Newtown and Machynlleth Railway: Difference between revisions
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[[Category:Cambrian Railways]] |
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[[Category:Railway companies established in 1857]] |
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[[Category:Railway lines |
[[Category:Railway lines opened in 1863]] |
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Revision as of 21:26, 10 February 2012
| Llangurig branch | |
|---|---|
| Overview | |
| Status | Operational |
| Owner | Newtown and Machynlleth Railway |
| Termini | |
| Stations | Scafell Halt Moat Lane Junction |
| History | |
| Opened | 1863 |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 23 mi (37 km) |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge |
|} The Newtown and Machynlleth Railway (N&MR) was a short railway created to allow the Oswestry and Newtown Railway and the Mid-Wales Railway access the Mid-Wales market town of Machynlleth, from their communal station at Newtown, Powys. Crossing the River Severn and the Cambrian Mountains, on completion in 1863 it immediately became part of the Cambrian Railways system.
Construction
The railways of Wales were built by a series of adhoc companies, often backed by a network of local and national investors, and engineered by a group of communal civil engineers.
The difficulty with the construction of the N&MR, was geographic over any other obstacle. Firstly, exiting Newtown, all routes had to cross the River Severn. Secondly, then heading due west, the railway had to make an economic and accessible to railway locomotives crossing of the Cambrian Mountains. This made the shortest but direct route both difficult to construct, resultantly expensive and potentially unworkable. This was much like the dilema which resulted in the economic termination of the strategic route which was the Llangurig branch of the Manchester and Milford Railway.
Vested by an Act of Parliament on 27 July 1857
23 miles (37 km): 27 July 1857; 1863
Vested by an Act of Parliament on 27 July 1857, by the start of construction in 1860, the Llanidloes and Newtown Railway had already bridged the River Severn south of Newtown, leaving the N&MR to only need to construct the twin spans of Penstrowed bridge to head west. The line then followed the natural line of the rising ground up towards the village of Talerddig, where a station was created to allow construction of the Talerddig cutting, which allowed the railway to cross the Cambrian Mountains. Now heading gently down hill along the course of River Twymyn towards the coast, via a junction with the Mawddwy Railway at Cemmes Road, the line terminated at Machynlleth. The economic construction of the line created a meandering path, but the low cost of construction.
Machynlleth station
The first railway station in Machynlleth was the narrow gauge Corris Railway, which opened its station building on the north side of the main-line goods yard in 1859. This was later made accessible from the mainline station by a flight of steps from the standard gauge platform.
The N&MR arrived in Machynlleth in 1863, three years after the formation of the Cambrian Railways. As allowed by its Act of Parliament, the N&MR was instructed to build a station capable of connecting to the towns of Cardigan Bay via the 1861 authorised Aberystwyth and Welsh Coast Railway (A&WCR). This it did the following year, conneting Dovey Junction to Aberystwyth. In 1867 the A&WCR was extended from Barmouth to Pwllheli via Porthmadog (then Portmadoc).
History
In 1868 the station and lines were absorbed into the Cambrian Railways.[1] The Cambrian Railways were absorbed by the Great Western Railway on 1 January 1922 as a result of the Railways Act 1921, and became part of British Railways in 1948.
References
- ^ Christiansen, Rex & Miller, R.W. The Cambrian Railways, Vol. 1 David & Charles (1967); p 65