Llangurig branch

The Llangurig branch as built

The Llangurig branch was a part of a proposed scheme by the Manchester and Milford Railway to connect the industrialised Northwest with the West Wales deep port of Milford Haven. After various financial and construction difficulties, the 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of the Llangurig branch is noted in trivia as being the shortest lived working branch line in the UK, receiving precisely 1 train.

Background

During the Victorian era, Wales rail network was built piecemeal by many small companies. Parliament mistakenly granted acts for two lines through the same piece of terrain, linking Llanidloes to Aberystwyth: one for the Manchester and Milford Railway; the other for the Mid-Wales Railway.

The M&MR was an ambitious proposal to connect Manchester, Northwest England and the industrialised Midlands with the deep water docks at Milford Haven. Effectively a connecting using LNWR and Midland Railway metals, the M&MR would have connected with the Mid-Wales Railway at Llanidloes, and then, via a junction at Strata Florida, with the C&CR at Pencader. Trains would then have run on the C&CR to Carmarthen before connecting to the Pembroke and Tenby Railway for connection to Milford Haven. The plan was that, combined with industrial traffic from South Wales, Milford Haven could "provide the Lancashire cotton industry with [an] alternative port to Liverpool." Predicted return traffic included American cotton for the mills of Manchester an the Northwest. This resulted in the construction of much of the Carmarthen Aberystwyth Line, which had reached Tregaron at the time. The Mid Wales had running rights from Newtown to Builth, Brecon, and Cardiff.

The MWR was authorized to build its line by act of parliament in 1859. The M&MR was likewise authorized in 1860. The line was to head west from Llanidloes by way of Llangurig to Pant Mawr, through a tunnel, then turning southwards for Ysbyty Ystwyth and Tregaron, finally connecting with the Carmarthen & Cardigan Railway at Pencader.

Llanidloes and Newtown Railway

Main article: Llanidloes and Newtown Railway

The MWR and M&MR approaches to Llanidloes covered the same territory. This caused the M&MR to prioritize work on this section, and by 1861 contractors' work forces were physically clashing. The MWR and M&MHR both offered to make their facilities available to the other, at a price. Unusually the situation was resolved with the help of a third party. An 1862 act of parliament authorized the joint Llanidloes and Newtown Railway to extend southwards with 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of double track to Penpontbren, where the MWR and M&MR would diverge. The M&MR and MWR were to pay 5% per anum on construction costs and maintenance. Also the three companies were to pay equal shares of interest and running costs for the new Llanidloes railway station. These charges were eventually to prove crippling for the M&MR.

The "Llangurig branch line" was fully built, and a single goods train ran along its length, at which point the L&NR invoiced the M&MR for the cost of the joint station at Llanidloes. The branch service was immediately terminated, being wholly unprofitable without through traffic. The M&MR continued to pay for the cost of the joint station they could not reach.

Financial difficulties, closure

By 1864 the M&MR had changed its plans for crossing the Pumlumon range. They now wanted to abandon the route through Pant Mawr, and instead intended to follow the Nant Troedyregair from Llanrug. This caused any work west of Llangurig to be abandoned. The change was, in the event, not authorized by Parliament.

However, the MWR then proposed its own westward extension, which was authorized, by an act of 1865. This was to branch west from a junction at Aber Marteg (where its route crosses the A470) up the Wye and Nant-y-Dernol valleys. The MWR was supposed to build another line from here directly to Llanrug, to join up with the M&MHR route. A 1⁄5 mile (0.32 km) long tunnel would burrow under the mountains to a descent to Ysbyty Ystwyth. From there the M&MR were to provide lines to the south through Ystrad Meurig (Strata Florida station) and west to Aberystwyth.

1866 was a difficult year, including the collapse of the London Bank Overend, Gurney and Company, causing many industrial projects to encounter financial hardship. It has been suggested that the bankruptcy of Thomas Savin, renowned Welsh railway engineer and investor, in the 1860s, may have been partly involved as it was with the failure of several other Welsh railway projects.

By 1876 MWR had still failed to build the new route, with an act of parliament permitting abandonment of the scheme. In 1882 the M&MHR started to dismantle the Llangurig branch, lifting 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of the essentially unused track for maintenance purposes elsewhere. The M&MR opened the modified through line in 1867, and remained independent until taken over by the Great Western Railway by 1911.

The initial 1861 route survey (which had parliamentary approval) and a later 1864 route were locally controversial. The unbuilt section between Strata Florida and the railhead of the Llangurig branch would have been through very mountainous terrain, although only 15 miles (24 km) in length as the crow flies.

Present day

The M&MR became a cross country route from Carmarthen to Aberystwyth, being absorbed into the Great Western Railway. Penbontbren Junction signal box existed and was manned until the Mid-Wales Railway closed on 31 December 1962.

A large part of the route east of Llangurig is marked on current OS maps as 'dismantled railway', much of the course close to the A470 road through Nant gwynwydd being clearly visible. Some earthworks and tunnel headings survive from the original M&MR scheme west of Llangurig, as can Llangurig station.

See also

• List of never used railways