Devil's Bridge railway station

Devil's Bridge
Welsh: Pontarfynach
Devil's Bridge station, showing the two platforms in use.
Location
Place	Devil's Bridge
Area	Ceredigion
Coordinates	52°22′34″N 3°51′15″W / 52.376051°N 3.854077°WCoordinates: 52°22′34″N 3°51′15″W / 52.376051°N 3.854077°W
Grid reference	SN738769
Operations
Managed by	Vale of Rheidol Railway
Platforms	2
History
1902	Station opens
31 August 1939	Station closes due to World War 2
23 July 1945	Station reopens
1989	VoR privatised
Stations on heritage railways in the United Kingdom
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Devil's Bridge railway station is a railway station serving Devil's Bridge in Ceredigion in Mid-Wales. It is the eastern terminus of the preserved Vale of Rheidol Railway.

Facilities

The station has two principal platforms, each with a hard tarmac surface. Following developments during 2012 and 2013, funded by the European Union, Devil's Bridge is one of only three stations with low-level platform surfaces (the others are the small request stops at Glanyrafon and Llanbadarn). Most stations now have raised platforms, allowing level access on and off carriages. Owing to this lack of raised-level platforms mobile steps are provided on the platform to assist the elderly and infirm in boarding or alighting from trains. The two platform lines both terminate in buffer stops, and each has a headshunt forward of bi-directional cross-over points for locomotive release. There is also a lengthy siding accessed from a set of points at the station mouth, and long enough to accommodate a train. In practice it is unusual to see more than one platform in use under the current timetable. However, the sight of a service train and a works train, or even a service train and a specially chartered passenger train at the station is still possible. The lengthy siding still makes possible the sight of three trains in this station simultaneously, and although now highly unusual most historical publications carry photographs of Devil's Bridge station with three trains present, and three locomotives in steam.

The station is equipped with a water tower, and station buildings providing waiting room, booking hall, booking office, and staff room, as well as lavatories. A separate temporary structure in the car park currently serves as a refreshment room and souvenir shop on railway operating days.

The small engine shed at Devil's Bridge railway station.

Engine shed

There is a small engine shed at Devil's Bridge. The shed is considerably too small to accommodate any of the line's principal locomotives, but does house a small Kerr, Stuart and Company industrial tank engine (Wren class) which is steamed on some high season operating days to provide footplate rides as an additional station attraction.^[1] The tank engine's operations on such days are restricted to the long siding.

References

1. See report, with photograph of the locomotive, here.

Preceding station	Heritage railways			Following station
Rhiwfron		Vale of Rheidol Railway		Terminus