Vale of Neath Railway

The Vale of Neath Railway was a 7 ft 0 ¹⁄₄ in (2,140 mm) broad gauge railway line from Neath to Merthyr Tydfil, in Glamorgan, Wales, and also operated the Swansea and Neath Railway which gave it access to the docks at Swansea. It was opened on 24 September 1851 and amalgamated with the Great Western Railway on 1 February 1865.

Chronology

• 1846 Vale of Neath Railway authorised by Act of Parliament
• 1851 Opened from Neath to Aberdare
• 1853 Main line completed to Merthyr Tydfil
• 1854 Dare Valley branch
• 1857 Aberdare Valley Railway opened
• 1862 Acquired the railways of the Swansea Harbour Trustees
• 1863 Swansea and Neath Railway opened
• 1865 Amalgamated with Great Western Railway

History

The railway was authorised by Act of Parliament on 3 August 1846. The first section to be opened was the main line from Neath to Gelli Tarw Junction, and the branch from there to Aberdare, on 24 September 1851. The line from Gelli Tarw to Merthyr Tydfil was opened on 2 November 1853.

In 1854 to 1857 further branches were opened from Gelli Tarw into the Dare and Amman valleys. These were only used for goods traffic, but included the Dare Viaduct, one of Isambard Kingdom Brunel's famous timber viaducts.

The Vale of Neath Railway leased the new Aberdare Valley Railway, which opened in 1857 from Aberdare to Middle Duffryn colliery.

Swansea and Neath Railway

Since 1852, the Vale of Neath Railway had shipped coal from a wharf at Briton Ferry, but this entailed moving trains over the South Wales Railway. The alternative was for the South Wales Railway to haul coal trains up the steep incline to Swansea. In 1861 an Act of Parliament was passed for a new Swansea and Neath Railway which, by the time it opened on 15 June 1863, was owned by the Vale of Neath company. The railway contractor John Dickson claimed to have been largely instrumental in promoting this extension but his real role remains unclear.

The Vale of Neath had also been working its own coal trains over the South Wales Railway since 1861, and had taken over responsibility for working the railways of the Swansea Harbour Trustees too.

Gauge conversion

Almost the whole of the Vale of Neath system had a third rail added to its tracks in 1863. This mixed gauge allowed the Great Western Railway to run standard gauge trains from Hereford through to Swansea over a connection at Middle Duffryn.

The broad gauge rail was removed after the South Wales Railway was converted to standard gauge on 11 May 1872, although by this time the Vale of Neath Railway had been amalgamated with the Great Western Railway, this happening on 1 February 1865.

Stations

• Aberdare branch
  • Aberdare (1851)
  • Merthyr Road (Temporary station 1851–1853)
• Merthyr to Neath
  • Merthyr Tydfil (1853)
  • Abernant (1854)
  • Llwydcoed (1853)
  • Hirwaun (1851)
  • Glynneath (1851)
  • Resolven (1851)
  • Aberdylais (1851)
  • Neath (1851, South Wales Railway station)
• Swansea and Neath Railway
  • Neath (Low Level) (1863)
  • Neath Abbey (1863)
  • Briton Ferry Road (1863)
  • Swansea East Dock (1880)
  • Swansea Wind Street (1863)

Locomotives

The Vale of Neath Railway owned 19 broad gauge and 6 standard gauge locomotives:

• No.s 1–6 4-4-0ST broad gauge locomotives delivered in 1851
• No.s 7–9 4-4-0ST broad gauge locomotives delivered in 1854, rebuilt as 0-6-0STs in 1858
• No.s 10–12 0-6-0ST broad gauge locomotives delivered in 1854
• No.s 13–15 0-6-0ST broad gauge locomotives delivered in 1856
• No.s 16–19 0-6-0ST broad gauge locomotives delivered in 1861
• No.s 20–23 0-6-0ST standard gauge locomotives
• No.s 24–25 0-8-0ST broad gauge locomotives delivered in 1864

The Viaducts at Edwardsville

There was a viaduct on the Vale Of Neath Railway connecting Quakers Yard High Level with Mountain Ash through the Cefn Glas Tunnel. Another second viaduct was on the Rhymney Railway/Great Western Joint Line linking Quakers Yard High Level with Aberfan, Abercanaid and Merthyr. Later on, timber lattice work was included within the arches of the viaduct, but was not by design. It was put in to prevent the viaducts collapsing because of mining subsidence from Deep Navigation workings underneath. Both viaducts were so unsafe they had to be demolished a year after the line had closed. Even today the subsidence is still a problematic issue in Edwardsville.^[1]

Cefn Glas Tunnel (Quakers Yard Tunnel)

Cefn-Glas Tunnel^[2], a single bore 704 yard long structure, was opened in 1851 near the Quakers Yard viaducts to take the extension of the GWR route from Pontypool to Neath through Craig-yr-Efail. The very same mountain between Treharris and Aberdare that was quarried for stone that the viaducts below was built on. It is named after the former-Cefn Glas colliery, which once existed just north-west of the tunnel's east portal. A canal ran around the curve of Craig-yr-efail, also just above this portal. It was closed to traffic on the 15th June 1964. The west portal is located just off the A470 just north of the Abercynon roundabout.^[3]

A coal seam has been worked through the south wall of the tunnel, this occurred during the 1984 miners strike.

The tunnel often suffered drainage problems during its lifetime, comprising a brick roof with masonry walls, its patchwork nature suggests that, even during operational times, much repair work was needed. Today the tunnel has become very dangerous to explore, there are several collapsed sections of wall and roof lining, which could cause the tunnel to collapse entirely at some stage.^[4]

Extension to Hirwaun

Since its termination at Aberdare following the Beeching Axe, there have been various proposals to extend the line northwards towards Hirwaun again. In recent years, these have been driven by the Welsh Assembly Government. In 2006, a study by local transport alliance Sewta appeared to rule out any such extension for the foreseeable future.

In November 2009, WAG sponsored Network Rail in a feasibility study to reopening both the section to Hirwaun, and parts of the former Anglesey Central Railway between Llangefni on Anglesey, and Bangor. Network Rail has already began work on gathering evidence for its study, beginning with cutting away vegetation on track sections to examine the condition of rails and track bedding. Its report is expected to be published in early 2010, before any business case to reopen the lines can be developed.^[5]

Vale of Neath Railway today

Most of the Vale of Neath Railway and the Swansea and Neath Railway branch is still open today with the exception of a section between Resolven and Tower Colliery in Hirwaun.^[6] The eastern portions of the line now serve as part of the Valley Lines network. The western portion of the line is used to distribute coal from the Onllwyn and Aberpergwm collieries to Swansea Docks and to Aberthaw Power Station.

See also

Cornwall Railway viaducts

External links

• Exploring Abernant (Merthyr) Tunnel
• Merthyr Branch as it is today

References

• The Locomotives of the Great Western Railway, Part 2: Broad Gauge. The Railway Correspondence and Travel Society. ISBN 0-906867-90-8. 
• MacDermot, E T (1931). History of the Great Western Railway, volume II 1863-1921. London: Great Western Railway.