Newport Courtybella railway station

Newport Courtybella
Newport Courtybella
	Station site in August 2010.
General information
Location	Newport, Newport ; Wales
Coordinates	51°34′40″N2°59′58″W / 51.5779°N 2.9995°W Coordinates: 51°34′40″N2°59′58″W / 51.5779°N 2.9995°W
Grid reference	ST308870
Platforms	?
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company
Key dates
23 December 1850	Opened
4 August 1852	Closed

Last updated October 25, 2022

Newport Courtybella railway station (also known as Court-y-Bella^[1] and Cwrt-y-Bella^[2]) was a temporary station opened by the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company in central Newport, Wales.

History

A part of Monmouthshire at the time, the station was opened on 23 December 1850 as the temporary southern terminus of the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company's Western Valleys line to Blaina.^[1]^[3] The station was sited 1 mile (1.6 km) from Newport at Court-y-bella, a little to the west of the junction where the tramroad diverged to Dock St/Llanarth St and Pillgwenlly.

Courtybella station was built by the contractors Rennie and Logan who provided platforms and an engine shed.^[4] The initial service consisted of two daily passenger trains each way with a total journey time of 1¾ hours.^[5] The service was extended to Ebbw Vale on 19 April 1852.^[5] An extra train was added to the timetable, so that services ran at 7.00am, 12.00pm and 4.45pm from Newport, and at 9.00am, 2.15pm and 6.45pm in the other direction.^[6] The train divided en route at Aberbeeg, with one half continuing to Ebbw Vale via Cwm and Victoria, while the other half proceeded to Blaina via Abertillery.^[7] At the time, the line had a 4 ft 4 in (1,321 mm) gauge.^[8]

The temporary station at Courtybella was closed on 4 August 1852 when Newport Dock Street railway station was brought into use.^[7]^[1]^[3]^[9] In 1857, the wooden sheds and stone buildings at Courtybella were taken down and the material reused to provide carriage and wagon repair workshops at the Eastern and Western Valleys workshop in Bolt Street, Newport.^[10]

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Bassaleg Junction Line and station closed		Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company		Terminus

Present

All traces of the passenger station had disappeared by 1960, with the site marked only by a zero milepost from which the distances into the Western Valley were measured.^[11] The line through Courtybella was singled in 1971^[12] the section west to Park Junction on the Western Valleys line closing in 1981^[13] The line east to Dock Street remained open until 26 January 1991^[14] following the cessation of coal traffic to the distribution centre at Dock Street.^[12] The track was then lifted back to Courtybella Crossing, although in recent years a short section was relaid as a run-round loop for trains from Newport Docks which need to proceed west, in particular for coal trains to Aberthaw.^[12]

Related Research Articles

There have been many railway stations in Newport, due to its importance as a port for the industrial Monmouthshire and Glamorganshire valleys. The only stations in use at the moment are Newport in the city centre and in the Western valley Pye Corner and Rogerstone.

Risca and Pontymister railway station is a station on the Ebbw Valley Railway in south-east Wales. It serves the village of Pontymister and the town of Risca. It is located roughly ½ mile south of the original Risca railway station.

Newbridge railway station is on the Ebbw Valley Railway and serves the towns of Newbridge and Blackwood in south east Wales. The current station is on the site of the former station and coal yard in the town centre opposite the former Co-op Food store and existing council car park. The single-platform station and car park is off a signalised junction on Bridge Street.

Aberbeeg railway station served the village of Aberbeeg in Monmouthshire, Wales. It was the junction where the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company's lines from Newport to Brynmawr and Ebbw Vale diverged.

Cwm railway station served the village of Cwm in Monmouthshire, Wales.

The Pontypool, Caerleon & Newport Railway was promoted independently to relieve congestion on the heavily worked Eastern Valley Line of the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company. The Great Western Railway put up half the capital, making it in effect a GWR subsidiary. It opened in 1874, and most long distance passenger and goods traffic, especially the heavy mineral traffic, transferred to it. It amalgamated with the GWR in 1876.

Abertillery railway station was a station which served Abertillery, in the Welsh county of Monmouthshire.

Ebbw Vale Town railway station serves the town centre of Ebbw Vale in Blaenau Gwent, Wales, serving as the terminus of the Ebbw Valley Railway.

Risca railway station was a station on the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company Western Valley line, later the Great Western Railway. It was located at Station Place, just south of the junction where the line split left towards Nine Mile Point and right towards Ebbw Vale. It served the town of Risca.

Newport Dock Street railway station was one of three stations in central Newport, Monmouthshire.

Newport Mill Street railway station was one of four stations in central Newport, Wales.

The Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company was a canal and railway company that operated a canal and a network of railways in the Western Valley and Eastern Valley of Newport, Monmouthshire. It started as the Monmouthshire Canal Navigation and opened canals from Newport to Pontypool and to Crumlin from 1796. Numerous tramroads connected nearby pits and ironworks with the canal.

The Sirhowy Tramroad was a plateway built to convey the products of ironworks at Tredegar to Newport, South Wales. It opened in 1805 between Tredegar and Nine Mile Point, a location west of Risca, from where the Monmouthshire Canal Company operated a tramroad to Newport. The Sirhowy Tramroad was operated at first by horse traction, but early locomotives were used, and a passenger service was operated.

Bassaleg Junction was a railway station which served the village of Bassaleg, Monmouthshire.

Nantyglo railway station was a station which served Nantyglo, in the Welsh county of Monmouthshire.

Blaina railway station was a station which served the small town of Blaina in the Welsh county of Monmouthshire.

Bournville (Mon) Halt railway station was a station which served Ty'r-Cecil near Blaina Abertillery in the Welsh county of Monmouthshire.

Brynmawr railway station was a station which served Nantyglo and Brynmawr in the Welsh county of Brecknockshire.

Marshes Turnpike Gate railway station was a temporary station opened by the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company in central Newport, Wales.

Ebbw Vale railway station was a station which served Ebbw Vale, in the Welsh county of Monmouthshire.

References

Notes

1 2 3 Butt (1995), p. 170.
↑ Byles (1982), p. 33.
1 2 Quick (2009), p. 290.
↑ Byles (1982), pp. 29–30.
1 2 Byles (1982), p. 32.
↑ Byles (1982), pp. 32–34.
1 2 Byles (1982), p. 34.
↑ Byles (1982), p. 1.
↑ Clinker (1988), p. 101.
↑ Byles (1982), p. 59.
↑ Skillern (1960), p. x.
1 2 3 Caston (2010), p. 31.
↑ Page (1988), p. 163.
↑ Hurst (1991), p. 79, note 3496.

Sources

Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
Byles, Aubrey (1982). The History of the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company. Cwmbran: Village Publishing. ISBN 0-946043-00-0.
Caston, Ray (November 2010). "Courtybella - a mystery solved?". The Welsh Railways Archive. The Welsh Railways Research Circle. V (2): 31.
Clinker, C.R. (1988) [1978]. Clinker's Register of Closed Passenger Stations and Goods Depots in England, Scotland and Wales 1830–1980 (2nd ed.). Bristol: Avon-Anglia Publications & Services. ISBN 978-0-905466-91-0. OCLC 655703233.

Hall, Mike (2009). Lost Railways of South Wales. Newbury: Countryside Books. ISBN 978-1-84674-172-2.
Hurst, Geoffrey (1991). Register of Closed Railways 1948–1991 . Milepost Publications. ISBN 0-947796-18-5.
Page, James (1988) [1979]. South Wales. Forgotten Railways. Vol. 8. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-946537-44-5.
Quick, Michael (2009) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (4th ed.). Oxford: Railway & Canal Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-901461-57-5. OCLC 612226077.
Skillern, William J. (July 1960). "The Railways of Newport". The Railway Magazine . Tothill Press. 107 (711): 451–459. Retrieved 20 December 2014.

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[FOOTNOTEButt1995170-1] 1 2 3 Butt (1995), p. 170.

[FOOTNOTEByles198233-2] Byles (1982), p. 33.

[FOOTNOTEQuick2009290-3] 1 2 Quick (2009), p. 290.

[FOOTNOTEByles198229–30-4] Byles (1982), pp. 29–30.

[FOOTNOTEByles198232-5] 1 2 Byles (1982), p. 32.

[FOOTNOTEByles198232–34-6] Byles (1982), pp. 32–34.

[FOOTNOTEByles198234-7] 1 2 Byles (1982), p. 34.

[FOOTNOTEByles19821-8] Byles (1982), p. 1.

[FOOTNOTEClinker1988101-9] Clinker (1988), p. 101.

[FOOTNOTEByles198259-10] Byles (1982), p. 59.

[FOOTNOTESkillern1960x-11] Skillern (1960), p. x.

[FOOTNOTECaston201031-12] 1 2 3 Caston (2010), p. 31.

[FOOTNOTEPage1988163-13] Page (1988), p. 163.

[FOOTNOTEHurst1991p._79,_note_3496-14] Hurst (1991), p. 79, note 3496.

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