Llangollen railway station

Llangollen
General information
Location	Denbighshire
Managed by	Llangollen Railway
Platforms	2
History
Original company	Vale of Llangollen Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Western Railway
Post-grouping	Great Western Railway
Key dates
2 June 1862	Opened
18 January 1965	Closed for passengers
April 1968	Closed for goods traffic
13 September 1975	The Llangollen Railway is formed and begins reconstruction westwards
1981	Llangollen Station re-opens officially

Llangollen railway station in the town of Llangollen, Denbighshire, Wales is a preserved railway station on the former Ruabon to Barmouth Line, and now the eastern terminus of the preserved Llangollen Railway.

History

Development

Llangollen was already a popular place for Victorian era tourists by the 1840s. Travel upto this point had been by horse drawn carriage, but by the 1840's the Shrewsbury to Chester line had been completed, allowing passengers to alight at Llangollen Road, and then take a coach towards Holyhead.

However, the commercial development of the local mining industry meant that the development of a railway became essential to the regions economic development. A number of schemes were proposed, including one by the LNWR, but it not until 1 August 1859 that scheme engineered by Henry Robertson received Royal Assent. The 5.25 miles (8.45 km) Vale of Llangollen Railway left the Shrewsbury to Chester main line .5 miles (0.80 km) south of Ruabon, and built as a single track line on a double track route proceeded via Acrefair to the new station at Llangollen. The line opened to freight on 1st December 1861, and to passengers on 2nd June 1862 at a temporary terminus on the towns eastern outskirts.

The extension to Corwen was undertaken by the associated but seperate Llangollen and Corwen Railway company, and involved constructing a long tunnel under the local Berwyn Mountains. It, together with the new centrally positioned and larger station in Llangollen, opened for service on 1 May 1865.

Operations

The already accomodated double-tracking of the line from Ruabon was completed in September 1900 to Llangollen Goods Junction, the site of the original passenger station, located .5 miles (0.80 km) west of the current station. Between then and World War 1, Acrefair, Trevor and Llangollen stations were all in part remodelled to cope with additional traffic. There were signal boxes at Llangollen and Llangollen Goods Jnc., with the latter controlling access to the goods yard which today is a depot for the preserved railway.

According to the Official Handbook of Stations the following classes of traffic were being handled at this station in 1956: G, P, F, L, H, C and there was a 3 ton crane. There was also a private siding at Pentrefelin (now a carriage depot) which was used by the White Sand & Silica Company. Between the two world wars, a direct service connection time of less then 6hrs was possible on a daily basis between London Paddington and Barmouth.

Closure

The eastern end of the preserved Llangollen railway station, during a Thomas the Tank Engine event, February 2008

Designated for closure under the Beeching cuts, the station closed to passengers on Monday 18 January 1965 but the section between Ruabon and Llangollen Goods Yard remained opened for freight traffic until April 1968. Immediately afterwards the track was removed from the whole line between Ruabon and Barmouth.

Preservation

The Flint and Deeside Railway Preservation Society was founded in 1972, with the aim of preserving one of the regions "axed" railways. Originally the society was interested in preserving the Dyserth to Prestatyn line; however that line was deemed unsuitable because a small amount of freight traffic was still using it. The society refocused its attention on the Llangollen to Corwen section of the Ruabon to Barmouth line. The local council granted a lease on the Llangollen railway station building, as well as 3 miles (4.8 km) of track, with the hope that the railway would improve the local economy and bring more tourists to Llangollen. The station reopened on 13 September 1975, with just 60 feet (18.3 m) of track.

The station was fully reopened in 1981 by the preserved Llangollen Railway as its eastern terminus, and has been subsequently been extended westwards to reopened in stages, to its present length of 9.5 miles (15.3 km). The refurbished station now encloses the Robertson Suite, which is available for hire as a venue for licensed weddings, functions or training.

Neighbouring stations

Preceding station	Historical railways			Following station
Terminus		Great Western Railway  Vale of Llangollen Railway		Sun Bank Halt
Berwyn		Great Western Railway  Llangollen and Corwen Railway		Terminus
	Heritage railways
Berwyn		Llangollen Railway		Terminus

References

• Butt, R. V. J. (October 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 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
• Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.
• Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
• RAILSCOT on Vale of Llangollen Railway
• RAILSCOT on Llangollen and Corwen Railway
• Llangollen station on navigable 1952 O. S. map