Nantybwch railway station

Nantybwch
Railway cottages which stood opposite station site in 2013.
Location
Place	Nantybwch
Area	Blaenau Gwent
Coordinates	51°47′15″N 3°15′53″W / 51.7876°N 3.2647°WCoordinates: 51°47′15″N 3°15′53″W / 51.7876°N 3.2647°W
Grid reference	SO128106
Operations
Original company	Merthyr, Tredegar and Abergavenny Railway
Pre-grouping	London and North Western Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Platforms	4
History
1 March 1864	Opened as Tredegar
1 November 1868	Renamed
2 November 1868	Becomes a junction station
4 January 1958	Withdrawal of Abergavenny and Merthyr services
13 June 1960	Final closure
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Nantybwch railway station was a station on the London and North Western Railway's Heads of the Valleys line serving the village of Nantybwch in the Welsh county of Monmouthshire.^[1]

History

The first section of the Merthyr, Tredegar and Abergavenny Railway from Abergavenny to Brynmawr was opened on 29 September 1862.^[2] The line was leased and operated by the London and North Western Railway which acquired the smaller railway company on 30 June 1866.^[3][4] On 1 March 1864, the line was extended from Brynmawr to Nantybwch where a station was opened.^[5][6] Initially named Tredegar, it was renamed Nantybwch on 1 November 1868,^[5][7] the day before the public opening of the northward extension from Sirhowy of the Sirhowy Railway which had its own Tredegar station.^[8][9]

The station was reached by the 118 yards (108 m) nine-arch Blaen-y-Cwm viaduct.^[10] It was situated to the north of the small settlement from which it took its name and to the north-west of the local school.^[11] Road access was via an unmade up lane reached by passing staff cottages adjacent to the line.^[12] Situated at 1,165 feet (355 m) above sea level, the station was situated in a desolate and bleak landscape.^[13][14] To the west the three miles to Rhymney Bridge were at a gradient of 1 in 35, whilst to Sirhowy the gradients varied between 1 in 42 and 1 in 37.^[15] Single-engine loads between Rhymney and Nantybwch were restricted to 12 loaded wagons only.^[15]

Four platform faces were provided: two platforms either side of a curving island platform, a bay platform for Sirhowy services and a platform for Merthyr services.^[16] The Merthyr platform was adjacent to the road entrance and the platform building incorporated a ticket office and porters' room.^[17] A weather-boarded footbridge linked the platforms which were lit by Sugg's Rochester pattern gaslights.^[18] On the island platform was No. 1 signal box which was completed in 1891 and remained in use until 1959.^[19][20] On the Down island platform until 1929 was the Area Traffic Control Office near No. 1 box until it was relocated to Abergavenny.^[21][22] On the Up side was a water column fed from a brick-lined reservoir.^[23] Beyond the station to the west was No. 2 box which was stone-built and of Rhymney Railway design; it controlled the goods sidings adjacent to the double track which were used for stabling and running around stock after closure of the line to the west.^[24] Colliers' coaches were also stored here for the Sirhowy trains.^[21]

As a result of decline in the local industry and the costs of working the line between Abergavenny and Merthyr,^[25] passenger and goods services ceased on 4 January 1958.^[26] The last passenger service over the line was an SLS railtour on 5 January 1958 hauled by GWR 6959 No. 7912 Little Linford Hall.^[26][27] Final closure of Nantybwch came on 13 June 1960 with the withdrawal of the Sirhowy services,;^{[5][7][28][29]} the last timetable showing three trains on weekdays from Tredegar.^[30] The final day of operations was in fact the previous Saturday 11 June when GWR 5700 No. 3634 worked the last Up train from Tredegar at 4.32pm^[31][29] and the last Down at 4.50pm with No. 8711.^[32] The last train was the 6.33pm from Risca to Tredegar which had been extended to Nantybwch and departed from there at 7.52pm.^[33] Earlier in the day there had been a rare Saturday excursion special from Brynmawr to Barry Island which called at Nantybwch.^[31]

Preceding station	Disused railways			Following station
Rhymney Bridge Line and station closed		London and North Western Railway Merthyr, Tredegar and Abergavenny Railway		Trevil Halt Line and station closed
Terminus		London and North Western Railway Sirhowy Railway		Sirhowy Line and station closed

Present

The site of the station has been lost under the A465 road.^[34][35]

References

Notes

1. Conolly (2004), p. 8, section A4.
2. Tasker (1986), p. 18.
3. Awdry (1990), p. 93.
4. Hall (2009), p. 63.
5. Quick (2009), p. 284.
6. Butt (1995), p. 233.
7. Butt (1995), p. 166.
8. Tasker (1992), p. 33.
9. Page (1988), p. 43.
10. Tasker (1986), p. 21.
11. Mitchell & Smith (2007), fig. XXIX.
12. Edge (2002), fig. 93.
13. Mitchell & Smith (2007), fig. 118.
14. Hall (2009), p. 67.
15. Page (1989), p. 172.
16. Page (1988), p. 67.
17. Mitchell & Smith (2007), fig. 116.
18. Edge (2002), figs. 87 and 88.
19. Mitchell & Smith (2007), fig. 113.
20. Edge (2002), fig. 87.
21. Tasker (1986), p. 128.
22. Edge (2002), fig. 89.
23. Tasker (1986), p. 63.
24. Mitchell & Smith (2007), fig. 117.
25. Hall (2009), p. 68.
26. Tasker (1986), p. 139.
27. Edge (2002), fig. 65.
28. Clinker (1988), p. 99.
29. Tasker (1992), p. 46.
30. Edge (2002), fig. 92.
31. Mitchell & Smith (2007), fig. 119.
32. Mitchell & Smith (2007), fig. 120.
33. Tasker (1986), p. 62.
34. Edge (2002), fig. 85.
35. Tasker (1986), p. 141.

Sources

• Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0049-7. OCLC 19514063.
• Butt, R. V. J. (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 1-8526-0508-1. OCLC 60251199.
• 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 0-905466-91-8. OCLC 655703233.

• Conolly, W. Philip (2004) [1958]. British Railways Pre-Grouping Atlas and Gazetteer. Hersham, Surrey: Ian Allan. ISBN 978-0-7110-0320-0.
• Edge, David (September 2002). Abergavenny to Merthyr including the Ebbw Vale Branch. Country Railway Routes. Midhurst: Middleton Press. ISBN 1-901706-915.
• Hall, Mike (2009). Lost Railways of South Wales. Newbury: Countryside Books. ISBN 978-1-84674-172-2.
• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (August 2007). Sirhowy Valley Line. Welsh Valleys. Midhurst: Middleton Press. ISBN 978-1-906008-123.
• Page, James (1988) [1979]. South Wales. Forgotten Railways 8. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-946537-44-5.
• Page, James (1989). Rails in the Valleys. London: Guild Publishing. ISBN 978-0-71538-979-9.
• Quick, Michael (2009) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (4th ed.). Oxford: Railway and Canal Historical Society. ISBN 978 0 901461 57 5. OCLC 612226077.
• Tasker, W.W. (1986). The Merthyr, Tredegar & Abergavenny Railway and branches. Poole: Oxford Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-86093-339-7.
• Tasker, W.W. (1992) [1978]. Railways in the Sirhowy Valley. Oxford: Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-415-6.