Dolygaer railway station

Last updated

Dolygaer
Dolygaer Station.jpg
General information
Location Pontsticill Reservoir, Powys
Wales
Coordinates 51°49′15″N3°22′07″W / 51.8209°N 3.3685°W / 51.8209; -3.3685 Coordinates: 51°49′15″N3°22′07″W / 51.8209°N 3.3685°W / 51.8209; -3.3685
Grid reference SO056145
Operated by Brecon Mountain Railway
Platforms1
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original company Brecon and Merthyr Tydfil Junction Railway
Pre-grouping Brecon and Merthyr Tydfil Junction Railway
Post-grouping Great Western Railway
Key dates
19 March 1863Opened
31 December 1962Closed to passengers
4 May 1964Closed for goods
Brecon Mountain Railway
BSicon uKBHFa.svg
Torpantau
BSicon ueBHF.svg
Dolygaer
BSicon uSTRo.svg
Road bridge
BSicon uhKRZWae.svg
Bridge over Nant Callan
BSicon uPSL.svg
Dolygaer loop
BSicon uSTRo.svg
Road bridge
BSicon uSTRo.svg
Road bridge
BSicon uBHF.svg
Pontsticill
BSicon uABZg+l.svg
BSicon uKDSTeq.svg
Pontsticill railway museum
BSicon uKDSTaq.svg
BSicon uABZgr.svg
Pontsticill sheds
BSicon uKDSTaq.svg
BSicon uABZgr.svg
Pant depot and engineering works
BSicon uKBHFe.svg
Pant

Dolygaer railway station (alternatively, Dol-y-gaer railway station) was a station serving the hamlet of Dol-y-gaer and the area adjacent to Pen-twyn Reservoir (now incorporated into the Pontsticill Reservoir) in Powys, Wales.

Contents

History

The station was opened on 19 March 1863 when the Brecon and Merthyr Tydfil Junction Railway commenced operations between Brecon Free Street and Pant. [1] In 1866 the service through the station was 3 trains in each direction on weekdays only. [2]

The line through Dolygaer station was single track, without passing facilities, and there was one platform with a single storey building. The station was staffed until 1932. [3] [4]

The line and station was closed to passengers on 31 December 1962 and to goods on 4 May 1964. [5]

Dolygaer became a temporary terminus on the Brecon Mountain Railway (BMR) when the re-opened line was extended in 1995 to a new site south of the original station, with permanent way subsequently extended (by 2000) through the original station site also. This arrangement ceased in 2014 when the BMR further extended passenger services to Torpantau.

Current use

The site of the station is today operated as the Plas Dolygaer Scout centre, with accommodation for Scout groups of up to 40 people. [6] The centre incorporates the station platform, although this is now out of use.

The line through the station site was re-opened in 1995 by the Brecon Mountain Railway, a 1 ft 11+34 in (603 mm) tourist railway. A short platform has been constructed to narrow-gauge dimensions immediately beside the Plas Dolygaer Scout centre (on the original standard gauge dimension platform level), but the platform is unused, and the station remains closed to railway operations.

A short distance to the south of Dolygaer station, on the opposite side of the Nant Callan river, the railway company has installed the Dolygaer passing loop. [7] [8]

The station has an adjacent cave, the Dolygaer Station Cave, or Ogof Dolygear, [9] popular with cavers.

Preceding station Disused railways Following station
Torpantau
Line and station closed
  Brecon and Merthyr Tydfil Junction Railway
Northern section
  Pontsticill
Line and station closed

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Powys</span> County and preserved county in Wales

Powys is a county and preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh successor state, petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brecon</span> Town in Powys, Mid Wales

Brecon, archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. In 1841, it had a population of 5,701. The population in 2001 was 7,901, increasing to 8,250 at the 2011 census. Historically it was the county town of Brecknockshire (Breconshire); although its role as such was eclipsed with the formation of the County of Powys, it remains an important local centre. Brecon is the third-largest town in Powys, after Newtown and Ystradgynlais. It lies north of the Brecon Beacons mountain range, but is just within the Brecon Beacons National Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brecknockshire</span> Historic county of Wales

Brecknockshire, also known as the County of Brecknock, Breconshire, or the County of Brecon is one of thirteen historic counties of Wales, and a former administrative county. Named after its county town of Brecon, the county is mountainous and primarily rural.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brecon Beacons National Park</span> National park in Wales

The Brecon Beacons National Park is one of three national parks in Wales, and is centred on the Brecon Beacons range of hills in southern Wales. It includes the Black Mountain in the west, Fforest Fawr and the Brecon Beacons in the centre and the Black Mountains in the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Taff</span> River in Wales which flows into Cardiff Bay

The River Taff is a river in Wales. It rises as two rivers in the Brecon Beacons; the Taf Fechan and the Taf Fawr before becoming one just north of Merthyr Tydfil. Its confluence with the River Severn estuary is in Cardiff.

The Brecon and Merthyr Tydfil Junction Railway (B&MR) was a railway company in Wales. It was originally intended to link the towns in its name. Finding its access to Merthyr difficult at first, it acquired the Rumney Railway, an old plateway, and this gave it access to Newport docks. This changed its emphasis from rural line to mineral artery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brecon Mountain Railway</span> Narrow gauge tourist railway on the south side of the Brecon Beacons

The Brecon Mountain Railway is a 1 ft 11+34 in narrow gauge tourist railway on the south side of the Brecon Beacons. It climbs northwards from Pant along the full length of the Pontsticill Reservoir and continues past the adjoining Pentwyn Reservoir to Torpantau railway station. The railway's starting point at Pant is located two miles (3 km) north of the town centre of Merthyr Tydfil, Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, South-East Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Merthyr Tydfil railway station</span> Railway station in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales

Merthyr Tydfil railway station is a railway station serving the town of Merthyr Tydfil in Wales. It is the terminus of the Merthyr branch of the Merthyr Line. Passenger services are provided by Transport for Wales. The station has one platform, and is situated near to the Tesco Superstore in the town.

The Vale of Neath Railway (VoNR) was a broad gauge railway company, that built a line from Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare to Neath, in Wales, chiefly to transport the products of the Merthyr iron industries to ports on Swansea Bay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fochriw</span> Human settlement in Wales

Fochriw is a village located in Caerphilly County Borough, Wales, United Kingdom. It was well known for its neighbouring collieries, which employed nearly the entire local population in the early 20th century. It lies within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. The village appears as the backdrop on the BBC Wales sitcom High Hopes credits. The villages population was recorded as 1,250 in 2011.

The Dulas Valley Mineral Railway was incorporated in 1862 to bring coal from the Onllwyn area north-east of Neath to the quays there, and in the following year was reconstituted as the Neath and Brecon Railway. The line was opened as far as Onllwyn in 1863.

The Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway was a railway company formed to connect the places in its name. When it sought Parliamentary authorisation, it was denied the southern section, and obliged to use the Monmouthshire Railway between Pontypool and Newport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abergavenny Brecon Road railway station</span> Former railway station in Monmouthshire, Wales

Abergavenny railway station was a station on the London and North Western Railway's Heads of the Valleys line serving the town of Abergavenny in the Welsh county of Monmouthshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mid-Wales Railway</span>

The Mid-Wales Railway was conceived as a trunk route through Wales connecting industrial areas in north west England with sea ports in south west Wales. The company was prevented from reaching its goal by competing proposals in Parliament, and it was only able to build a line between Llanidloes and a junction with the Brecon and Merthyr Railway 5 miles (8 km) east of Brecon. The line was 70 miles (110 km) long and opened in 1864. The company found it impossible to raise the share subscription, but the contractor partnership of Davies and Savin agreed to build the line and take shares in payment,

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pontsticill Reservoir</span> Reservoir in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales

Pontsticill Reservoir or Taf Fechan Reservoir is a large reservoir on the Taf Fechan lying partly in the county of Powys and partly within the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil in south Wales. It lies within the Brecon Beacons National Park and Fforest Fawr Geopark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Talyllyn Junction railway station</span> Former railway station in Powys, Wales

Talyllyn Junction was a railway junction located 4 mi (6.4 km) east of Brecon, Powys, opened in 1869. 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. The Junction took its name from the adjacent tiny hamlet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torpantau railway station</span> Former railway station in Wales

Torpantau railway station is a station in the Welsh county of Brecknockshire, and the northern terminus of the narrow gauge Brecon Mountain Railway.

Pant railway station was a station which served Pant, Merthyr Tydfil, in the historic Welsh county of Glamorgan, now Merthyr Tydfil County Borough. It was the junction at which the Brecon and Merthyr Tydfil Railway line from Pontsticill in the North split to serve the Dowlais Central and Dowlais Top lines. The line opened in 1859 and closed in 1964.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pontsticill railway station</span> Former railway station in Wales

Pontsticill railway station is an intermediate station on the Brecon Mountain Railway at Pontsticill, in the historic Welsh county of Brecknockshire, now Merthyr Tydfil County Borough.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pant railway station (Brecon Mountain Railway)</span>

Pant railway station is the southern terminus of the Brecon Mountain Railway, a heritage line on the southern edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park in Wales.

References

  1. Quick 2022, pp. 163 & 532.
  2. "Brecon and Merthyr Railway:Brecon and Merthyr Section" . Brecon Reporter and South Wales General Advertiser. 28 July 1866. p. 1. Retrieved 19 September 2020 via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. "Dolygaer". alangeorge.co.uk. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  4. "Dol-y-gaer Station on OS Six-inch map Brecknockshire XL.SW (includes: Llanddeti; Llanfeugan.)". National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  5. Page 1979, p. 140.
  6. "Plas Dolygaer: Where the adventure begins". Mid Glamorgan Area Scout Council. Archived from the original on 19 November 2008. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  7. Bridge 2010, map 32J.
  8. "History". The Brecon Mountain Railway. The Brecon Mountain Railway. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  9. "Dolygaer Station Cave". Cambrian Caving Council. Retrieved 7 March 2017.

Bibliography

Further reading