Rhymney Railway

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The Rhymney Railway (Rhymney) was virtually a single stretch of main line, some fifty miles in length, by which the Rhymney Valley was connected to the docks at Cardiff in the county of Glamorgan, South Wales ^[1].

Contents 1 History 1.1 Growth of the railway 1.2 Merging 2 The route 2.1 Main Line 2.2 Branch lines 3 Officers 4 Locomotives 5 Today 6 References 7 External links

[edit] History

The aim of the railway was to gain access to the large iron works and collieries at the extreme north of the Valley. Short extensions, connecting with other railways, gave the Rhymney routes to take its (largely mineral) traffic to the Midlands and the North of England, or opened up connections to collieries and iron works. Some of those routes were worked jointly with other companies, particularly the London and North Western Railway (LNWR).

[edit] Growth of the railway

The original incorporation was in 1854, and the railway was opened in various sections as follows:

• Rhymney to Hengoed, January 1858
• Hengoed - Walnut Tree Junction, February 1858
• line into Cardiff 1864
• Rhymney - Nantybwch, giving access to the LNWR. This section was worked jointly by the two companies April 1871
• Ystrad Mynach - Penallta Junction, giving access to the Great Western Railway and the Aberdare Valley, April 1871
• Taff - Bargoed giving access to the Dowlais Iron Works. Nine miles in length, with a gradient of 1:40, it had heavy usage. In 1911 the Rhymney conveyed over 300,000 tons of iron and iron ore per annum over this route. Opened January 1 1876
• Quaker's Yard - Cyfarthfa, authorised 1882
• Aber branch, 1890
• Ystrad Mynach - Cylla Valley, 1895

The Rhymney owned 120 locomotives in 1911. By then the total mileage of the Rhymney was over 61 miles; a further 16 miles of 'foreign' track was also worked over. Over two million tons of freight had been carried.

Details above taken from The Railway Year Book 1912 (The Railway Publishing Company Ltd)

The first workshops for the railway were in Cardiff, opening in 1857 but, as their work increased, there was insufficient room for expansion, and Caerphilly railway works was opened in 1899.

[edit] Merging

Although the Rhymney was nominally independent until absorption in the Great Western Railway at the Grouping of 1923, the same managing director, in 1917, took over control of the line and the Taff Vale Railway and the Cardiff Railway, making them to all and intents and purposes one undertaking.

[edit] The route

The stations of the line from Cardiff to Rhymney were as follows:-

[edit] Main Line

• Cardiff Queen Street
• Heath High Level
• Llanishen
• Cefn On Halt (now replaced by nearby Lisvane and Thornhill railway station)
  • here is the Caerphilly tunnel 1.1 mile (1.76km) in length
• Caerphilly
• Aber
• Llanbradach
• Ystrad Mynach
• Hengoed
• Pengam
• Gilfach Fargoed
• Bargoed
• Brithdir
• Tirphil (New Tredegar)
• Pontlottyn
• Rhymney
• Rhymney Bridge (joint station with LNWR)
• Nantybwch (also joint station with LNWR)

[edit] Branch lines

From south to north these were:

• Caerphilly - Taffs Well connecting with the Taff Vale Railway Openeed 1858
• Senghenydd branch: with intermediate stations serving:
  • Penyrheol
  • Abertridwr
• From Ystrad Mynach a spur connected with the GWR; from Treharris on that line there was a Rhymney Railway line direct to Merthyr Tydfil over the Taff-Bargoed Joint Line undertaking
• Deri branch connecting at Deri Junction with the Brecon and Merthyr Railway

All of those branches have since been closed.

[edit] Officers

Cornelius Lundie, from the outset of the line and for more than 40 years, was General Manager, Traffic Manager and Superintendent of the line. In 1912 C.T.H. Riches was Locomotive Superintendent.

[edit] Locomotives

The early locomotives were tender engines, whether for passenger or goods:

• 0-6-0 Vulcan Foundry 1857: inside frames; freight
• 2-4-0 Vulcan Foundry 1858, 1861: passenger locomotives
• 0-6-0 Kitson 1859-1868: double frames, outside cranks; freight
• 0-6-0 ST 1872 onwards: various builders. All Rhymney locomotives from then were of this type.
  • Notes taken from The Railway Magazine February 1923

[edit] Today

The "main" line is now largely in use as the Rhymney Line. Evening trains traditionally stop closer and closer to Cardiff as the night wears on. For example, the last trains typically only go as far as Ystrad Mynach station.

[edit] References

• No Author, (1980). British Railways Pre-Grouping Atlas and Gazetteer. Shepperton: Ian Allan Ltd.

[edit] External links

• The Rhymney Railway: including map, dates of opening

The "Big Four" pre-nationalisation British railway companies v • d • e
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