Mawddwy Railway
Encyclopedia
The Mawddwy Railway was a rural line in the Dovey Valley
in mid-Wales
that connected Cemmaes Road
and the Cambrian Railway with Dinas Mawddwy
.
Despite being only 6 miles (9.65604 km) long, there were three intermediate stations at Cemmaes
, Aberangell
(where it linked to the Hendre-Ddu Tramway
) and Mallwyd
.
of Ordovician
slate
run through mid Wales. These veins near the surface at three locations - around Abergynolwyn
in the west, surrounding Corris
, and at their easternmost in the district around Dinas Mawddwy
. Each of these locations has been a centre for slate quarrying
, although Corris was the largest producer of the three.
By 1854, the slate quarries at Dinas Mawddwy were employing a significant number of people. At the same time, a new Lord
of the manor of Dinas Mawddwy was installed, Edmund Buckley. He sponsored the building of a railway to connect the slate quarries at Dinas Mawddwy with the recently opened Cambrian Railways
main line, at Cemmaes Road.
The construction of the railway was contracted to R.S. Francis, with the contract starting in 1866. The railway opened on 1 October 1867. The first locomotive to work trains was Mawddwy which had previously been owned by Francis and used during construction. This was joined in 1868 by a second Manning Wardle
locomotive, named Disraeli. Slate traffic and agricultural produce made up the bulk of the traffic on the railway, but from the earliest days it was clear that the railway company was struggling financially. In 1892 the Maes-y-gamfa slate quarry opened, connected to the Mawddwy Railway's Aberangell station via the Hendre-Ddu Tramway, bringing the promise of additional revenue. However, by this time, the infrastructure of the railway was considerably worn and there was no financial revival.
The slate industry continued to decline during the late 1890s and early 1900s, and the Mawddwy Railway continued to run down as revenues did not allow effective maintenance. Passenger services were suspended "pending repairs" around 1900. A single daily freight train continued to run until April 1908, at which point all services were abandoned due to the poor state of the track.
The local community, led by David Davies, called a series of meetings with the aim of reviving the railway. A proposal to form a new light railway
to take over and operate the Mawddwy Railway. In 1910 a Light Railway Order was granted, permitting the railway company to construct a "new" light railway on the disused trackbed. Reconstruction commenced immediately under the direction of G.C. MacDonald, the Engineer of the Cambrian Railways. The track was relaid in heavy rail and several bridges were rebuilt or strengthened. On 29 July 1911 the railway reopened under the chairmanship of David Davies, with trains operated by Cambrian Railways.
The advent of the First World War dealt a significant blow to the railway. Several local slate quarries closed and tourist traffic fell considerably, although timber and munitions traffic for the war effort offset this somewhat. After the war ended, the railway continued to struggle. In 1923 the Great Western Railway
(GWR) took control of the Mawddwy Railway as part of the grouping
of British railways. The GWR introduced bus
es to the Dyfi valley, many operated by its subsidiary the Corris Railway
. These competed with the passenger services of the railway, leading to the end of passenger services at the end of 1930.
Freight services continued through the Second World War, although the local slate industry continued to decline. The quarries served by the Hendre-Ddu Tramway closed in late 1939, though part of the tramway continued in use to bring timber from the forests west of Aberangell. After the war, the railway became part of British Railways at nationalisation. In September 1950 heavy flooding of the River Dyfi damaged the railway bridge north of Cemmaes Road station. The line was officially closed on 1 July 1952. The track was lifted early in 1952.
River Dyfi
The River Dyfi is a river in Mid Wales. The Dyfi estuary forms the border between the counties of Gwynedd and Ceredigion.- Source :...
in mid-Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
that connected Cemmaes Road
Cemmaes Road
Cemmaes Road is a village in Powys, Mid Wales, in English, the village was named after the now-closed Cemmaes Road railway station. The Welsh name for the village, and for the community, is Glantwymyn , as it lies on the River Twymyn. According to the United Kingdom Census 2001, the population of...
and the Cambrian Railway with Dinas Mawddwy
Dinas Mawddwy
Dinas Mawddwy is a village in Gwynedd, north Wales, just to the side of the A470 so that most visitors pass the village by. Its population is roughly 600. The village marks the junction of the unclassified road to Llanuwchllyn which climbs up through the mountains to cross Bwlch y Groes at its...
.
Despite being only 6 miles (9.65604 km) long, there were three intermediate stations at Cemmaes
Cemmaes
Cemmaes is a village in northern Powys, north-west Wales.The population numbered 935 in 1841, this dropped sharply between 1881 and 1891 from 946 to 729....
, Aberangell
Aberangell
Aberangell is a village in Gwynedd, Wales named after the Welsh Folk-tale king Aberyn Angell .It stands at the confluence of the River Angell and the River Dyfi and was the terminus of the narrow gauge Hendre-Ddu Tramway and also had a station on the Mawddwy Railway. Aberangell has a very small...
(where it linked to the Hendre-Ddu Tramway
Hendre-Ddu Tramway
The Hendre-Ddu Tramway was an industrial narrow gauge railway built in 1867 to connect the Hendre-Ddu Slate quarry to Aberangell station on the Mawddwy Railway...
) and Mallwyd
Mallwyd
Mallwyd is a small village at the most southern end of the county of Gwynedd in North Wales in the valley of the River Dyfi. It lies on the A470 approximately half-way between Dolgellau and Machynlleth, and forms the junction of the A458 towards Welshpool. The nearest village is Dinas Mawddwy, two...
.
History
Three parallel veinsStratum
In geology and related fields, a stratum is a layer of sedimentary rock or soil with internally consistent characteristics that distinguish it from other layers...
of Ordovician
Ordovician
The Ordovician is a geologic period and system, the second of six of the Paleozoic Era, and covers the time between 488.3±1.7 to 443.7±1.5 million years ago . It follows the Cambrian Period and is followed by the Silurian Period...
slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
run through mid Wales. These veins near the surface at three locations - around Abergynolwyn
Abergynolwyn
Abergynolwyn is a village in southern Gwynedd, Wales, located at the confluence of the Nant Gwernol and the Afon Dysynni.Historically, the village was part of Merionethshire and its main industry was slate quarrying and the village was founded in the 1860s to house workers at the nearby Bryn...
in the west, surrounding Corris
Corris
Corris is a village in the south of Snowdonia in the Welsh county of Gwynedd. Although the Snowdonia National Park covers much of the area around Corris, the village is not within the park. The name is possibly derived from the English word "quarries", and the extensive slate quarries that surround...
, and at their easternmost in the district around Dinas Mawddwy
Dinas Mawddwy
Dinas Mawddwy is a village in Gwynedd, north Wales, just to the side of the A470 so that most visitors pass the village by. Its population is roughly 600. The village marks the junction of the unclassified road to Llanuwchllyn which climbs up through the mountains to cross Bwlch y Groes at its...
. Each of these locations has been a centre for slate quarrying
Slate industry
The slate industry is the industry related to the extraction and processing of slate. Slate is either quarried from a slate quarry or reached by tunneling in a slate mine. Common uses for slate include as a roofing material, a flooring material, gravestones and memorial tablets, and for electrical...
, although Corris was the largest producer of the three.
By 1854, the slate quarries at Dinas Mawddwy were employing a significant number of people. At the same time, a new Lord
Lord
Lord is a title with various meanings. It can denote a prince or a feudal superior . The title today is mostly used in connection with the peerage of the United Kingdom or its predecessor countries, although some users of the title do not themselves hold peerages, and use it 'by courtesy'...
of the manor of Dinas Mawddwy was installed, Edmund Buckley. He sponsored the building of a railway to connect the slate quarries at Dinas Mawddwy with the recently opened Cambrian Railways
Cambrian Railways
Cambrian Railways owned of track over a large area of mid-Wales. The system was an amalgamation of a number of railways that were incorporated in 1864, 1865 and 1904...
main line, at Cemmaes Road.
The construction of the railway was contracted to R.S. Francis, with the contract starting in 1866. The railway opened on 1 October 1867. The first locomotive to work trains was Mawddwy which had previously been owned by Francis and used during construction. This was joined in 1868 by a second Manning Wardle
Manning Wardle
Manning Wardle was a steam locomotive manufacturer based in Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.- Precursor companies :The city of Leeds was one of the earliest centres of locomotive building; Matthew Murray built the first commercially successful steam locomotive, Salamanca, in Holbeck, Leeds,...
locomotive, named Disraeli. Slate traffic and agricultural produce made up the bulk of the traffic on the railway, but from the earliest days it was clear that the railway company was struggling financially. In 1892 the Maes-y-gamfa slate quarry opened, connected to the Mawddwy Railway's Aberangell station via the Hendre-Ddu Tramway, bringing the promise of additional revenue. However, by this time, the infrastructure of the railway was considerably worn and there was no financial revival.
The slate industry continued to decline during the late 1890s and early 1900s, and the Mawddwy Railway continued to run down as revenues did not allow effective maintenance. Passenger services were suspended "pending repairs" around 1900. A single daily freight train continued to run until April 1908, at which point all services were abandoned due to the poor state of the track.
The local community, led by David Davies, called a series of meetings with the aim of reviving the railway. A proposal to form a new light railway
Light Railways Act 1896
The Light Railways Act 1896 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland . Before the Act each new railway line built in the country required a specific Act of Parliament to be obtained by the company that wished to construct it, which greatly added to the cost...
to take over and operate the Mawddwy Railway. In 1910 a Light Railway Order was granted, permitting the railway company to construct a "new" light railway on the disused trackbed. Reconstruction commenced immediately under the direction of G.C. MacDonald, the Engineer of the Cambrian Railways. The track was relaid in heavy rail and several bridges were rebuilt or strengthened. On 29 July 1911 the railway reopened under the chairmanship of David Davies, with trains operated by Cambrian Railways.
The advent of the First World War dealt a significant blow to the railway. Several local slate quarries closed and tourist traffic fell considerably, although timber and munitions traffic for the war effort offset this somewhat. After the war ended, the railway continued to struggle. In 1923 the Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
(GWR) took control of the Mawddwy Railway as part of the grouping
Railways Act 1921
The Railways Act 1921, also known as the Grouping Act, was an enactment by the British government of David Lloyd George intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies, move the railways away from internal competition, and to retain some of the benefits which...
of British railways. The GWR introduced bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
es to the Dyfi valley, many operated by its subsidiary the Corris Railway
Corris Railway
The Corris Railway is a narrow gauge preserved railway based in Corris on the border between Merionethshire and Montgomeryshire in Mid-Wales....
. These competed with the passenger services of the railway, leading to the end of passenger services at the end of 1930.
Freight services continued through the Second World War, although the local slate industry continued to decline. The quarries served by the Hendre-Ddu Tramway closed in late 1939, though part of the tramway continued in use to bring timber from the forests west of Aberangell. After the war, the railway became part of British Railways at nationalisation. In September 1950 heavy flooding of the River Dyfi damaged the railway bridge north of Cemmaes Road station. The line was officially closed on 1 July 1952. The track was lifted early in 1952.
Locomotives
| Name | Type | Builder | Works number | Date built | Cylinder size | Wheel diameter | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mawddwy | 0-6-0 ST | Manning Wardle Manning Wardle Manning Wardle was a steam locomotive manufacturer based in Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.- Precursor companies :The city of Leeds was one of the earliest centres of locomotive building; Matthew Murray built the first commercially successful steam locomotive, Salamanca, in Holbeck, Leeds,... |
104 | 1864 | 12 in x 17 in | 3 ft 0 in | Delivered in 1865 to contractor R.S. Francis for use on construction of the Potteries, Shrewsbury and North Wales Railway. Sold to the Mawddwy Railway in late 1865. Rebuilt in 1893 and 1911. Transferred to the Van Railway Van Railway The Van Railway was a standard gauge railway in mid Wales. The line was built in 1871 to link the highly productive lead mines at Van, near Llanidloes to the main Cambrian line at Caersws. The mines closed in 1920, but the railway remained open until 1940.... after 1911, scrapped in 1940. |
| Disraeli | 0-6-0 ST | Manning Wardle Manning Wardle Manning Wardle was a steam locomotive manufacturer based in Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.- Precursor companies :The city of Leeds was one of the earliest centres of locomotive building; Matthew Murray built the first commercially successful steam locomotive, Salamanca, in Holbeck, Leeds,... |
268 | 1868 | 13 in x 18 in | 3 ft 6 in | Slightly larger locomotive than Mawddwy, scrapped in 1911. |