Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway
Encyclopedia
The Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway was a gauge narrow gauge railway in Cardiganshire (now Sir Ceredigion
) in Mid Wales
. It ran from Llanfihangel
(later renamed Llandre) station on the Cambrian Railways
via the village of Talybont
and the valley of the Afon Leri
into the foothills of Plynlimon Fawr
. It was built to serve the lead mines
at Bwlch Glas and stone quarries around Hafan and opened in 1897, closing just three years later. The line was a little over 7 miles (11 km) long and despite running a short-lived passenger service, it served no communities of more than 100 people.
In 1895 the Plynlimon Mining Co. Ltd. leased Bwlchglas Mine from the farm of that name, other surrounding lands having been leased from Sir Lewis Pryse of the Gogerddan Estate in 1890. Captain John Davis of Talybont
and Thomas Molyneux, an industrialist of Earlestown
, joined forces to exploit minerals (Hafan, Henfwlch, Elgar - with other mines being seriously considered), and to develop grit stone quarries on Hafan mountain. In 1890 Molyneux proposed building a tramway from Hafan to the coast at Ynyslas
using the Leri Valley - Hafan/Talybont/Dolybont and run down and across Cors Fochno
using the canalised embankment of the Leri diversion constructed by the Aberystwyth & Welsh Coast Railway, to a Dock suitable for coasters at Ynyslas. However the Cambrian Railways
would not permit the tramway to cross its line at any point between Machynlleth
and Aberystwyth
, leaving no alternative but to unload into barges to get under the bridge at Ynyslas, and then tranship to coasters from the barges the other side. Much thinking went on as to how to get to the sea elsewhere: in frustration, Clarach Bay
was considered but ship loading would have been very difficult, a tramway under Ynyslas bridge was considered but discounted due to obvious tide problems, even a line alongside the main line to Aberystwyth Harbour was considered, the transhipping at Ynyslas was discounted as too costly a procedure. In the end it was decided the only option was to go to the Cambrian Railways. Llandre
Station, even though Mr Molyneaux had previously stated that much benefit would be lost by their not having direct Port access... however, this option was the only way in the end.
Construction commenced on 11 January 1896, but was briefly brought to a halt by the Gogerddan Estate as the route had not been finalised or indeed agreements signed. Some months afterwards construction commenced in ernest, and very impressive progress was made. The mines and tramway to this point had been funded totally by Thos.Molyneaux, but on the 24th of Oct. 1896 he sold his holdings to the Plynlimon & Hafan Co.Ltd. for £14,000 of the new company's Ordinary shares - meaning he held a 46.6 holding in this new company, and became its Managing Director - with his Son holding the post of Gen.Mgr./Engineer (having been involved for some while).
By late 1896 the track bed of the line was largely complete. After much delay, track materials were delivered in January 1897, with the first rails being laid at Talybont on 11 January. Tracklaying progressed quickly and in May the first locomotive Victoria arrived on site. During December, Mr Molyneaux had asked Sir P.P.Pryse "...to try to get Sir James Szlumper
to adopt the P&H gauge of 2'3" for the proposed Devils Bridge line", and had this happened things would have been interesting and possibly very different, but it did not due to the sharp curves of the Devil's Bridge
line.
The first test run of Victoria was a limited success. On 5 June another attempt was made with the locomotive propelling two trollies and pulling a third. Just before Glanfred level crossing a piece of timber was spotted lying across the rails. One of the men on the train, Richard Roberts went forward to clear the line but fell underneath the train and was killed.
In August 1897 the second locomotive Talybont arrived along with the line's first passenger carriage. On 19 August a trial train was run as far as the bottom of the Hafan incline, although the track between Llanfihangel
and Talybont was not laid to a high enough quality to permit passenger services to begin immediately.
From late 1897 freight service began on the line. The formal opening to passengers took place on 28 March 1898, although trains only ran on Mondays, connecting with the Cambrian Railway's Market Day Special to Aberystwyth. The majority of passenger trains in the line's short history stopped at Talybont as there were few houses to be served further east of that village.
The passenger service only ran until the summer of 1899 and the entire company went into voluntary liquidation on 19 December 1899 the last train having run sometime before that date. Not long after closure, the Co. operating the Bryn-yr-Afr Mine made inroads to reopen the line to serve their needs, but nothing came of it unfortunately. The track remained in place until 1914 when it was taken up, though the stretch of line through the Bwlchglas Farm property remained intact until scrapped by the landlord in 1926.
The main line (which was marked by steep gradients) terminated at the foot of the Hafan Incline, while a mineral extension led from the top of the incline to a granite sett quarry operated by the little Bagnall 0-4-0.
The Plynlimon and Hafan was one of the most obscure common carrier
railways in Britain
. It shared its unusual gauge with only three other public railways in Britain: the nearby Corris Railway
and Talyllyn Railway
and the later Campbeltown and Machrihanish Light Railway
in Scotland
.
Molyneaux's use of this gauge may indicate a somewhat optimistic idea of connecting to the Corris and Talyllyn railways, and he also unsuccessfully pressed the promoters of the Vale of Rheidol Railway
to adopt the same gauge, which if adopted would have created a 2'3" haven in the area in contrast to the 2' gauge lines around Porthmadog
. Since the Corris
had originally had access under the Cambrian line at Machynlleth
for its horse-worked extension to Morben
, it might have been possible to revive this section of line as a linking route, but it was another step again to link to Talyllyn metals. However, the P&H's loading gauge
was both taller and wider than its two northern neighbours, and so none of its rolling stock could have been used on either Corris or Talyllyn, suggesting that no link was seriously contemplated. This also meant that neither line were interested in buying any of the P&H rolling stock after it closed.
Molyneaux had proposed a tunnel under Hafan so to serve the Bryn-yr-Afr Mine, but this was only a dual step in the 'grand plan' for a connection south to the Devils Bridge line and the other northerly connections that were on Mr Molyneaux's mind.
Today the trackbed formation from Pontbrengeifr to the Hafan incline remains largely open and intact and can be walked; much of the formation of the mineral extensions at the top of the incline is also traceable. Between Pontbrengeifr and Talybont sections of the formation remain intact, but others have been eroded away by the Afon Leri and are heavily overgrown which makes walking it more difficult. There is now little to see of the former exchange sidings at Llandre.
Both the Bagnalls were returned to the makers after the line closed, while "Victoria" was probably scrapped. "Talybont" was regauged and sold on to the Vale of Rheidol Railway
and became their No.3 "Rheidol", while "Hafan" went on to work on reservoir contracts.
roof. Legend has it that after the tramway closed it was used as a shed on a farm or garden, but if this was the case it probably disappeared many years ago. Although the original does not survive a replica has been built and is running on the Launceston Steam Railway
.
Ceredigion
Ceredigion is a county and former kingdom in mid-west Wales. As Cardiganshire , it was created in 1282, and was reconstituted as a county under that name in 1996, reverting to Ceredigion a day later...
) 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...
. It ran from Llanfihangel
Llandre
Llandre, or Llanfihangel Genau'r Glyn, is a village in Ceredigion, Wales. It lies 5 miles north of Aberystwyth in the north-west of the county, on the road from Rhydypennau to Borth...
(later renamed Llandre) station on the 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...
via the village of Talybont
Tal-y-bont, Ceredigion
Tal-y-bont is a village in north Ceredigion .It is located on the A487 main road, about halfway between Aberystwyth and Machynlleth.-History and amenities:...
and the valley of the Afon Leri
Afon Leri
The Afon Leri is a river in Ceredigion, Wales. It rises at Llyn Craig-y-Pistyll and is joined at Talybont by Afon Ceulan before passing behind Borth to its mouth in the Dyfi estuary at Ynyslas....
into the foothills of Plynlimon Fawr
Plynlimon
Plynlimon is the highest point of the Cambrian Mountains in Wales, and the highest point in Mid Wales. It is a massif that dominates the countryside of northern Ceredigion....
. It was built to serve the lead mines
Metal mining in Wales
Metal mining in Wales affected large areas of what are now very rural parts of Wales and left behind a legacy of contaminated waste heaps and a very few ruined buildings.There are a number of areas that have been mined for a variety of metals....
at Bwlch Glas and stone quarries around Hafan and opened in 1897, closing just three years later. The line was a little over 7 miles (11 km) long and despite running a short-lived passenger service, it served no communities of more than 100 people.
History
Tal-y-bont, Ceredigion
Tal-y-bont is a village in north Ceredigion .It is located on the A487 main road, about halfway between Aberystwyth and Machynlleth.-History and amenities:...
and Thomas Molyneux, an industrialist of Earlestown
Earlestown
Earlestown forms the western part of Newton-le-Willows, a town in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 Census the population was recorded as 10,274.-History:...
, joined forces to exploit minerals (Hafan, Henfwlch, Elgar - with other mines being seriously considered), and to develop grit stone quarries on Hafan mountain. In 1890 Molyneux proposed building a tramway from Hafan to the coast at Ynyslas
Ynyslas
Ynyslas is a small Welsh village about 1.5 miles north of Borth and 8 miles north of Aberystwyth in the county of Ceredigion. It is sandwiched between a long sandy beach in Cardigan Bay and the beach in the Dyfi Estuary...
using the Leri Valley - Hafan/Talybont/Dolybont and run down and across Cors Fochno
Cors Fochno
Cors Fochno is a raised peat mire located near to the village of Borth, in the county of Ceredigion, Wales. Lying on the south side of the Dyfi estuary, it forms a component part of the Dyfi National Nature Reserve. It is the only UNESCO biosphere reserve in Wales...
using the canalised embankment of the Leri diversion constructed by the Aberystwyth & Welsh Coast Railway, to a Dock suitable for coasters at Ynyslas. However the 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...
would not permit the tramway to cross its line at any point between Machynlleth
Machynlleth
Machynlleth is a market town in Powys, Wales. It is in the Dyfi Valley at the intersection of the A487 and the A489 roads.Machynlleth was the seat of Owain Glyndŵr's Welsh Parliament in 1404, and as such claims to be the "ancient capital of Wales". However, it has never held any official...
and Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth is a historic market town, administrative centre and holiday resort within Ceredigion, Wales. Often colloquially known as Aber, it is located at the confluence of the rivers Ystwyth and Rheidol....
, leaving no alternative but to unload into barges to get under the bridge at Ynyslas, and then tranship to coasters from the barges the other side. Much thinking went on as to how to get to the sea elsewhere: in frustration, Clarach Bay
Clarach Bay
Clarach Bay is a small bay on the coast of Ceredigion, Wales, to the north of Aberystwyth, where the Afon Clarach flows into the sea. It has given its name to extensive nearby caravan and camping sites for holidaymakers.- External links :**...
was considered but ship loading would have been very difficult, a tramway under Ynyslas bridge was considered but discounted due to obvious tide problems, even a line alongside the main line to Aberystwyth Harbour was considered, the transhipping at Ynyslas was discounted as too costly a procedure. In the end it was decided the only option was to go to the Cambrian Railways. Llandre
Llandre
Llandre, or Llanfihangel Genau'r Glyn, is a village in Ceredigion, Wales. It lies 5 miles north of Aberystwyth in the north-west of the county, on the road from Rhydypennau to Borth...
Station, even though Mr Molyneaux had previously stated that much benefit would be lost by their not having direct Port access... however, this option was the only way in the end.
Construction commenced on 11 January 1896, but was briefly brought to a halt by the Gogerddan Estate as the route had not been finalised or indeed agreements signed. Some months afterwards construction commenced in ernest, and very impressive progress was made. The mines and tramway to this point had been funded totally by Thos.Molyneaux, but on the 24th of Oct. 1896 he sold his holdings to the Plynlimon & Hafan Co.Ltd. for £14,000 of the new company's Ordinary shares - meaning he held a 46.6 holding in this new company, and became its Managing Director - with his Son holding the post of Gen.Mgr./Engineer (having been involved for some while).
By late 1896 the track bed of the line was largely complete. After much delay, track materials were delivered in January 1897, with the first rails being laid at Talybont on 11 January. Tracklaying progressed quickly and in May the first locomotive Victoria arrived on site. During December, Mr Molyneaux had asked Sir P.P.Pryse "...to try to get Sir James Szlumper
James Szlumper
Sir James Weeks Szlumper JP DL PJGD , was an English civil engineer, who was Chief Engineer on a number of key railway engineering projects in the Victorian era.-Biography:...
to adopt the P&H gauge of 2'3" for the proposed Devils Bridge line", and had this happened things would have been interesting and possibly very different, but it did not due to the sharp curves of the Devil's Bridge
Devil's Bridge, Ceredigion
Devil's Bridge is a village in Ceredigion, Wales.- Description :The bridge spans the Mynach, a tributary of the Rheidol. The bridge is unusual in that three separate bridges are coexistent, each one built upon the previous bridge...
line.
The first test run of Victoria was a limited success. On 5 June another attempt was made with the locomotive propelling two trollies and pulling a third. Just before Glanfred level crossing a piece of timber was spotted lying across the rails. One of the men on the train, Richard Roberts went forward to clear the line but fell underneath the train and was killed.
In August 1897 the second locomotive Talybont arrived along with the line's first passenger carriage. On 19 August a trial train was run as far as the bottom of the Hafan incline, although the track between Llanfihangel
Llandre
Llandre, or Llanfihangel Genau'r Glyn, is a village in Ceredigion, Wales. It lies 5 miles north of Aberystwyth in the north-west of the county, on the road from Rhydypennau to Borth...
and Talybont was not laid to a high enough quality to permit passenger services to begin immediately.
From late 1897 freight service began on the line. The formal opening to passengers took place on 28 March 1898, although trains only ran on Mondays, connecting with the Cambrian Railway's Market Day Special to Aberystwyth. The majority of passenger trains in the line's short history stopped at Talybont as there were few houses to be served further east of that village.
The passenger service only ran until the summer of 1899 and the entire company went into voluntary liquidation on 19 December 1899 the last train having run sometime before that date. Not long after closure, the Co. operating the Bryn-yr-Afr Mine made inroads to reopen the line to serve their needs, but nothing came of it unfortunately. The track remained in place until 1914 when it was taken up, though the stretch of line through the Bwlchglas Farm property remained intact until scrapped by the landlord in 1926.
Route
The Plynlimon and Hafan was one of the most obscure common carrier
Common carrier
A common carrier in common-law countries is a person or company that transports goods or people for any person or company and that is responsible for any possible loss of the goods during transport...
railways in Britain
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
. It shared its unusual gauge with only three other public railways in Britain: the nearby 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....
and Talyllyn Railway
Talyllyn Railway
The Talyllyn Railway is a narrow-gauge preserved railway in Wales running for from Tywyn on the Mid-Wales coast to Nant Gwernol near the village of Abergynolwyn. The line was opened in 1866 to carry slate from the quarries at Bryn Eglwys to Tywyn, and was the first narrow gauge railway in Britain...
and the later Campbeltown and Machrihanish Light Railway
Campbeltown and Machrihanish Light Railway
The Campbeltown and Machrihanish Light Railway was a narrow gauge railway in Kintyre, Scotland, between the towns of Campbeltown and Machrihanish...
in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
Molyneaux's use of this gauge may indicate a somewhat optimistic idea of connecting to the Corris and Talyllyn railways, and he also unsuccessfully pressed the promoters of the Vale of Rheidol Railway
Vale of Rheidol Railway
The Vale of Rheidol Railway is a narrow-gauge gauge heritage railway that runs for between Aberystwyth and Devil's Bridge in the county of Ceredigion, Wales...
to adopt the same gauge, which if adopted would have created a 2'3" haven in the area in contrast to the 2' gauge lines around Porthmadog
Porthmadog
Porthmadog , known locally as "Port", and historically rendered into English as Portmadoc, is a small coastal town and community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd, in Wales. Prior to the Local Government Act 1972 it was in the administrative county of Caernarfonshire. The town lies east of...
. Since the 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...
had originally had access under the Cambrian line at Machynlleth
Machynlleth
Machynlleth is a market town in Powys, Wales. It is in the Dyfi Valley at the intersection of the A487 and the A489 roads.Machynlleth was the seat of Owain Glyndŵr's Welsh Parliament in 1404, and as such claims to be the "ancient capital of Wales". However, it has never held any official...
for its horse-worked extension to Morben
Morben
Morben is a hamlet in northern Powys, Wales. Part of the historic county of Montgomeryshire from 1536 to 1974, it lies on the Afon Dyfi and was once the home of a number of riverside quays, including Cei Ward and Y Bwtri. The site of Cei Ward lies alongside the A487 opposite Plas Llugwy, where the...
, it might have been possible to revive this section of line as a linking route, but it was another step again to link to Talyllyn metals. However, the P&H's loading gauge
Loading gauge
A loading gauge defines the maximum height and width for railway vehicles and their loads to ensure safe passage through bridges, tunnels and other structures...
was both taller and wider than its two northern neighbours, and so none of its rolling stock could have been used on either Corris or Talyllyn, suggesting that no link was seriously contemplated. This also meant that neither line were interested in buying any of the P&H rolling stock after it closed.
Molyneaux had proposed a tunnel under Hafan so to serve the Bryn-yr-Afr Mine, but this was only a dual step in the 'grand plan' for a connection south to the Devils Bridge line and the other northerly connections that were on Mr Molyneaux's mind.
Today the trackbed formation from Pontbrengeifr to the Hafan incline remains largely open and intact and can be walked; much of the formation of the mineral extensions at the top of the incline is also traceable. Between Pontbrengeifr and Talybont sections of the formation remain intact, but others have been eroded away by the Afon Leri and are heavily overgrown which makes walking it more difficult. There is now little to see of the former exchange sidings at Llandre.
Locomotives
The tramway owned three steam locomotives.- "Victoria" was the only locomotive built by Messrs John Slee & Co of WarringtonWarringtonWarrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...
. It was an 0-4-00-4-0Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-4-0 represents one of the simplest possible types, that with two axles and four coupled wheels, all of which are driven...
of highly unusual design, with a vertical boiler and tram-like bodywork. Some sources report that the locomotive originally had four cylindersCylinder (engine)A cylinder is the central working part of a reciprocating engine or pump, the space in which a piston travels. Multiple cylinders are commonly arranged side by side in a bank, or engine block, which is typically cast from aluminum or cast iron before receiving precision machine work...
, but two were later disconnected as the boiler could not supply enough steam to power four. Victoria was delivered to Llanfihangel on 12 May 1897. The locomotive did not run well and is not known to have ever run in revenue-earning service. Its intended duties on the main line were taken over by "Talybont".
- "Talybont" 2-4-02-4-0Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-4-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels....
T was a conventional design built by W.G. BagnallW.G. BagnallW. G. Bagnall was a locomotive manufacturer from Stafford, England. It was founded in 1875 by William Gordon Bagnall and ceased trading in 1962 when it was taken over by English Electric Co Ltd. The company was located at the Castle Engine Works, in Castle Town, Stafford...
, originally for a customer in Brazil who cancelled the order. It worked the main line from Llanfihangel via Talybont to the foot of the Hafan incline.
- "Hafan", Bagnall 0-4-00-4-0Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 0-4-0 represents one of the simplest possible types, that with two axles and four coupled wheels, all of which are driven...
ST works number 1510, ran on the quarry section above the Hafan incline. Repurchased by Bagnall in 1901 and subsequently worked on the Halifax Corporation's Walshaw Dean ReservoirsWalshaw Dean ReservoirsWalshaw Dean Reservoirs are situated between Hebden Bridge and Top Withins, a ruined farmhouse near Haworth, West Yorkshire, England, the reputed inspiration for "Wuthering Heights" in the novel of the same name by Emily Brontë...
construction contract for which she was regauged to . After several further reservoir construction contracts she was last noted working at the Bedley Timber Company at NairnNairnNairn is a town and former burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It is an ancient fishing port and market town around east of Inverness...
, Scotland in 1920.
Both the Bagnalls were returned to the makers after the line closed, while "Victoria" was probably scrapped. "Talybont" was regauged and sold on to the Vale of Rheidol Railway
Vale of Rheidol Railway
The Vale of Rheidol Railway is a narrow-gauge gauge heritage railway that runs for between Aberystwyth and Devil's Bridge in the county of Ceredigion, Wales...
and became their No.3 "Rheidol", while "Hafan" went on to work on reservoir contracts.
Passenger Carriage
The tramway had only one passenger carriage, a rather ornate vehicle with end balconies and clerestoryClerestory
Clerestory is an architectural term that historically denoted an upper level of a Roman basilica or of the nave of a Romanesque or Gothic church, the walls of which rise above the rooflines of the lower aisles and are pierced with windows. In modern usage, clerestory refers to any high windows...
roof. Legend has it that after the tramway closed it was used as a shed on a farm or garden, but if this was the case it probably disappeared many years ago. Although the original does not survive a replica has been built and is running on the Launceston Steam Railway
Launceston Steam Railway
The Launceston Steam Railway is narrow gauge railway operating from the town of Launceston in Cornwall. The railway is built on the trackbed of the North Cornwall Railway to the gauge of and runs for 2½ miles to Newmills, where there is a farm park....
.