Rhydyronen railway station

Last updated

Rhydyronen
Station on heritage railway
Rhydyronen station, Talyllyn Railway - geograph.org.uk - 1499709.jpg
Rhydyronen station, taken from the road bridge, looking west
General information
Location Bryncrug, Gwynedd
Wales
Coordinates 52°36′00″N4°02′46″W / 52.600°N 4.046°W / 52.600; -4.046 Coordinates: 52°36′00″N4°02′46″W / 52.600°N 4.046°W / 52.600; -4.046
Grid reference SH614021
Operated by Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society
Platforms1
History
Original company Talyllyn Railway Company
Key dates
1867Opened
c. 1900Loop built
1951Operation taken over by Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society
1954Siding removed
1957Loop reinstated
1971Loop west points removed
1977Siding removed
1979Platform extended
Rhydyronen station, looking east Rhydyronen.jpg
Rhydyronen station, looking east

Rhydyronen railway station (also known as Rhyd-yr-onen railway station) is a request stop on the Talyllyn Railway, near Tywyn, Gwynedd in mid-Wales. It was built in 1867 [1] to serve local farms, and the village of Bryn-crug.

Contents

The name 'Rhyd-yr-onen' means 'Ford of the ash tree'.

Construction

The station building and original platform are primarily constructed out of slate blocks from Bryn-Eglwys quarry. [2] The platform surface is slate chippings and is edged with slate slabs. The 1990s platform extension uses concrete breeze blocks.

History

Origins and early history

The station opened in February 1867, [3] four months after the start of passenger services on the railway. [1] The station is named after a nearby stream, the Nant Rhyd-yr-onnen (this stream is also known as the Nant Braich-y-Rhiw), which itself is named after the road's ford over it, just north of the station (now replaced with a bridge). [1] It is 2.15 miles (3.46 km) along the railway from Tywyn Wharf, [1] and was the first intermediate station to open on the railway. [3] A station building and platform was provided on the north side of the track, [1] as the carriages had been modified to have doors only on this side for safety reasons. [3] Steps were provided to the road on the south side, for passengers wishing to travel (across the track) southwards. The station had a passing loop at its western end, first shown on Ordnance Survey maps in 1901, [4] to serve a slate quarry and manganese mine. [5] A mineral tramway had been planned to serve the mine and quarries, [5] but the necessary agreements were not reached with the local landowner Dr. Corbett. [5] [6] The outputs of the quarries and mine therefore had to be taken by road to the station, and the business soon failed. [5] The loop soon fell into disuse and the west points were removed. [5]

Around the 1930s there appears to have been an accident here involving a goods van, and for several decades the van's body lay rotting beside the road bridge. [1] During the Victorian era, the railway promoted the destination to tourists through references to a nearby chalybeate spring, and bottled water was produced here around the 1910s. [3]

Preservation era

The siding was still in a good enough condition (relative to the rest of the permanent way of the railway) to be used as a refuge siding in 1951. This allowed the first train operated by the preservation society to run round. The train was hand-shunted past the locomotive, which was stabled in the siding. [3]

The remaining siding was removed during track renewals in early 1954, but it was reinstated, as a full loop, in the winter of 1956/1957, and was usable by late January. [4] The loop was never used as a passing place for public train services during preservation; its main role was as an engineers' siding. [4] Rhydyronen was used for rail storage at the time, [4] and also for the stabling of a locomotive – or the railway's motor trolley following the building of this machine – for the transport of railway volunteers, most notably Hugh Jones, who lived, or were staying on holiday, nearby. The west end points of the new loop were removed in 1971, [4] again because of the economic costs of maintaining the points, of what was a double-ended engineers' siding – which saw limited use. The remaining siding was removed, with the east points, in August 1977. [4] The platform was extended to accommodate a full-length train in 1979.

In fiction

In The Railway Series by Rev. Wilbert Awdry, and in the fourth season of Thomas & Friends , Cros-ny-Curin station on the Skarloey Railway is based on this station.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corris Railway</span> Narrow gauge railway

The Corris Railway is a narrow gauge preserved railway based in Corris on the border between Merionethshire and Montgomeryshire in Mid-Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Talyllyn Railway</span> Narrow gauge railway in north Wales

The Talyllyn Railway is a narrow gauge preserved railway in Wales running for 7+1⁄4 miles (12 km) from Tywyn on the Mid-Wales coast to Nant Gwernol near the village of Abergynolwyn. The line was opened in 1865 to carry slate from the quarries at Bryn Eglwys to Tywyn, and was the first narrow gauge railway in Britain authorised by Act of Parliament to carry passengers using steam haulage. Despite severe under-investment, the line remained open, and in 1951 it became the first railway in the world to be preserved as a heritage railway by volunteers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Narrow Gauge Railway Museum</span> Railway museum in Gwynedd, Wales

The Narrow Gauge Railway Museum is a purpose-built museum dedicated to narrow-gauge railways situated at the Tywyn Wharf station of the Talyllyn Railway in Tywyn, Gwynedd, Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Welsh Highland Railway</span> Heritage railway in the Welsh county of Gwynedd

The Welsh Highland Railway (WHR) or Rheilffordd Eryri is a 25-mile (40.2 km) long, restored 1 ft 11+1⁄2 in narrow gauge heritage railway in the Welsh county of Gwynedd, operating from Caernarfon to Porthmadog, and passing through a number of popular tourist destinations including Beddgelert and the Aberglaslyn Pass. At Porthmadog it connects with the Ffestiniog Railway and to the short Welsh Highland Heritage Railway. In Porthmadog it uses the United Kingdom's only mixed gauge flat rail crossing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Haydn Jones</span> British politician

Sir Henry Haydn Jones was a Welsh Liberal Party politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abergynolwyn</span> Village in North Wales

Abergynolwyn is a village in southern Gwynedd, Wales, located at the confluence of the Nant Gwernol and the Afon Dysynni. The population of the community which is named after the village of Llanfihangel-y-Pennant was 339 at the 2011 census.

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

Tywyn railway station serves the town of Tywyn in Gwynedd, Wales. The station is on the Cambrian Coast Line, with passenger services to Barmouth, Harlech, Porthmadog, Pwllheli, Aberdovey, Machynlleth and Shrewsbury.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bryn Eglwys quarry</span> Disused slate quarry in north Wales

Bryn Eglwys quarry was a slate quarry and mine near Abergynolwyn, in Merionethshire, Wales. More than 300 men worked at the site, making it the principal employer in the area. Two veins of slate, known as the Broad Vein and the Narrow Vein, were worked. The geology continues eastwards towards Corris and Dinas Mawddwy, and westwards towards Tywyn. It was one of many quarries that worked these veins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tywyn Wharf railway station</span>

Tywyn Wharf railway station is the western terminus and principal station of the Talyllyn Railway in Tywyn, Gwynedd in mid-Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pendre railway station</span>

Pendre railway station is a station on the Talyllyn Railway in Tywyn, Gwynedd in mid-Wales. It is 0.42 miles (0.68 km) from Tywyn Wharf, which is the primary station and western terminus of the railway. Pendre is the site of the railway's locomotive and carriage sheds, and engineering works. Passenger trains stop at Pendre by request only.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brynglas railway station</span>

Brynglas railway station is a request stop on the Talyllyn Railway, serving the hamlet of Pandy near Bryn-crug, in Gwynedd, Mid-Wales. It is 3.17 miles (5.10 km) from Tywyn Wharf. A station building and platform are provided on the north side of the track, as the railway's carriages have been modified to have doors only on this side for safety reasons. The station building is a Grade II listed structure.

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

Dolgoch railway station is a station on the Talyllyn Railway between Tywyn and Abergynolwyn, Gwynedd in north-Wales. It is 4 miles 72 chains from Tywyn Wharf. Unlike most places on the line, the station was built for tourist traffic, for visitors to the local Dolgoch Falls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abergynolwyn railway station</span> Heritage railway station in Gwynedd, Mid-Wales

Abergynolwyn railway station is a station on the Talyllyn Railway near Abergynolwyn, Gwynedd, in Mid-Wales. It is 6.55 miles (10.54 km) from Tywyn Wharf. The name 'Abergynolwyn' means 'Mouth-of-the-River-with-a-Whirlpool'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nant Gwernol railway station</span> Railway station near Abergynolwyn, Wales

Nant Gwernol railway station is the eastern terminus of the Talyllyn Railway near Abergynolwyn, Gwynedd in mid-Wales. It is 7 miles, 28 chains (11.83 km) from Tywyn Wharf. Nant Gwernol station was opened in 1976; before 1976 this upper part of the line had only been used for goods services.

<i>Sir Haydn</i> (locomotive)

Sir Haydn is a narrow gauge steam locomotive, built by Hughes's Locomotive & Tramway Engine Works of the Falcon Works, Loughborough in 1878. It operated on the Corris Railway in Wales, until closure in 1948, and since 1951 has operated on the nearby Talyllyn Railway. It has carried the operating number 3 under four successive owners.

<i>Edward Thomas</i> (locomotive)

Edward Thomas is a narrow gauge steam locomotive. Built by Kerr Stuart & Co. Ltd. at the California Works, Stoke-on-Trent in 1921, it was delivered new to the Corris Railway where it ran until 1948. After that railway closed, the locomotive was brought to the Talyllyn Railway in 1951, then restored, and remains in working order at the heritage railway. It has carried the operating number 4 under four successive owners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dolgoch quarry, Gwynedd</span> Disused slate quarry in Mid Wales

Dolgoch slate quarry was a slate quarry in Mid Wales, approximately halfway between Bryn-crug and Abergynolwyn. The quarry was named after a nearby stream, the Nant Dolgoch. 'Dol goch' is Welsh for 'red meadow'.

Railway with a Heart of Gold is a 1965 short documentary film about the Talyllyn Railway in Mid-Wales, filmed by American filmmaker Kit Davidson. Filmed in 1953, it portrays the operation of the railway and experiences of the volunteers in the early years of its preservation.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Talyllyn handbook. The Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society. 1983.
  2. ↑ Burton, Anthony (28 February 2017). A Steam Engine Pilgrimage. Pen and Sword. pp. 75–. ISBN   978-1-4738-6047-6.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Rolt, L.T.C. (1953). Railway Adventure.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Talyllyn news" – the quarterly newsletter of the Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society – issue no.252, page 2.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Talyllyn News" – the TRPS' quarterly newsletter, issue number 260, pages 40, 41, & 42.
  6. ↑ Boyd, James I. C. (1988). The Tal-y-llyn Railway. Wild Swan Publications Ltd. ISBN   0-906867-46-0.
Preceding station HR icon.svg   Heritage railways Following station
Cynfal   Talyllyn Railway   Tynllwynhen
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.