The Ruabon Brook Tramway (also known as Jessop's Tramway, and in its later years as the Shropshire Union Tramway) was a Welsh horse-drawn tramway linking the Ruabon coalfield to the Ellesmere Canal at Froncysyllte, with a private extension into the Monsanto works at Cefn Mawr which reconnected to the main line at Trevor. [1] The area was rich in coal, clay and minerals.
Notice of an application to build the 'railway or road' from 'a certain brook near Ruabon' to the Ellesmere Canal was published in 1803 along with the application to feed the canal with water from the River Dee at Llantysilio. [2] The Ellesmere Canal had been intended to continue up the Moss Valley and a water reservoir had been built there - but when it was clear this extension was not going to happen it became essential to find an alternative water supply and to find a way to tap into the lucrative industry in the area. As superintendent on the canal project William Jessop is likely to have decided on the form of the tramway. The design used flanged wheels and rails much like modern railways, a design which William had introduced in 1789 on a line used by the Charnwood Forest Canal between Loughborough and Nanpantan in Leicestershire. Most tramways of the time were plateways, with L-shaped rails, and plain wheels. The tramway was opened on 26 Nov 1805 between Pontcysyllte and Acrefair. It was extended in 1808 from Acrefair to the Plas Madoc Colliery in Plasbennion and then into "The Delph" which climbed towards Penycae; after 1808 the tramway advanced to the industrial area around Wynn Hall where there was a colliery and a spelter works (alongside Ruabon Brook - also known as River Eitha).
In 1846 and 1847 there were a complicated series of mergers and leases as canal companies combined to try to compete with the railways, which included plans to convert some canals to railways, and at the same time the newly formed London and North Western Railway and the established Great Western Railway competed for business and routes. The net result for the Ruabon Brook Tramway was that in 1847 the LNWR leased the line from the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company, and it was under the LNWR that the line was upgraded from a tramway to a railway in stages from 1862. Some details of the tramway prior to conversion to a locomotive hauled railway are revealed by the discussions of the Ruabon and Ellesmere railway bill in 1862. [3] According to this account the line at the time served the Wynn Hall colliery (owner Mr Whalley), Afoneitha colliery (John Wright & Co), Cefn colliery (owner Sir Watkin), Dicken's colliery, Plasisa colliery (S. Giller, Sir Watkin) - which also made bricks. The discussion said that orders 'had been given for converting the Shropshire Union tramway into a locomotive line', 'not for the purpose of connecting with the canal, but more in the hope of connecting them to some railway system in our interest'. From this it is clear that the tramway was horse-drawn throughout its life, on which basis the weight loading, signalling, clearances, and other factors would need to be upgraded before it could pass inspection as a railway. At this time the ability to load rail wagons and send them anywhere in the country in a matter of days, meant the canals were in financial trouble. The conversion of a tramway originally designed to feed the canal trade, to a railway connected to the rail network was very much a sign of the revolution in transport occurring at the time.
While there are several accounts in 1862 that the LNWR planned to convert the horse-drawn tramway to a steam railway, on the occasion of the opening of the rail branch linking the former tramway (and the Trefynant Brick and Tile works) to Trevor station in January 1866, it is stated that the conversion to railway status took place in the summer of 1865. [4] Following the conversion, a portion of the tramway no longer used in Cefn-Mawr became a public nuisance due to rubbish, and was sold to the Wrexham and District Highways Board in January 1867 for £150 to become a road. [5]
Once converted to a railway, the line was usually referred to as the Shropshire Union Railway, and it appears that ownership remained with the Shropshire Uniion Railways and Canal Company, with the LNWR as operators. It was extended to the brickworks at Llwynenion just North of Rhosllannerchrugog opening on 30 Jan 1867. While it was purely a goods railway, there is an account in 1870 of a Sunday outing of 'children, teachers and friends numbering above 700' who were conveyed to and from the canal basin from Rhos seated in railway trucks. [6]
In 1896 the GWR came to an arrangement with the Shropshire Uniion Railways and Canal Company and the LNWR to purchase the railway for £51,000. [7] The GWR started a daily goods service to Rhos straight away, with a train from Trevor to Rhos in the morning, returning in the evening. [8]
In October 1901 they opened the Rhos Branch from slightly South of Croes Newydd junction via Rhostyllen and Legacy Station; this made a connection with the Pontcysyllte Branch just North of Rhosllannerchrugog and provided a through route for goods traffic. Although the line was intended for goods services, the section between Wynn Hall and Wrexham (via Rhosllannerchrugog) had a railmotor service for passengers between 1905 and 1915, and passenger services from Rhos Station to Wrexham ran until 1931.
The section between Pontcysyllte and Pant closed in 1953 and the track was lifted (as far as the bridge over the Afon Eitha brook) in the late 1950s. The line to the brickworks at Pant and the Goods Yard at Brook Street, Rhosllannerchrugog continued in use, but the entire line from Pant towards Wrexham closed in 1963, and the track was lifted in 1964. At the southern end, Monsanto's private track remained in use until 1968, when the remains of the Ruabon to Barmouth Line closed to goods.
Llangollen is a town and community, situated on the River Dee, in Denbighshire, Wales. Its riverside location forms the edge of the Berwyn range, and the Dee Valley section of the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, with the easternmost point of the Dee Valley Way being within the town. It had a population of 3,658 at the 2011 census.
The Ellesmere Canal was a waterway in England and Wales that was planned to carry boat traffic between the rivers Mersey and Severn. The proposal would create a link between the Port of Liverpool and the mineral industries in north east Wales and the manufacturing centres in the West Midlands. However, the canal was never completed as intended because of its rising costs and failure to generate the expected commercial traffic.
The Llangollen Canal is a navigable canal crossing the border between England and Wales. The waterway links Llangollen in Denbighshire, north Wales, with Hurleston in south Cheshire, via the town of Ellesmere, Shropshire. The name, which was coined in the 1980s, is a modern designation for parts of the historic Ellesmere Canal and the Llangollen navigable feeder, both of which became part of the Shropshire Union Canals in 1846.
The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct is a navigable aqueduct that carries the Llangollen Canal across the River Dee in the Vale of Llangollen in northeast Wales.
Chirk is a town and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales, 10 miles south of Wrexham, between it and Oswestry. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 4,468. Historically in the traditional county of Denbighshire, and later Clwyd, it has been part of Wrexham County Borough since a local government reorganisation in 1996. The border with the English county of Shropshire is immediately south of the town, on the other side of the River Ceiriog.
Wrexham County Borough is a county borough, with city status, in the north-east of Wales. It borders England to the east and south-east, Powys to the south-west, Denbighshire to the west and Flintshire to the north-west. The county borough has a population of 136,055. The city of Wrexham is its largest settlement, which together with villages such as Gwersyllt, New Broughton, Bradley and Rhostyllen form a built-up area with 65,692 residents. Villages in the county borough also include Ruabon, Rhosllanerchrugog, Johnstown, Acrefair, Bangor-on-Dee, and Coedpoeth amongst others. The county borough has two outlying towns, Chirk and Holt, and various rural settlements in the county borough's large salient in the Ceiriog Valley, and the English Maelor.
Rhosllanerchrugog is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. It lies within the historic county of Denbighshire. The entire built-up area including Penycae, Ruabon and Cefn Mawr had a population of 25,362.
Ruabon is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. The name comes from Rhiw Fabon, rhiw being the Welsh word for "slope" or "hillside" and Fabon being a mutation from St Mabon, the original church name, of earlier, Celtic origin. An older English spelling, Rhuabon, can sometimes be seen.
Acrefair is a village in the county borough of Wrexham, North East Wales, in the community of Cefn. It was formerly part of the ancient parish of Ruabon, and is located between Wrexham and Llangollen. It is close to the villages of Trevor, Cefn Mawr, Ruabon and Plas Madoc. The name Acrefair originates from the Welsh word for acres—acrau, or acre in the local Welsh dialect—and Mair, the Welsh name for Mary. The English meaning of Acrefair is Mary's Acres.
Wynn Hall is a 17th-century house in the old hamlet of Bodylltyn in Ruabon, Wrexham, Wales standing at the junction of the Penycae Road and Plas Bennion Road. It was built in about 1649 by William Wynn and is a Grade II* listed building.
Cefn Mawr is a village in the community of Cefn within Wrexham County Borough, Wales. Its name translates as "big ridge". The population in 2001 was 6,669, increasing to 7,051 in 2011.
Pen-y-cae is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. The population of the community taken at the 2011 census was 3,389. It adjoins the larger village of Rhosllanerchrugog.
The Ruabon–Barmouth line was a standard-gauge line owned by the Great Western Railway across the north of Wales which connected Ruabon, in the east, with Barmouth on the west coast.
Trevor railway station was formerly a station on the Ruabon to Barmouth Line in north-east Wales. The line was double track between Ruabon and Llangollen and there was a signal box at Trevor.
The North Wales Mineral Railway was formed to carry coal and ironstone from the mineral-bearing area around Wrexham to the River Dee wharves. It was extended to run from Shrewsbury and formed part of a main line trunk route, under the title The Shrewsbury and Chester Railway. It opened in 1846 from Chester to Ruabon, and in 1848 from Ruabon to Shrewsbury. It later merged with the Great Western Railway.
Wrexham and District Electric Tramways was a company that operated an electric tramway service in Wrexham, Wales between 1903 and 1914 when it was renamed Wrexham and District Transport Company Limited. Trams continued to operate until 1927.
The Ruabon railway branch lines were a network of railways built to serve the mineral bearing area west of Ruabon, which contained many coal and iron deposits, as well as limestone, and a small but dense network of railways developed to handle the minerals.
Brook Street Halt railway station served the town of Rhosllanerchrugog, Denbighshire, Wales, from 1905 to 1915 on the Pontcysyllte branch.
Wynn Hall Halt railway station co-served the hamlet of Bodylltyn, Denbighshire, Wales, from 1905 to 1915 on the Pontcysyllte branch.
Legacy railway station was built close to the location of the disused Legacy Colliery when the Great Western Railway built the Rhos Branch in 1901. The disused line built to serve the colliery in 1876 was used by the Rhos branch for a short distance through Legacy Station to the newly formed Legacy junction where the Rhos branch diverged to follow a more Northerly route, eventually meeting the Pontcysyllte branch. Legacy Station was open from 1901 to 1931 for passenger traffic and until 1963 for goods traffic.