Moss Valley Branch

Moss Valley Branch
Borderlands line
to Bidston
 Cefn-y-Bedd
Cegidog Viaduct
over River Cegidog
Brynmally Colliery
Limit of
passenger services
Moss Halt
Gwersyllt
Brymbo Steelworks
Wheatsheaf Branch
Gwersyllt Hill Halt
Pentre Broughton Halt
Wrexham, Mold and
Connah's Quay Railway
Gatewen Halt
Borderlands line
to Wrexham
Wrexham and
Minera Railway
Moss Junction
Croes Newydd Yard
Shrewsbury–Chester line
to Shrewsbury │ to Chester

Moss Valley branch was a two mile long single track Great Western Railway built line in the county borough of Wrexham, Wales. It ran from a junction with the Wrexham and Minera Railway at Moss Junction to Moss Halt (or Moss Platform) via three intermediate stations: Gatewen Halt, Pentre Broughton Halt, and Gwersyllt Hill Halt.[1]

History

The Moss Branch was created from the Ffrwd Branch opening on 11 May 1882. It served two collieries, the Westminster Colliery at its northern end and Gatewen Colliery at the southern end. The colliery's railways were linked to neighbouring Great Western Railway lines.

Originally the Wheatsheaf Branch, which ran from the Wheatsheaf junction on the Shrewsbury to Chester line, was used to transport coal. It worked an incline up Gwersyllt Hill, and then through the 220 ft Summerhill Tunnel to Westminster Colliery. The line then continued through the other side of the valley through the 400 ft Brymbo Tunnel, up a second worked incline to Brymbo Steelworks.[2] In 1862 the GWR Ffrwd Branch from the Croesnewydd Junction was opened to transport railway traffic over a much more 'normal' terrain between the Chester line and Brymbo, replacing the Brymbo half of the Wheatsheaf Branch.

The Moss Valley line eventually made the Wheatsheaf Branch.[3] The Westminster Colliery closed in February 1925. Passenger services were withdrawn from the line on 1 January 1931 and the line closed in 1935 after Brynmally Colliery was shut. Much of the line now forms part of the Moss Valley Park.[4]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/m/moss_halt/index.shtml
  2. ↑ Forgotten Relics - Summerhill and Brymbo Tunnels
  3. ↑ http://www.coedpoeth.minerahistory.com/timeline.html
  4. ↑ http://www.wrexham.gov.uk/english/leisure_tourism/moss_valley.htm

Coordinates: 53°03′01″N 3°01′25″W / 53.0502°N 3.0236°W / 53.0502; -3.0236

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