Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway
Encyclopedia
The Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway (WMCQR) was incorporated on 7 August 1862 to build a line from Wrexham
to Buckley
.
Chester
-Holyhead
main line at Connah's Quay
in order to link collieries
and brickworks
in the area with a point of shipment on the River Dee
. The Buckley Railway was opened in 1864 as a freight-carrying line, and was worked by horses, though steam hauled passenger trains ran from Wrexham to its terminus at Drury.
The WMCQR line - 12.5 miles (20 km) in length - opened as a single line
with short branches from Buckley to a point near the Great Western Railway
station at Wrexham; it also had a south to west connection with the London and North Western Railway
(LNWR) at Hope
. The WMCQR took over the Buckley Railway from 30 June 1873. Several other extensions of the railway were authorised in 1864 and 1865: these never materialised.
On 1 November 1887 the Railway extended into the Wrexham Central station. On 31 March 1890 a further line was opened by the WMCQR: the "Buckley Loop" also connected with the LNWR, and ran through Hawarden
. At the same time the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway
(MSLR) began the construction of a line from Chester
to join the WMCQR at Hawarden Bridge Junction over the River Dee: this necessitated building the Hawarden Swing Bridge
over the river.
By an Act
of 1885 the Wirral Railway
obtained powers to build a line from Bidston
to join the MSLR at Hawarden Bridge; in the event the construction was taken over by a joint committee (known as the North Wales and Liverpool Railway
Committee). The line - 14.25 miles (22.9 km) - was opened on 18 May 1896: the following year the WMCQR went into receivership, and the line was bought by the Great Central Railway
, as the MSLR had now become: the joint committee was dissolved in 1904.
, Scotland
and Benjamin Piercy, of Montgomeryshire
. Robert Piercy, Benjamin's elder brother, was appointed Resident Engineer to the railway in 1866.
The main line of the railway between Wrexham Central
and Bidston
has been operated by DMUs since the early 1960s and remains in use to today as the Borderlands Line
. It is operated by Arriva Trains Wales
. At Bidston passengers can change to Merseyrail
services on the Wirral Line
to Birkenhead
and Liverpool
. Freight traffic continues to Pen-y-ffordd Cement Works, where an EWS Class 08 shunter is used to shunt the coal deliveries. Further freight traffic runs from Wrexham to Dee Marsh Junction, including steel traffic.
(opened 1866, closed 1936) which ran from Craven Arms
to Bishop's Castle
. The two railways were not directly connected but the latter's locomotives were repaired at the WMCQR's workshop.
The WMCQR was a party to the 'Welsh Railways Through Traffic Act' of 1889, by which an interconnected group of independent Welsh companies agreed to cooperate in promoting a through route from South Wales to Merseyside via Talyllyn Junction
, Llanidloes
, Welshpool
, Ellesmere
and Wrexham
. This was to be an attempt to attract traffic away from the large companies’ routes via Hereford. At that time the lines from Ellesmere to Wrexham, and then on to Merseyside, had not yet been built, and it was 1896 before the envisaged route was complete.
For long distance through traffic this route never received substantial use, although the Great Central Railway
(who acquired the WMCQR in 1897) did run some holiday trains south to Newtown, although these then proceeded to Aberystwyth rather than to South Wales as originally envisaged.
The route is most often quoted in connection with the ‘Jellicoe Specials’ of WWI. These trains carried coal from the South Wales coalfields to the Fleet in Scapa Flow, providing much needed relief to the demand on the alternative ‘main’ line via Hereford. However, it seems likely that beyond Ellesmere these trains would have travelled north via Whitchurch rather than deviating via Wrexham and the Wirral, thereby avoiding the northern section of the route envisaged by the 1889 Act.
Wrexham
Wrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located in the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England...
to Buckley
Buckley
Buckley is a town and community in Flintshire, located in north-east Wales. It is situated 2 miles from the county town of Mold and is contiguous with the nearby villages of Ewloe, Alltami and Mynydd Isa...
.
Overview
The Buckley Railway had already been incorporated on 14 June 1860 to build a 5 miles (8 km) line from that town to a junction with the London and North Western RailwayLondon and North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...
Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
-Holyhead
Holyhead
Holyhead is the largest town in the county of Anglesey in the North Wales. It is also a major port adjacent to the Irish Sea serving Ireland....
main line at Connah's Quay
Connah's Quay
Connah's Quay is the largest town in Flintshire, North Wales, lying on the River Dee, near the border with England. It can be accessed by road from the A550, by rail from the nearby Shotton station and also lies on the National Cycle Network Route 5. It is situated near the region's industrial...
in order to link collieries
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
and brickworks
Brickworks
A brickworks also known as a brick factory, is a factory for the manufacturing of bricks, from clay or shale. Usually a brickworks is located on a clay bedrock often with a quarry for clay on site....
in the area with a point of shipment on the River Dee
River Dee, Wales
The River Dee is a long river in the United Kingdom. It travels through Wales and England and also forms part of the border between the two countries....
. The Buckley Railway was opened in 1864 as a freight-carrying line, and was worked by horses, though steam hauled passenger trains ran from Wrexham to its terminus at Drury.
The WMCQR line - 12.5 miles (20 km) in length - opened as a single line
Single track (rail)
A single track railway is where trains in both directions share the same track. Single track is normally used on lesser used rail lines, often branch lines, where the traffic density is not high enough to justify the cost of building double tracks....
with short branches from Buckley to a point near 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...
station at Wrexham; it also had a south to west connection with the London and North Western Railway
London and North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...
(LNWR) at Hope
Hope, Flintshire
Hope is a small village in Flintshire, north-east Wales. The village is located approximately 3 miles / 4.5 km from the Wales-England border, on the course of the River Alyn....
. The WMCQR took over the Buckley Railway from 30 June 1873. Several other extensions of the railway were authorised in 1864 and 1865: these never materialised.
On 1 November 1887 the Railway extended into the Wrexham Central station. On 31 March 1890 a further line was opened by the WMCQR: the "Buckley Loop" also connected with the LNWR, and ran through Hawarden
Hawarden
Hawarden is a village in Flintshire, North Wales. Hawarden forms part of the Deeside conurbation on the Welsh/English border. At the 2001 Census, the population of Hawarden Ward was 1,858...
. At the same time the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway
Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway
The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway was formed by amalgamation in 1847. The MS&LR changed its name to the Great Central Railway in 1897 in anticipation of the opening in 1899 of its London Extension.-Origin:...
(MSLR) began the construction of a line from Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
to join the WMCQR at Hawarden Bridge Junction over the River Dee: this necessitated building the Hawarden Swing Bridge
Swing bridge
A swing bridge is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its centre of gravity, about which the turning span can then pivot horizontally as shown in the animated illustration to the right...
over the river.
By an Act
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
of 1885 the Wirral Railway
Wirral Railway
The Wirral Railway was incorporated in 1863 as the Hoylake Railway , with powers to build lines from Birkenhead to New Brighton, and to Parkgate on the western side of the Wirral Peninsula; the latter line was not built. Between 1872 and 1882 the HR was renamed twice, and extensions of the line...
obtained powers to build a line from Bidston
Bidston
Bidston is a suburb of Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula, England. Administratively, it is also a ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Before local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974, it was part of the County Borough of Birkenhead, within the geographical county of Cheshire...
to join the MSLR at Hawarden Bridge; in the event the construction was taken over by a joint committee (known as the North Wales and Liverpool Railway
North Wales and Liverpool Railway
The North Wales and Liverpool Railway , was the name given to the joint committee formed to construct a railway between Bidston, on the Wirral Railway and Hawarden on the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway's Chester & Connah's Quay Railway from Chester to its link with the Wrexham,...
Committee). The line - 14.25 miles (22.9 km) - was opened on 18 May 1896: the following year the WMCQR went into receivership, and the line was bought by the Great Central Railway
Great Central Railway
The Great Central Railway was a railway company in England which came into being when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897 in anticipation of the opening in 1899 of its London Extension . On 1 January 1923, it was grouped into the London and North Eastern...
, as the MSLR had now become: the joint committee was dissolved in 1904.
People
The principal promoters of the WMCQR were Henry Robertson, of BanffBanff, Aberdeenshire
Banff is a town in the Banff and Buchan area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Banff is situated on Banff Bay and faces the town of Macduff across the estuary of the River Deveron...
, 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...
and Benjamin Piercy, of Montgomeryshire
Montgomeryshire
Montgomeryshire, also known as Maldwyn is one of thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. Montgomeryshire is still used as a vice-county for wildlife recording...
. Robert Piercy, Benjamin's elder brother, was appointed Resident Engineer to the railway in 1866.
Locomotives
This is not a complete list:- No.1 Wheatley, 0-6-0ST, ex-Buckley Railway, built by Hudswell Clarke in 1861
- No.2 Kenyon, 0-6-0ST, ex-Buckley Railway, built by Hudswell Clarke in 1862
- No.3 Chancellor, 0-6-0, ex-St. Helens Railway no.11 Tyne, builder unknown
- No.4 Lord Richard, 0-6-0T, built by Hudswell Clarke in 1863, rebuilt as 0-4-2T in 1889
- No.5 Sir Stephen, 0-6-0T, built by Hudswell Clarke in 1863
- No.6 Queen, ex-London & North Western Railway, built as 0-6-0 by Sharp Roberts 1846, rebuilt as 0-6-0ST at Crewe 1858, purchased by WM&CQR 1872, rebuilt as 0-8-0ST 1880, rebuilt as 0-6-2ST 1888, rebuilt as 0-8-0ST 1903
- No.7 (later No.3), ex-South Staffordshire Railway, built as 0-6-0 by Robert Stephenson 1851, rebuilt at Crewe as 0-6-0ST, purchased by WM&CQR 1874, rebuilt as 0-6-2 in 1882, rebuilt as 2-6-0T in 1899
- No.7 Duke, 0-4-0ST, built by Hudswell Clarke in 1878
- No.8 Premier, 0-6-0ST, built by Hudswell Clarke in 1880
- No.9 Dee, 0-4-0ST, ex-Thomas Butlin & Co, Wellingborough, built by Hudswell Clarke in 1871, purchased by WM&CQR 1881
- No.10 Emily, ex-Broughton Coal Co., built by Beyer Peacock 1882
- No.11 0-4-0ST, built by Hudswell Clarke in 1885
- No.12 0-6-2T, built by Beyer Peacock 1885
- No.13 0-6-2T, built by Beyer Peacock 1885
- No.14 0-4-0T, ex-Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford RailwayNewport, Abergavenny and Hereford RailwayThe Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway was a railway line connecting the Welsh port city of Newport via Abergavenny, to the major English market town of Hereford.Sponsored by the LNWR, it opened on 6 December 1853...
, built by Dodds 1854, rebuilt as 0-4-2T 1860, purchased by WM&CQR 1887 - No.15 0-6-2ST, built by Beyer Peacock 1888
- No.16 0-6-2ST, built by Beyer Peacock 1888
- Nos.17-26 0-6-2T, built by Beyer Peacock 1896-98 (actually owned by the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway, but carried WM&CQR numbers and livery to enable them to exercise running powers over the Wirral Railway.)
Recent times
The Buckley Branch was closed in the 1960s following the closure of the Northop Hall to Connah's Quay incline around 1960. The severe Winter of 1963/4 led to the line's closure beyond the site of Etna Brickworks following a landslip. The branch was dieselised around 1962 and was operated by a shunter. The sidings at Drury, which featured a loco shed and shunting capstan were used for stock storage for a while before total closure in the mid 60s and the removal of track from Buckley Junction.The main line of the railway between Wrexham Central
Wrexham Central railway station
Wrexham Central railway station is the smaller of two main railway stations serving the central area of Wrexham in Wales. The platform can accommodate a three car diesel train, but has room for platform extension...
and Bidston
Bidston railway station
Bidston railway station is a railway station in Bidston, Birkenhead, on the Wirral, England. It is situated at the junction of the West Kirby branch of the Wirral Line with the Borderlands Line from Wrexham Central .-History:The station was originally built by the Hoylake Railway in 1866 as an...
has been operated by DMUs since the early 1960s and remains in use to today as the Borderlands Line
Borderlands Line
The Borderlands Line is the railway line between Wrexham, Wales, and Bidston, Wirral, England.Passenger train services are operated by Arriva Trains Wales between Wrexham Central and Bidston. Trains run every hour Monday to Saturday daytime, every two hours after 18:45 and on Sundays...
. It is operated by Arriva Trains Wales
Arriva Trains Wales
Arriva Trains Wales is a train operating company, owned by Arriva, that operates urban and inter urban passenger services in Wales and the Welsh Marches...
. At Bidston passengers can change to Merseyrail
Merseyrail
Merseyrail is a train operating company and commuter rail network in the United Kingdom, centred on Liverpool, Merseyside. The network is predominantly electric with diesel trains running on the City Line. Two City Line branches are currently being electrified on the overhead wire AC system with...
services on the Wirral Line
Wirral Line
The Wirral Line is one of the two commuter railway lines operated by Merseyrail that are centred around Merseyside, England, the other being the Northern Line...
to Birkenhead
Birkenhead
Birkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool...
and Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
. Freight traffic continues to Pen-y-ffordd Cement Works, where an EWS Class 08 shunter is used to shunt the coal deliveries. Further freight traffic runs from Wrexham to Dee Marsh Junction, including steel traffic.
Further notes
The WMCQR was loosely associated with the Bishops Castle RailwayBishops Castle Railway
The Bishops Castle Railway was begun in 1861, planned as a line from Craven Arms to Montgomery, thus linking the Shrewsbury to Hereford line to the Oswestry to Newtown, Powys line , linking Mid-Wales and Shrewsbury, with a branch line from Lydham to Bishop's Castle.From the start, the railway was...
(opened 1866, closed 1936) which ran from Craven Arms
Craven Arms
Craven Arms is a small town and civil parish in Shropshire, England, located on the A49 road and the Welsh Marches railway line, which connect it north and south to the larger towns of Shrewsbury and Ludlow respectively. The Heart of Wales railway line joins the Welsh Marches line at Craven Arms...
to Bishop's Castle
Bishop's Castle
Bishop's Castle is a small market town in Shropshire, England, and formerly its smallest borough. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 1,630. Bishop's Castle is east of the Wales-England border, about north-west of Ludlow and about south-west of Shrewsbury. To the south is Clun...
. The two railways were not directly connected but the latter's locomotives were repaired at the WMCQR's workshop.
The WMCQR was a party to the 'Welsh Railways Through Traffic Act' of 1889, by which an interconnected group of independent Welsh companies agreed to cooperate in promoting a through route from South Wales to Merseyside via Talyllyn Junction
Talyllyn Junction
Talyllyn Junction was a railway junction located 4 miles east of Brecon, Powys, opened in 1863. The junction was triangular, with north, east and west chords, station platforms being sited at the western junction and also, until 1878, at the eastern junction...
, Llanidloes
Llanidloes
Llanidloes is a town along the A470 road and B4518 road in Powys, within the historic county boundaries of Montgomeryshire , Mid Wales.It is the first town on the River Severn...
, Welshpool
Welshpool railway station
Welshpool railway station is a railway station on the Cambrian Line, in Powys, mid-Wales. It serves the town of Welshpool.The modern station is a single island platform between the two railway lines, reached by a large pedestrian bridge over the eastbound railway line and the A483 road. It has no...
, Ellesmere
Ellesmere
-Places:* Ellesmere, Shropshire, a market town in Shropshire, England** Ellesmere Castle** Ellesmere Rural, a civil parish to the west* Ellesmere Park, area of Eccles, Greater Manchester, England* Ellesmere Port, an industrial town in Cheshire, England...
and Wrexham
Wrexham
Wrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located in the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England...
. This was to be an attempt to attract traffic away from the large companies’ routes via Hereford. At that time the lines from Ellesmere to Wrexham, and then on to Merseyside, had not yet been built, and it was 1896 before the envisaged route was complete.
For long distance through traffic this route never received substantial use, although the Great Central Railway
Great Central Railway
The Great Central Railway was a railway company in England which came into being when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897 in anticipation of the opening in 1899 of its London Extension . On 1 January 1923, it was grouped into the London and North Eastern...
(who acquired the WMCQR in 1897) did run some holiday trains south to Newtown, although these then proceeded to Aberystwyth rather than to South Wales as originally envisaged.
The route is most often quoted in connection with the ‘Jellicoe Specials’ of WWI. These trains carried coal from the South Wales coalfields to the Fleet in Scapa Flow, providing much needed relief to the demand on the alternative ‘main’ line via Hereford. However, it seems likely that beyond Ellesmere these trains would have travelled north via Whitchurch rather than deviating via Wrexham and the Wirral, thereby avoiding the northern section of the route envisaged by the 1889 Act.