R.o.B Railways
The Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway
Introduction: Blaenafon in Wales or Blaenavon as it is now spelt is perhaps one of the most ideal towns in Britain to demonstrate the development of tramways and wagonways in to today’s railways and enjoyment of people running preserved railways. The town has a short history with regards to many others in Britain as it developed with the iron industry in the late 18th century and sadly lost its industrial impetus with the closure of the coal mines in the 20th century. However from a railway point of view it has a phenomenal history with the world’s first railway viaduct that has been buried beneath thousands of tons of mine waste and also a tunnel that once carried a tramway through the mountains. With the arrival of main line trains both the LNWR and the GWR had stations in the town and today there is the The Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway which aims to restore some of the towns railway.
Railways in the Blaenavon area about 1922
The Pontypool and Blaenavon railway: This is the only preserved standard gauge line in the Welsh valleys and it is situated at the north eastern end of the south Wales coalfield in the hills of Torfaen. The original line that this railway runs over was operated originally by the London and North Western Railway after it was opened in 1866 by the Brynmawr & Blaenavon Railway. This was because the line actually formed a head on connection with the so called LNWR ‘Heads of the Valleys’ route thus allowing coal from the mines nearby to be transported directly to the Midlands. Eight years after its opening the line was continued south to connect with the Great Western Railway at Abersychan and on to Talywain creating a through route to Pontypool and Newport. In 1941 the northern section of the line closed to passenger traffic and in 1954 it closed to goods. The section from Blaenavon Furnace sidings south remained open for freight until 1980 when the Big Pit colliery, one of the oldest still working in Wales at the time, closed. The former GWR lower line from Blaenavon low level to Newport closed in 1962. Blaenavon also had a 2 road LNWR engine shed but his closed in 1942.
While the line was been closed in 1980, plans were underfoot to rescue 2 miles of it for preservation by the P&BR preservation society. In 1983 works commenced on the top half mile of line from Furnace sidings (1207 feet above sea level) up the incline to the whistle inn at Garn-yr-erw (1307 feet above sea level). Sadly this has been the extent of the route since then though there are hopes for the line to be extended south to the site of Blaenavon High level station and the Furnace sidings yard. Today the preserved railway has its depot site and storage sidings on what was once the exchange sidings, washery, and landsale yard of the former Big pit and includes some of the original trackwork. At Furnace sidings the base of the former LNWR signal box is still noticeable along with some of the other items of industrial architecture related to the pit and railway. Dominating the yard is the old concrete water tower which was not knocked down with the rest of the washery in 1987. Access from the washery to the pit was available by a bridge spanning the LNWR main line and today forms the only standard gauge ‘rail over bridge’ in preservation. Big pit itself forms part of the National mining museum of Wales and includes most of the original pit buildings and visitors can still go underground. Sadly there is no rail connection to the P&BR though if there ever were it would give a good visitor attraction with shunting trains and even rides.
The P&BR normally uses diesel locomotives with 2 or 3 Mk1 coaches or multiple units on its services though there are the occasional steam visitors with steam locomotives on display outside the Mine. To get up to Whistle inn the locomotive hauled trains are propelled up to the top and on the downward gradient acts as a strong brake force. The southbound extension to the railway, which will form the steepest part of the line, will be in three stages continuing the present route to the former High level station where a run round loop and station facilities will be built. The second part will see the line extended to Varteg which is the next station along the route with the third part to see the line reach a length of 7 miles at Abersychan and Talywain. Also in the pipeline are plans to extend the line northwards from Whistle inn 1 mile and 100 feet higher to Waunavon. The railway also runs a shop in the town selling models and books as well as proving to be a valuable source for information to visitors and enthusiasts.