Llanelly and Mynydd Mawr Railway

Llanelly and Myndd Mawr Railway
Legend Llanelly Railway and Dock Company Cross Hands Tumble Cwmblawd Cynheidre Horeb Felin Foel Sandy Bridge Junction Llanelly Steelworks Queen Victoria Road West Wales Line via Llanelli Llanelly Docks

This article describes the historical railway.
For the current heritage railway see Llanelli and Mynydd Mawr Railway

The Llanelly and Mynydd Mawr Railway was authorised by [Act of Parliament] on 19th July 1875. It made use of part of the long defunct Carmarthenshire Railway or Tramroad which had been authorised by an Act on 5th November 1801. The older line began running trains in 1803, the initial line being a plateway of about 4 foot gauge, with motive power provided by a pair of horses. This distribution line allowed for coal extraction in the hinterland to be connected to the Sandy area and Llanelly Docks and in 1798 the Stradey Iron Works established by Alexander Raby had begun trading and later received coal, ironstone and limestone for its furnaces via the Carmarthenshire line.

Oldest public railway claim

The Llanelly & Mynydd Mawr Railway took over much of the route of the defunct Carmarthenshire Tramroad that had been authorised by an Act of Parliament on 5th November 1801. That line can claim to be the first public railway in use in Britain. In his book published by The Oakwood Press and entitled ‘The Llanelly and Mynydd Mawr Railway’ Martin Connop Price refers to the Carmarthenshire Tramroad:

'Construction proceeded apace, and in May 1803, the line was open for traffic from the ironworks at Cwmddyche down to the sea, a distance of one and a half miles. This short length of line thereby can claim to be the first public railway in use in Britain, because the better known Surrey Iron Railway, engineered by William Jessop, was not ready for traffic until July 1803. By that month Barnes (James Barnes, report author) was able to report that the first five miles of the Carmarthenshire, together with certain branches, were already in use.' (Source – the Oakwood book quoted above p17)

Mixed fortunes

By 1844 the Carmarthenshire Tramroad ceased trading and it was to take over 30 years for the line to reopen. At a meeting in Llanelli Town Hall chaired by C.N.Neville Esq. M.P., it was resolved to reopen the line and to extend it to Cross Hands. In 1880 Mr Waddell the contractor stated that he was "pushing ahead with vigour".

The LMMR fully opened in 1883 although there had been some traffic since July 1881. (Source – the Oakwood book quoted above p50) The company used the anglicised spelling "Llanelly" rather than the Welsh Llanelli. Mynydd Mawr means "Great Mountain" in English. The track was re-laid using edge rails to standard gauge with a new viaduct over the main line to reach the docks.

The LMMR company disappeared in 1922 on being absorbed into the Great Western Railway which was in turn nationalised into British Railways in 1948. Throughout the twentieth century the line continued as a main artery for coal distribution, latterly from the Cynheidre Colliery until it closed in 1989.

Swiss Valley Cycle Route

Following a campaign lasting almost ten years from the Llanelli and District Railway Society (L&DRS) to save the intact, but derelict line the hopes were dashed in the mid-90's when the railway was sold by British Rail property board to the local authorities as part of a scheme to transform the track bed into a cycle way. This path is now labelled as the Swiss Valley Cycle Route, part of National Cycle Route 47, itself a part of the Celtic Trail.

Llanelli and Mynydd Mawr Railway Company Limited

Whilst the L&DRS's efforts were thwarted, a new charitable company was incorporated on the 15 April 1999 as a non-profit making company limited by guarantee (with no remuneration paid to its Directors). The company is named The Llanelli and Mynydd Mawr Railway Company Ltd, therefore reviving the name of the former operator albeit with the later Llanelli spelling. The primary objective of the registered charity is to reinstate a railway on the historic line. A heritage centre will also interpret the history of coal mining in the area and in particular the industry which the railway served.

0-6-0 saddle-tank No. 359 'Hilda' at Danygraig Locomotive Depot 1946

Locomotives

In the early years the LMMR had a fleet of its own steam locomotives to work the line:

Builder	Works no.	Built	Wheels	Name	GWR no.	Notes
AB	219	1880	0-4-0ST	-	-	Sold 1885
AB	221	1880	0-6-0ST	John Waddell	-	Sold 1908
FW	279	1885	0-6-0ST	Seymour Clarke	969	Withdrawn July 1925
AB	199	1879	0-4-0ST	No. 104 Inveravon	-	To LMMR 1887 Boiler exploded 1889
P	464	1888	0-6-0ST	Jeannie Waddell	-	To Great Mountain Colliery 1913
P	475	1889	0-6-0ST	-	-	Sold 1896
BH	884	1889	0-4-0ST	Burntisland	-	Sold by 1913
AE	1448	1902	0-6-0T	Great Mountain	944	Withdrawn November 1928
AB	1111	1907	0-6-0T	George Waddell	312	Withdrawn December 1934
AB	1157	1908	0-6-0ST	E.J. Robertson Grant	-	Sold 1919
HC	930	1911	0-6-0T	Ravelston	803	To British Railways 1948 Withdrawn March 1951 [1]
HC	912	1911	0-6-0ST	John Waddell	-	To Great Mountain Colliery c. 1919
HC	977	1912	0-6-0T	Merkland	937	Withdrawn June 1923
HC	1032	1913	0-6-0T	Tarndune	339	-	HC	1214	1917	0-6-0ST	Hilda	359	To British Railways 1948 Withdrawn July 1954 [2]
MW	1982	1920	0-6-0T	Victory	704	} Following absorption by the Great Western Railway, pannier tanks were in common use on the line. These continued under British Railways until phasing out of steam in the 1960s. In 1965 0-6-0 PT 1607 of Llanelli shed 87F was purchased by the National Coal Board and worked at Cynheidre Colliery until 1969 when it was condemned with a cracked frame, and was subsequently scrapped on site. In the later years of the line Class 37 diesel locos were the staple diet as well as Class 08 diesel shunting locos (up until the closure of the Cynheidre North section). References Price, M.R.C. (1992). The Llanelly & Mynydd Mawr Railway. Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-423-7. Notes Railuk info 229 Railuk info 155 External links Llanelly and Myndd Mawr Railway Sustrans Routes2Ride: Cycling in the Swiss Valley Source locomotive withdrawal dates - http://www.greatwestern.org.uk/lmmr.htm