (L&TVJR),
255-524: A break of gauge with the parent GWR at Gloucester or Grange Court. The Lords of the Board of Trade considered the matter, and they modified the policy. It was their opinion that the SWR should be made on the broad gauge, and the resulting Railway Regulation (Gauge) Act 1846 ( 9 & 10 Vict. c. 57) stated that the railways authorised ... by an Act passed in the last session of Parliament, intituled An Act for making
340-638: A harbour at the mouth of the River Ely , to the west of Cardiff , and to build a narrow (standard) gauge railway to meet the Taff Vale Railway at the place that is now Radyr . The primary purpose of this was to relieve the congestion at the Bute docks on the east side of Cardiff, and on the approach lines of the TVR. The following year, on 27 July 1857 the company changed its name to the Penarth Harbour, Dock and Railway , and
425-591: A junction near Dinas on the EVR to the head of Cwm Clydach, nearly two miles away. The company obtained its authorising act of Parliament, the Ely and Clydach Valleys Railway Act 1873 ( 36 & 37 Vict. c. ccxxx), on 5 August 1873. It opened, at least in part, on 10 August 1878, but the anticipated traffic was a long time in coming, partly because of an agreement between the coalmaster and the Taff Vale Railway for exclusivity of carriage of its output. The Ely and Clydach Valleys Railway
510-562: A line between Swansea and Fishguard. The Great Western Railway was accused of duplicity: ... and if there were no guarantee in the case, the directors of the Great Western Railway would, as holders of more than one-fourth of the paid-up shares, be the first to urge upon the South Wales Company the abandonment of this portion of the undertaking. That they do not openly adopt this wise course, by meeting our advances to that end,
595-491: A line to Llantrisant from near Treforest , connecting up numerous small mines on between, and forming an intrusion into territory that the broad gauge companies considered their own. The L&TVJR was authorised on 7 June 1861, and opened part of its line at the northern end on 17 September 1863. However the southern end of the L&;TVJR was a junction with the broad gauge Ely Valley Railway at Maesaraul. The Cowbridge Railway
680-540: A link from Gellirhaidd into the Ogmore Valley, it was reduced to a stump from Hendreforgan to Gilfach Goch only; at this stage Hendreforgan had not been reached by any railway. At the same time the Ogmore Valley Railway (OVR) was authorised to build from Tondu via Blackmill to the present-day Nantymoel at the head of the Ogmore Valley. The promoters had observed the disadvantages of small railways adopting
765-636: A platform alongside the South Wales Railway station at Llantrisant. That left a gap between the two narrow gauge systems; as part of the negotiation in parliamentary committees, the GWR undertook to mix the gauge on the Ely Valley Railway between Maesaraul and Llantrisant, enabling through running; the necessary running powers were granted to the Cowbridge Railway. In fact a second, narrow gauge, line
850-407: A prime supplier to the GWR. From the outset the Ely Valley Railway had decided that it did not wish to carry passengers, and the relatively small income in a sparsely populated area did not justify the outlay. Over the years the population in the area built up, and the company came under pressure to provide passenger trains. It continued to refuse to do this but in 1893 Glamorgan County Council took
935-801: A railway to be called "The South Wales Railway" [and a modifying Act] intituled "An Act for completing the Line of the South Wales Railway", and to authorize the Construction of an Extension and certain Alterations of the said Railway, and certain Branch Railways in Connexion therewith... shall be constructed on the Gauge of Seven Feet. Accordingly, the line was built on the broad gauge, with far-reaching consequences. There were prodigious engineering works to be undertaken:
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#17328695682361020-429: A rope worked incline operated on the balanced load system without a stationary steam engine. This was causing congestion as traffic volumes increased, and when a new pit was sunk further up the valley at Clydach Vale in 1872, potentially overwhelming the incline, the Ely Valley Railway considered it was time to compete with the TVR. A nominally independent Ely and Clydach Valleys Railway was promoted in 1872, to run from
1105-632: A rope-worked incline to descend into the Taff valley. It opened in April 1844 and was known as the Llantwit Fardre Railway. Promoters associated with the Great Western Railway obtained authorisation for a trunk line from near Gloucester to Milford Haven , connecting South Wales to the GWR network and London, and the first section of their line between Chepstow and Swansea opened on 18 June 1850. Both lines were engineered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel , but
1190-545: Is attributable, we believe, partly to the erroneous supposition that the South Wales Company will break down in the attempt to reach Fishguard, and thus be unable to bring the guarantee into operation ... SWR directors who were also GWR directors had had an unhealthy influence on the affairs of the SWR: We recommend the propriety of the retirement of those gentlemen from the Board who represent interests no longer identical with those of
1275-451: Is our unanimous opinion... that... any further expenditure on that part of your line to the westward of Swansea, would... be wasteful and unwise in the extreme. Even if the Irish railways, which were expected to bring traffic to the western extremity of the South Wales line, had not been abandoned, we apprehend that... no company, governed by ordinary prudence, would entertain the notion of carrying
1360-524: The Ely Valley Railway Act 1857 ( 20 & 21 Vict. c. xli) received royal assent on 13 July 1857, with capital of £70,000. At the first formal board meeting it was decided to seek powers to build a branch to the productive Mwyndy iron ore mine, and possibly on to Brofiscin Quarry . This was successfully achieved in the 1857 session, with an additional £13,000 of capital authorised. Construction work
1445-506: The Llynvi and Ogmore Railway ) was opened on 1 September 1875, and the Hendreforgan – Ynysmaerdy link opened on 25 February 1875. The L&TVJR line to Waterhall Junction, for Penarth, took much longer still, opening on 11 September 1886. The South Wales Railway had been formed as an independent company, but it was worked throughout its life by the Great Western Railway. Merging of the companies
1530-520: The Merthyr and Dowlais smelters had to travel via Neath and the Vale of Neath Railway , and be transhipped near the end of the journey. Moreover there were limited facilities at Cardiff for supplying ships from broad gauge wagons. The Penarth company now recommended a narrow gauge connection, and the idea seemed attractive to the Ely Valley Railway (EVR) directors. In addition to the EVR converting its system to
1615-614: The 1960s but final closure only occurred when Cwm Colliery closed on 2 March 1987. The mineral resources of the upper end of the valley of the River Taff encouraged the development of iron smelting industries at Merthyr and Dowlais , and these were dominant by the first decades of the nineteenth century. Transport of the products to market was always a problem, and the Glamorganshire Canal of 1794 and primitive tramroads connecting to it were an early response. The Taff Vale Railway
1700-569: The GWR were entirely opposed to the plan, seeing no benefit to compensate for the expense of carrying it out, and the negotiations were at an end; the EVR had wrapped up a number of secondary, but important, issues in the talks, and now these were lost as well. As a fallback, the EVR and the Penarth company discussed the building of a connecting line between the two systems; all seemed to be going well, with discussion of assistance with funding. But in March 1860
1785-590: The Great Western Railway (GWR) as to the working of the Mwyndy branch by the GWR, and a corresponding agreement for the Ely Valley main line was finalised soon after. The effective date of these agreements was to be 1 August 1860. On 2 August 1860 a ceremonial opening of the lines took place. As well as the Mwyndy branch, the main line ran from Llantrisant station to Penrhiwfer, a little beyond Tonyrefail , where there were important collieries. There were two short branches: one
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#17328695682361870-403: The Great Western Railway again became a source of conflict, leading to an arbitration award largely in favour of the GWR. At length the SWR gave notice to terminate the arrangement, on 30 June 1857. Even after the termination, trailing disputes continued to arise leading to further arbitration. MacDermot states that The disputes were, however, always conducted in a more or less friendly fashion, and
1955-525: The Great Western Railway that the GWR would lease the SWR on completion of the line to Fishguard, paying 5% on the capital plus half of surplus profits. A Gauge Commission had been established by Parliament to consider the desirability of a uniform track gauge for the railways of the United Kingdom, as the negative effect of the difference of gauge between contiguous railways was beginning to show. The Great Western Railway and companies friendly to it used
2040-405: The Irish side the depression was so extreme that the railway partners considered that it was impossible to proceed with the construction of their railway. Fishguard at the time only had significance as a potential ferry port, and the building of the South Wales Railway to that point would obviously be wasted expenditure, so that the directors decided to cut it short. The GWR guarantee of 5% on capital
2125-623: The L&TVJR there. In the 1865 session of Parliament, the Ogmore and Ely Railways (Amalgamation) Act 1865 ( 28 & 29 Vict. c. ccv) was passed, by which the Ely Valley Extension Railway was taken over by the Ogmore Valley Railway. The Ely Valley Extension Railway opened its line on 16 October 1865, and was worked by the Great Western Railway as part of the Ely Valley line. (It was converted to narrow gauge in May 1872 and remained detached from
2210-534: The Landore viaduct formed a continuous timber work, exactly one-third of a mile long, with thirty-seven spans ranging from 40 to 100 feet. Construction was of course proceeding on the section between Landore and Haverfordwest, and between Chepstow and Grange Court. In November 1850, the work on the line towards Fishguard (west of the point of junction for the Haverfordwest branch) was resumed; it had been suspended since
2295-616: The Ogmore network until the completion of the Black Mill to Hendreforgan line in September 1875.) The L&TVJR secured the Llantrissant and Taff Vale Junction Railway Act 1866 ( 29 & 30 Vict. c. ccxlviii) (the 'New Lines Act') on 23 July 1866. It would build a new line on a north-west to south-east diagonal, from the Ely Valley Railway at Ynysmaerdy to Waterhall Junction south of Radyr, on
2380-573: The Penarth Harbour line. The Ogmore Valley Bill was passed on the same day, authorising a connection between Blackmill and Hendreforgan, although the OVR had hoped for much wider extensions elsewhere. Following authorisation, the emphasis on the flow from the Ogmore Valley to Penarth was much reduced, and these lines were slow to be completed; the Blackmill to Hendreforgan line of the OVR (merged to form
2465-633: The Rhondda a little west of Pontypridd , where excellent quality steam coal was being extracted. In 1854 the GWR had leased a colliery belonging to John Calvert, using it to supply locomotive coal. It became known as the Great Western Mine . The GWR now approached the EVR with a proposal to acquire the network; the plan was to extend it to Gyfeillon, giving the GWR broad gauge access from the colliery to its system. The EVR asked for £100,000 in cash to purchase, and difficult negotiations progressed, ending with
2550-517: The SWR pay compensation equivalent to a purchase. The SWR declined and the issue dragged on for a considerable time; the Llanelly Railway obstructed the SWR construction as much as possible, and at one stage the SWR considered crossing by a viaduct. Eventually however the SWR opened its line, crossing the Llanelly lines by flat crossings, and the matter was put to rest. In June 1852 a connection
2635-461: The SWR, and the hitherto supportive relationship between the two companies now took a seriously unfriendly turn. It was stated that as the GWR had about a quarter of the SWR shareholding, they were being duplicitous in failing to support the abandonment of the Fishguard part of the line. A committee of shareholders reported their view of the situation: We have now to report to the proprietors that it
Ely Valley Railway - Misplaced Pages Continue
2720-462: The South Wales Railway was built on the broad gauge . It had a station called Llantrisant , although it was two miles from the town of that name. As a trunk railway, the South Wales Railway made few connections to collieries and iron mines, and the development of these industries in the area close to the main line was as yet limited. In 1840 there was mineral activity in the Rhondda but at this stage it
2805-408: The South Wales line proper... The first portion of the line was opened on 18 June 1850, from Chepstow to Swansea. It consisted of 75 miles of double track, on the broad gauge, using Brunel's longitudinal timber track. Engines and rolling stock were provided by the Great Western Railway; they arrived by coastal shipping, as the line was not connected to any other line. Soon after the opening a slip in
2890-549: The South of Ireland as well as South Wales with the Metropolis". The people of Monmouth were disappointed that the line was not to pass through their town, and they urged a deviation to run through Gloucester, Monmouth and Usk to Caerleon , adding 18 miles to the route and involving considerably worse gradients. The Admiralty objected to the Severn bridge, and the result was that the line
2975-414: The autumn of 1848. The instruction to complete the line may have been in frustration at the GWR position on the lease agreement. Further negotiation took place and the agreement in March 1851 took the form that the GWR would lease the line for 999 years from the time of completion from Grange Court to Swansea. The GWR were to take one third of the net profit, but pay a rental on the line; the SWR would provide
3060-520: The broad gauge system, though they hoped that "some equitable means should be found of producing such entire uniformity of gauge or of adopting such other course as would admit of the Narrow Gauge carriages passing, without interruption or danger, along the Broad Gauge Lines." If implemented, this finding seemed to mean that the South Wales Railway could not be built on the broad gauge, introducing
3145-425: The broad gauge, and they determined that their line would be on the narrow (standard) gauge. However their isolated position among broad gauge lines challenged the ability of their line to get the mineral products away to Cardiff or anywhere else. The Great Western Railway (GWR) and the South Wales Railway had now merged, and the promoters of the OVR met with the GWR to ascertain whether they would lay mixed gauge on
3230-413: The broad gauge, while the narrow gauge (later known as standard gauge) was in use on most other lines. Where two lines of different gauges connected, goods and minerals making a through transit had to be physically transshipped, and passengers had to change trains. The commissioners declared that the break of gauge was "a serious evil" and they recommended that no further railway should be constructed on
3315-461: The coast to Chepstow , Newport , Cardiff , Bridgend , Aberavon , Neath , Swansea , Carmarthen and Fishguard , with a branch line from near Whitland to Pembroke Dock . The prospectus was published widely as a newspaper advertisement: Surveys have been made of the line of country best adapted for accommodating the extensive traffic of the great mineral basin of South Wales, and the important agricultural interests of that country, as well as
3400-453: The company to the adjudication court of the Railway and Canal Commissioners . In the days when railways were often a local monopoly, there was legal precedent for courts to require the provision of a passenger service. Legal argument was finely balanced, and in 1894 the EVR won its case on the basis that it was agreed that substantial infrastructure improvements—doubling much of the line (because of
3485-607: The crossing of the River Wye at Chepstow, a large timber viaduct at Newport and a tunnel there, a further large timber viaduct at Landore, and crossings of the River Loughor and River Towy further west. The depressed state of the money market immediately made the raising of subscriptions difficult, and the company suffered a major loss when the timber viaduct at Newport, almost completed, was burnt down on 31 May 1848, being completely destroyed. It had cost £20,000. A key objective of
Ely Valley Railway - Misplaced Pages Continue
3570-416: The cylinders were added until they had reached the top of the stage (about 100 feet in height) which had been erected for the purpose of sinking them. The weight of the column now cut through the planks, and the cylinder sank about 6 feet. The approach spans were replaced in 1948 and the main spans were reconstructed using a warren truss configuration in 1962. The westward route from Landore to Carmarthen
3655-452: The deep cutting slope took place at Llansamlet , between Neath and Swansea. To stabilise it, Brunel erected the so-called flying arches , loaded with slag, to resist the thrust. Brunel's most substantial timber work, not just on the SWR, but as far as his work was concerned for any railway company, was to be found in the vicinity of Swansea. Crossing the River Tawe and the Landore marshes,
3740-484: The density of mineral traffic), building stations etc—that the court did not have the power to demand. South Wales Railway The South Wales Railway ( Welsh : Rheilffordd De Cymru ) was a main line railway which opened in stages from 1850, connecting the Great Western Railway from Gloucester to South Wales . It was constructed on the broad gauge . An original aspiration was to reach Fishguard to engender an Irish ferry transit and transatlantic trade, but
3825-532: The installation of mixed gauge was done. The northern terminus of the Ely Valley Railway was at Penrhiwfer, near Tonyrefail; there were important pits there. There were further productive pits a little further north, near Penygraig, in Cwm Clydach. In 1860 a Parliamentary Bill to build such an extension was withdrawn, but the EVR negotiated privately with the landowners; with their agreement a mineral railway could be built without parliamentary sanction. The agreement
3910-405: The intercourse between the ports of Cork , Waterford , Wicklow , Limerick and Wexford , the inland and manufacturing districts of England and the metropolis. The line was to pass "within an easy distance of Monmouth " and west of Carmarthen, it was proposed "that the railway shall divide into two branches, one to the naval arsenal of Pembroke and the harbour of Milford Haven Waterway , and
3995-470: The junction arrangements with the GWR at Gloucester station were causing delay. However the line was opened on 19 September 1851 from Gloucester to a temporary station named Chepstow East , at Sedbury Lane. Passengers (only) were conveyed by omnibus between the two Chepstow stations. On 19 July 1852 a single line over the Chepstow bridge was brought into use, and through communication from London to Swansea
4080-464: The latter did not materialise for many years, and never became an important sector of the business. Neyland was the western terminus of the line until 1906. The company amalgamated with the Great Western Railway in 1863 and the track was converted to narrow (standard) gauge in 1873. In 1922–1923, most of the independent Welsh railways were constituents of the new enlarged Great Western Railway, enabling rationalisation and benefits of scale. Nearly all of
4165-522: The longer route through Gloucester, crossing the Severn there. A local railway thus became of strategic importance: the Gloucester and Dean Forest Railway had been authorised in 1845 to connect with the Monmouth and Hereford Railway near Grange Court. If the Gloucester and Dean Forest Railway extended southwards to Hagloe Farm, two miles south of Awre, the South Wales Railway could connect there. The arrangement
4250-421: The magnitude of the costs involved in building the new line and converting the existing EVR system was addressed, and it was quickly seen that the whole thing was not affordable. The Ely Valley Railway (EVR) was not yet fully open, and thoughts now turned urgently to the working arrangements for their line. On 15 June 1860, an agreement was concluded with the joint operating committee of the South Wales Railway and
4335-616: The main line to accommodate the OVR trains, but this was refused. The OVR proprietors were unabashed, and decided to continue with the construction of their line on the narrow gauge. To get access to a waterway, they now planned to build a line to connect to the narrow gauge Penarth Harbour, Dock and Railway company. This company was friendly to the Taff Vale Railway and the Llantrisant and Taff Vale Junction Railway lay in between; an alliance between those companies, and some use of existing railways, would provide an affordable scheme. This
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#17328695682364420-466: The mixed gauge section. The Cowbridge Railway had opened for goods traffic on 30 January 1865. The Ely Valley Railway had separately undertaken to lay mixed gauge track to enable access for the L&;TVJR to Mwyndy, but, no doubt encouraged by the Great Western Railway, was very slow to do so, and a legalistic point over the extent of the branch was used to delay matters. It was not until 5 December 1864 that
4505-455: The narrow (standard) gauge, but the GWR extended the network into Cwm Clydach and the line became heavily used. The Ely Valley Extension Railway and the Ely and Clydach Valleys Railway were nominally independent additions to the network, also controlled by the GWR. A limited passenger service was started in 1901. The use of the network declined in the 1920s but the passenger service continued until 1958. The general mineral traffic collapsed in
4590-474: The narrow gauge, this could best be achieved by the South Wales Railway laying a third rail, to make mixed gauge track between Llantrisant and the junction for Penarth; in fact the scheme escalated to include the route as far as the Bute East Dock, mutual running powers being offered. The South Wales Railway was not hostile to these arrangements, but wished to get Great Western Railway (GWR) acquiescence. In fact
4675-585: The original main line of the South Wales Railway remains in use at present (2020). The prospectus of the South Wales Railway was issued in the summer of 1844. It proposed a railway with capital of £2,500,000 to run from Standish , on the Cheltenham branch of the Great Western Railway where the Bristol and Gloucester line joins it. Over the River Severn at Hock Cliffe between Fretherne and Awre and then follow
4760-495: The other to Fishguard, whence a communication with the South of Ireland would be effected within six hours." Chief among the objectives of the line was communication with Ireland; the engineer was Isambard Kingdom Brunel . The project was sponsored by the Great Western Railway and in February 1845 the GWR announced that they had promised £500,000 towards the formation of the company. It was to be "a great national undertaking to connect
4845-452: The process being completed on 29 May. The two single tracks, broad and narrow gauge, from Llantrisant to Mwyndy Junction were now installed as conventional double track. The Great Western Railway (GWR) had earlier taken a lease on a colliery at Gyfeillon for engine coal, but never used it and relinquished the lease. Now in April 1874 it negotiated a lease with the owner of Cil Ely Colliery, a short distance north of Tonyrefail, and this became
4930-652: The promoters of the line was to connect southern Ireland by ferry from Fishguard to a harbour near Wexford. It was hoped that the Post Office contract for the carriage of mails between London and Dublin could be secured for the Great Western Railway and its allies. In Ireland, the Waterford, Wexford, Wicklow and Dublin Railway Company was to handle the traffic. Brunel also hoped that a transatlantic shipping business using Fishguard might be developed. However, in 1845 there
5015-481: The promoters published their intention to obtain an act of Parliament authorising their line; the Taff Vale Railway had been aware of the move (from prior public meetings) and simultaneously published its own corresponding proposals to reach the Rhondda Fawr; the far greater resources resulted in the Ely Valley scheme being abandoned immediately. In October 1856 it was announced that the Ely and Rhondda Valleys Railway
5100-405: The railway was very successful. The intended route of the South Wales Railway needed to cross the two lines of the Llanelly Railway and Dock company, and the SWR authorising act of Parliament did not specify in detail how this was to be done. The Llanelly Company wished to sell its network to the South Wales Railway, and suggested that the crossing would make its system unworkable: it demanded that
5185-459: The scope was increased to add the dock. The harbour was relatively quickly made ready, opening for business on 18 July 1859, but the dock took considerably longer, in fact until 1865. As well as carrying the traffic of the TVR to its new harbour, the Penarth company was interested in the traffic that might come from the Ely company, located as it was on the west side of Cardiff. A meeting took place between
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#17328695682365270-417: The staffing other than the locomotive department. The work of completing the western extremity of the line was again discontinued. Completion of the Chepstow bridge was much delayed, while the easier construction between its east side and Grange Court was proceeding well. Construction of the Gloucester and Forest of Dean Railway was also going well, although the opening bridge over the Severn at Gloucester, and
5355-399: The town centre, and another from a point near the later Clarbeston Road station to Haverfordwest . Soon after the passing of the act of Parliament the company agreed with the Gloucester and Dean Forest Railway that the SWR would build the southward extension itself, so that the northern limit of the SWR was to be at Grange Court, about 6 miles from Gloucester. Agreement was reached with
5440-431: The track of the branch was taken up, some time after 31 January 1867. For some years the GWR had accepted that the broad gauge was a liability that had to be got rid of, but the latter half of the 1860s were very difficult financially, and the matter was delayed. From 11 May 1872 all the broad gauge lines in South Wales were progressively converted, including the Ely Valley Railway and all other leased and independent lines,
5525-428: The two Companies never became really hostile to each other. The line was extended from Carmarthen to Haverfordwest on 2 January 1854, again a single line formed of Barlow rails. At first the South Wales Railway line made no junction connections with other railways except with the Gloucester and Forest of Dean Railway at Grange Court; notwithstanding its name, that railway simply provided the link between Gloucester and
5610-407: The two companies on 15 December 1858, at which the Penarth company suggested a narrow (standard) gauge link between them. When the Ely Valley Railway (EVR) was planned, the only other railway in the vicinity was the broad gauge South Wales Railway, and it seemed obvious at the time to make the EVR line on the same gauge. On reflection, however, this posed some serious disadvantages; iron ore bound for
5695-511: Was a catastrophic failure of the potato crop on which a majority of Irish people depended for a living; this resulted in mass starvation and commercial depression, which deepened the following year. The catastrophe is known as the Great Famine of Ireland . The economy in Ireland worsened considerably, at the same time as the general economic climate throughout the United Kingdom declined sharply. On
5780-466: Was a preliminary to the Royal Albert Bridge at Saltash . In sinking the cylinders to form the piers of the bridge, the workmen had first to pass through 29 feet of blue clay and sand, below which they met with a thin bed of peat containing timber, some solid oak, hazel-nuts, and other similar substances... The cylinders were placed on planks to prevent their cutting into the soft mud. One by one
5865-455: Was approved and both companies got their acts of Parliament in 1846. Soon after gaining royal assent the GWR agreed with the G&;DFR that the former would take over the construction and build the line themselves. The South Wales Railway Amendment Act 1846 ( 9 & 10 Vict. c. ccxxxix) also authorised a branch from Landore to Swansea, as the original route had not been intended to enter
5950-537: Was authorised west of Chepstow only, with a branch to Monmouth. The line was to be broad gauge, although this was not explicitly defined in the South Wales Railway Act 1845 ( 8 & 9 Vict. c. cxc). In the 1846 session of Parliament, a revised bridge crossing of the Severn at Fretherne was proposed, and alternatively a tunnel. Both options were rejected in Parliament, and the company was obliged to concede
6035-472: Was available. The 999-year lease by the GWR started. The second track over the bridge was in use from 18 April 1853. The Chepstow railway bridge over the Wye had finally been completed: it had been a severe engineering challenge. The 300 feet main spans were suspended from chains, with an overhead tubular strut of 9 feet diameter to resist the inward force of the chains. Some commentators suggest that this arrangement
6120-565: Was being promoted, although at first it would only build eight miles of line, from Llantrisant to Dinas (Penygraig). In November the statutory parliamentary notice was published; the company name had been altered to the Ely Valley Railway ; it was to be a broad gauge line 6 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles long from Llantrisant to Penrhiwfer, with two branches. It was primarily a mineral railway, and passengers would not be carried. The bill went to Parliament and encountered only limited opposition, and
6205-465: Was built from Llantrisant to Mwyndy Junction, the lines being mixed onward from there. The Taff Vale Railway worked the trains on both the Cowbridge and L&TVJR systems, so that passenger trains ran through from Pontypridd to Cowbridge, reversing at Llantrisant. This started on 18 September 1865, when the Ely Valley Railway had finally got approval from the Board of Trade for passenger operation over
6290-474: Was considered in the 1865 session of Parliament and rejected, but a second attempt in 1866 was more successful. Notwithstanding its opposition to laying mixed gauge on the South Wales Main Line, the GWR had given a parliamentary assurance that it would do so on the portion of the Ely Valley Railway to enable narrow gauge trains to run from Hendreforgan to Common Branch Junction (near Ynysmaerdy ) reaching
6375-434: Was designed to give the town a connection to the merging railway network, but was short of funding. When the Taff Vale Railway assisted it by taking part of the share issue, it was inevitable that the line would be built on the narrow gauge. The Cowbridge Railway intended to cross the South Wales Railway main line and connect with the L&TVJR at Maesaraul, but this proved beyond its means, and it settled for running into
6460-559: Was finalised in October 1860 and the extension was opened to traffic in December 1862. The northern terminus was now at Dinas Goods Station, immediately north of Penygraig colliery. The extension was ratified by an act of Parliament of 30 July 1866. Cwm Clydach was a little further on and the existing pits were served by the TVR Pwllyrhebog branch. This involved a 1 in 13 incline, at this stage
6545-510: Was limited to the area around Dinas , served by tramroads with which an 1841 branch of the Taff Vale Railway connected; the westward extension was in the future. In 1845 a Rhondda and Ely Valley Railway was proposed; it would leave the South Wales Railway at Llantrisant and run to the head of the Rhondda Fawr, connecting also to proposed railways in the Ogmore Valley . On 16 September 1845
6630-585: Was made from Swansea station to the North Dock at Swansea. The definite decision was taken not to proceed to Fishguard, and an act of Parliament, the South Wales Railway Act 1852 ( 15 & 16 Vict. c. cxvii), was obtained authorising abandonment of the Fishguard line and instead an extension from Haverfordwest to Neyland Point, on the Milford Haven Waterway . The lease arrangement with
6715-409: Was only to come into effect when Fishguard was reached by the SWR, so the latter's directors approached the GWR proposing that the guarantee should come into effect when the line reached Swansea instead. The GWR were not agreeable to this, leaving the South Wales Railway in a difficult position; certain persons who were directors of both companies saw that their positions were untenable, and resigned from
6800-507: Was opened in 1840 and 1841 throughout from Merthyr to Cardiff Docks, and was immediately successful. It was a narrow (standard) gauge line; its course was through the present-day Abercynon and Pontypridd . Mineral extraction at Dihewyd, near Llantwit Fardre , attracted interest, and a private railway was built from pits there to the Glamorganshire Canal at Maesbach. The pits and the railway were owned by Thomas Powell. The line had
6885-554: Was opened on 11 October 1852. It was laid as a single line using Barlow rails for economy. Two lines of the Llanelly Railway were crossed on the level, as were other horse-operated mineral lines. In 1828 the Llanelly Railroad and Dock Company built a dock and a two-mile railway connecting coal pits north of Llanelly , and in 1839 a second line from Llanelly to Cwmamman was opened. At first concentrating on mineral traffic,
6970-493: Was soon under way, and the directors decided that it was a high priority to open to the Mwyndy mine so as to bring some money in. Temporary track and horse traction was used to manage this, and an informal opening took place before 22 February 1859. The Ely Tidal Harbour and Railway Company had been incorporated by the Ely Tidal Harbour and Railway (Glamorgan) Act 1856 ( 19 & 20 Vict. c. cxxii) of 21 July 1856 to build
7055-401: Was to Castellau , diverging north-eastward not far north of Llantrisant; the other was to Gellirhaidd, running to the west from a point not far south of Penrhiwfer. The Mwyndy branch was extended to Brofiscin, opening on 8 January 1862. For some time the Great Western Railway, quite independently of the South Wales Railway, had taken an interest in the developing collieries near Gyfeillon, in
7140-432: Was to be a positive move, and the GWR absorbed the South Wales Railway, effective from 1 August 1863. The Ely Valley Railway was already leased to the SWR and the lease now transferred to the GWR. In 1864 a local newspaper reported that "The Castella Colliery of Dr Lloyd is nearly exhausted." and when serviceable permanent way materials were urgently needed to keep the main lines going at a time of great financial pressure,
7225-638: Was vested in the Great Western Railway effective from 27 August 1880, by an act of Parliament of 6 August. The terminus of the Gellirhaidd branch appeared ideal for a westward extension into the Ogmore Valleys, and from 1857 a number of schemes were out forward. These were without success until 28 July 1863 when the Ely Valley Extension Railway was authorised, though in a much reduced form compared with its promoters' intentions. Instead of forming
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