Brecon and Merthyr Tydfil Junction Railway

Brecon was an important regional centre in mediaeval times, due to its location at the confluence of the River Honddu and the River Usk. Its relatively remote location meant that transport was always an important consideration. The difficult terrain southwards would require crossing the ridge of the Brecon Beacons into the high ground at the head of the South Wales Valleys, and the first turnpike connected eastward to Abergavenny and south-westward to Swansea. The Brecknock and Abergavenny Canal, later part of the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal, was opened to Brecon in 1800 continuing the alignment to the east. In 1816 the Hay Railway was opened; this was a horse-drawn plateway 24 miles long, connecting Brecon to Hay, and later Eardisley. Industry south of the Brecon Beacons was linked in to the canal when the Brinore Tramway (or Bryn Oer Tramway opened in 1815. It connected the industrial site of Brinore, near Trevil, north of Tredegar, to Talybont-on-Usk, on the Brecknock and Abergavenny Canal. ==Brecon and Merthyr Railway Act 1859==

In the 1859 session of Parliament, the Brecon and Merthyr Bill was considered. It proposed a railway from a junction with the Dowlais Railway of 1851 near its terminus at Dowlais, to Brecon near the head of the canal. The Dowlais Railway was built chiefly to serve the Dowlais iron company, so that the proposed would provide an outlet, via the canal, for its products. It also connected Dowlais and Merthyr in difficult terrain—it included a rope worked incline—that might save expense for the in reaching Merthyr. During the progress of the bill the Brecon to Talybont section was dropped, conceding the part of the route to another planned railway company; this failed to get authorised, but this was too late for the to reinstate the omitted section. The railway as authorised by the '''''' (22 & 23 Vict. c. lxviii) on 1 August 1859 was from Dowlais to Talybont. A railway further north got authorised: the Hereford, Hay and Brecon Railway (HH&BR). It had made arrangements with the larger Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway to work it. The Hay Railway was intent as this stage on selling its line, and the Hereford, Hay and Brecon Railway proposed to purchase it, simplifying the issue of land acquisition. After considerable negotiation, the agreed to partition the Hay Railway, conceding part to the Mid Wales Railway and the southern section from Talyllyn to Brecon was granted to the B&M. These arrangements were ratified by the Hay Railway Act 1860 (23 & 24 Vict. c. clxxix) of 6 August 1860. Accordingly, relying on the confirmation of the agreement, the was able to get powers to extend from Talybont through Talyllyn to Brecon, by '''''' (23 & 24 Vict. c. xvii) of 15 May 1860. A triangular junction would be formed at Talyllyn with the Mid Wales Railway. Mutual running powers arrangements were agreed. ==Construction==

The first sod was turned on 18 January 1860; the contractors were David Davies and Thomas Savin, and a lease arrangement was concluded with them for ten years in which they guaranteed the proprietors 5% interest on capital. The Beacon Tunnel (official railway name 'Torpantau Tunnel') was completed by 11 January 1862 and on 28 August 1862 a trial run for the directors was undertaken between Pant and Talyllyn. The section between Talyllyn and Brecon was much slower to construct, partly because it was still in use by the Hay Railway; Talyllyn tunnel needed to be opened out with that traffic in operation. It was possible to run a locomotive through to Brecon on 1 January 1863, and on 12 February Captain Rich of the Board of Trade carried out an inspection for approval of passenger operation. There was still a delay, but some revenue goods train operation took place in April 1863. ==Opening==

The entire line between Brecon and Pant, 19 miles of single line, opened on 1 May 1863. First stations were Brecon (temporary station), Talyllyn (temporary station), Talybont, Dolygaer, and Pant. A horse omnibus connected for Merthyr; in due course the Dowlais Railway was to make the connection to the ironworks for mineral traffic. The engineer for the line was Henry Conybeare, who described it as a good locomotive road throughout. Coming south, locomotives were going to have to ascend the Seven Mile Bank, making a 925 feet climb. ==Extending the network==

While construction was in progress, the was busy getting Parliament to approve its plans for extension. In the 1861 session it obtained authority in the '''''' (24 & 25 Vict. c. ccxxxv) to build down the Bargoed Rhymney valley, but the Rhymney Railway was given similar powers in the Rhymney Railway (Capital and Branch) Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c. cxliv) and they were mutually exclusive. Eventually the powers were divided, the Rhymney Railway building up to Deri Junction, and the building down to that point from the north. The got powers in the '''''' (25 & 26 Vict. c. clxxxiv) to abandon the Dowlais Railway connection that had become superfluous, and to connect directly to the Taff Vale Railway at Merthyr. ==The Rumney Railway==

The Rumney Railway had been incorporated in 1825 and opened in 1826 as a horse operated plateway, running from the ironworks at Rhymney to Bassaleg, near Newport, connecting there with the Sirhowy Railway and giving access to Newport Docks. Some steam locomotive operation was undertaken after about 1854, and the Rumney Railway Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c. ccxxvii) gave powers to modernise the line and adapt it for passenger operation. It is evident that the true objective was to sell the line to one or other more modern neighbouring company as a going concern. It was the Brecon and Merthyr Railway that acquired it for £90,000 under the Rumney and Brecon and Merthyr Railways Act 1863 (26 & 27 Vict. c. ccii) of 28 July 1863. The had got hold of an obsolescent railway but with it came access to Newport over the Monmouthshire Railway from Bassaleg. The now had to set about the modernisation of the line itself, including a considerable amount of easing of the sharp curves. Captain Rich, after two refusals, agreed to reopening for passenger operation following his inspection on 7 June 1865, and the line opened to passenger operation between Pengam and Newport Dock Street (Monmouthshire Railway) on 14 June 1865; the operation was extended up to Rhymney from 16 April 1866, and in 1867 coal traffic started running. ==Financial danger==

The company's trains were being worked by Thomas Savin and John Ward, who paid the proprietors 5% on their capital, but early in 1866 [or 1865] the contractor failed. Suddenly the was unable to deal with its own financial commitments and it starting to miss debenture payments, and the company went into administration. This meant that it was unable to complete the Merthyr branch, and the restrictive clauses in its acts of Parliament meant that it oriented from opening the line through to Newport. In 1868 and again in 1870 financial arrangements were made with creditors, which enabled the company to carry on; debentures were converted to debenture stock and the company was enabled to continue. ==Completing to Merthyr, Dowlais and Newport==

Finishing the line to Merthyr was the obvious priority, and Alexander Sutherland was commissioned to find a means to do so. The obstruction hitherto had been the objection of the Crawshay Estate to the line coming through the grounds of Cyfarthfa Castle. Sutherland redesigned the route further west avoiding the Estate. This was at the expense of much difficulty of engineering, and of operation later. The line was opened in part, from Pontsticill to Cefn, on 1 August 1867. The new line joined the Vale of Neath Railway line at Rhydycar Junction, immediately south of Merthyr station, opening on 1 August 1868. The VoNR station at Merthyr was used. This now released the legal obstruction to the opening to Newport; the part of this from Pant to Dowlais Top had opened on 1 August 1867, and from Dowlais Top to Pengam was opened on 1 September 1868. Three trains ran daily from Brecon to Newport Dock Street. This section from Dowlais to Pengam ran through the Bargoed Rhymney Valley. Both the and the Rhymney Railway had wished to build a line through this, but the defile near Bargoed made that physically impossible and at length a compromise was reached: the Rhymney Railway would build up from Bargoed to Deri Junction, and the would build down from Dowlais to Deri Junction. There would be a limited mutual exchange of running powers. At Bargoed the Rhymney Railway and the trains exercising running powers were on the west side of the valley, and the from its Rhymney station was on the east side. A north-west to south-east diagonal connection was built as part of the work. The location of the stations at Dowlais was determined by the through lines on which they were sited, and in 1865 the had obtained powers to make a short branch to a central location in Dowlais. It opened from Pant on 23 June 1869. The Dowlais station, at Lloyd Street, was later (in 1924) renamed Dowlais Central. ==LNWR connections==

The London and North Western Railway was encroaching from the east by means of the Merthyr, Tredegar and Abergavenny Railway which it had acquired, and it was obvious that it sought to reach Dowlais and Merthyr. In the London and North Western Railway (New Lines) Act 1867 (30 & 31 Vict. c. cxiii) of 15 July 1867 it obtained authority to make junctions with the near Dowlais Top and near Dowlais (Central), where its new alignment would bring the two railways close together. The LNWR line was to pass Dowlais heading north, in tunnel under Pant station, curving west and south to join the line at Morlais Junction. The connections were made on 1 January 1873. The connection at Dowlais Top was used for the exchange of goods and mineral traffic, and was removed about 1933. The connection near the central station at Dowlais was made by curving from northward to join the southward at Ivor Junction just outside the station; LNWR trains used the station from that time. On 4 May 1885 the LNWR opened a station at Dowlais High Street, somewhat to the east of Dowlais, and from that date transferred its passenger calls to that station. The goods traffic of the LNWR (and its successors) continued to be exchanged at Dowlais (Central) station until 22 November 1954, from which date such traffic ran via . The LNWR still wanted good access to Merthyr and in 1874 promoted a bill for a new line getting access to the town. The opposed this in Parliament, but a compromise was reached by which the 's own Merthyr line would be made joint with the LNWR in consideration of the LNWR refunding half the original cost of construction of that line. This was agreed, but the LNWR had to build an expensive connecting line from a new junction, Penywern Junction, on its line to the Dowlais (Central) station, running northward in tunnel to a westward junction with the line at Morlais Junction. The line took four years to construct, but the LNWR took formal joint ownership of the relevant part of the line in 1875, ensuring that it retained access in the event of the negotiating with rivals. The LNWR line opened on 1 June 1879, when the LNWR trains were able to run to Merthyr High Street station. ==Hereford, Hay and Brecon Railway==

The Brecon and Merthyr Railway had opened its first main line between Brecon and Pant on 1 May 1863. Trains of the Hereford, Hay and Brecon Railway, worked by the Mid Wales Railway, started working in to Brecon from 19 September 1864 An east loop was built at Talyllyn, forming a triangular junction there, enabling goods trains from Merthyr to the north to run direct; this opened on 21 September 1864. The original partitioning of the Hay Railway had been a negotiated compromise, and led to an arrangement that was less than ideal; the Hereford, Hay and Brecon Railway agreed to amalgamate with the Brecon and Merthyr Railway, and this was ratified by the '''''' (28 & 29 Vict. c. cccxxiv) of 5 July 1865. This appeared to be satisfactory, but it emerged in 1867 that the preference shareholders had not been agreed by the preference shareholders, and the amalgamation was held to be void. The '''''' (31 & 32 Vict. c. cxlii) confirmed the separation of the two companies once again and the was reincorporated by the Hereford, Hay and Brecon Railway Act 1869 (32 & 33 Vict. c. cxl) of 26 July 1869. It needed a company to work its trains for it, and after a false start the Midland Railway performed this task, from 1 October 1869. The Midland Railway had a presence at Hereford using running powers, and had long sought an entry into South Wales. The working arrangement was converted into a lease (of the by the Midland) from 1874 and acquired the Swansea Vale Railway in the same year. When it negotiated an arrangement to run its trains over the Neath and Brecon Railway from 1877, it had achieved its goal of reaching Swansea. This brought a considerable volume of additional traffic to the route, and proved lucrative for the Brecon and Merthyr, whose line formed part of the chain from Hereford to Swansea. ==Brecon arrangements==

The first Brecon and Merthyr Railway station at Brecon was at Watton; it was always intended as a temporary station, but the arrival of the trains and Mid Wales Railway's own trains overloaded the accommodation significantly. The Neath and Brecon Railway opened its line at Brecon from the west in 1867, but during its construction it became clear that its attitude to the was unfriendly. It was also desperately short of money, and opened its line to a separate temporary station at Free Street. A connection was made between the two stations, but it was not suitable for passenger operation. Nevertheless, Barrie observes: As late as July 1869… the Neath and Brecon Engineer, admitted to a House of Lords select committee that if any passengers for east of Brecon arrived by train at Mount Street their tickets were collected, they were put on the engine, and run forward on the high level line to a point opposite and above the Watton station. (There was also a loop line direct from the Free Street extension into Watton Yard, but the Neath & Brecon witnesses claimed that the B&M would not let them use it, but kept the points locked. By 1870 a contract was let to build a new station at Free Street, intended to be a Joint station for all the railway companies (although wholly owned by the ), and it opened on 1 March 1871. Nonetheless, the Neath and Brecon Railway continued to use its own station until 1874, when its passenger trains moved to Free Street, the former station being relegated to goods traffic. Watton had already adopted that role. ==Caerphilly==

The Old Rumney Railway had secured authorisation in the Rumney Railway Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c. ccxxvii) for a line from Machen to Caerphilly, and after the acquisition of the Old Rumney by the this was constructed, opening in 1867. was to use the from Machen to Bassaleg, but needed to pass over a mile or so of the Monmouthshire Western Valley line to reach Newport Docks, and the did not make the facility available at first, on 7 July 1884. After a stand-off the use of the line was conceded. In 1882 the Newport Docks company reconstituted itself as the Alexandra (Newport and South Wales) Docks and Railway and was clearly in the lead over the affairs of the , and it obtained powers in 1883 to build an additional double track alongside the Western Valley line from Bassaleg. This opened in April 1886. The approach to Machen on the Caerphilly branch was on a steeply graded single line, and working the heavy mineral traffic over it was inconvenient; the obtained powers to build a second, nearly parallel single line on easier gradients: the Machen Loop. This was opened on 14 September 1891 an immediately transferred to ownership. The new and old single lines were operated as a double track. Waterloo and Fountain Bridge platforms for the railmotor stopping trains, were on the separated single lines and accordingly had a service in one direction only respectively. ==Barry Railway==

The Barry Railway was founded to provide an alternative port for the export of the coal and mineral resources of South Wales, following decades of dissatisfaction with the facilities at Cardiff and Newport, and with the railway connections to those places. The first section of line opened in 1888 and in the following year coal was hauled from the Rhondda Valley, and the Company moved on to providing a connection from the Rhymney Railway at Penrhos, west of Caerphilly. In 1898 it obtained powers to make another connection, this time with the between Bedwas and Maesycwmmer. This was a significant civil engineering undertaking, crossing the Rhymney Valley on a large structure known as Llanbradach viaduct. The new line opened on 2 January 1905. The Barry Railway had running powers for mineral traffic in the upper part of the network in the Rhymney Valley; other traffic was hauled by the local company and exchanged at Duffryn Isaf. ==Grouping==

Most of the railways of Great Britain were formed into one or other of four new larger companies, in a process referred to as the "grouping", following the Railways Act 1921. The Brecon and Merthyr Railway was a subsidiary of the new Great Western Railway; the change took effect on 1 July 1922. There had, of necessity, been capital reconstructions in 1882 and 1902. In the twentieth century interest was paid on preference shares, and in 1918 – 1921 this was as high as 4%, but on preference shares only. ==From 1923==

Many of the ironworks of the Merthyr and Dowlais areas were declining steeply or indeed closing in this period, and the network's dependency on those industries made it extremely vulnerable. A traffic pooling arrangement for mineral traffic between the and the London Midland and Scottish Railway was agreed in 1933, and this resulted in a switch for much traffic to more efficient routes, avoiding the long and difficult climb through the Brecon Beacons and Talyllyn, and this reduced the volume of traffic. The hillside above New Tredegar had shown itself to be unstable resulting in temporary closure of the line in 1916, and more serious slips took place in September 1928, April 1929 and April 1930. This resulted in the closure of the upper portion of the branch from 14 April 1930; the only working colliery on the affected section could equally well be served by the former Rhymney Railway branch. ==From 1948==

Under British Railways ownership after nationalisation, the decline in use of the railway continued, affecting all classes of traffic. The passenger service between Dowlais Central (the former terminus at Dowlais) and Pant was withdrawn from 28 June 1952. For a period workmen's trains continued but these were ended on 2 May 1960. The Machen to Pontypridd passenger service, instituted but not worked by the , was closed down on 15 September 1956. The Merthyr to Pontsticill service was withdrawn from 13 November 1961 and the main line service from Newport to Brecon, and also the New Tredegar branch closed from 31 December 1962. On the same date, the services from Hereford and Moat Lane were also closed down, so that Brecon had no passenger train service. There remained a Caerphilly – Machen – Newport unadvertised service for workmen as the only passenger operation on the network; that too closed on 1 July 1963. Goods and mineral traffic between Deri Junction and Pant was withdrawn on 5 August 1963, followed by that between Brecon and Merthyr, and also Pontsticill and Dowlais Central, on 4 May 1964. Brecon continued as a non-rail-connected coal depot until 9 November 1964. Bedwas to Pengam closed completely on 31 December 1962. The Waterloo section of line, built to ease gradients and congestion approaching Machen, was closed on 20 July 1964, but the residual freight traffic was diverted through Radyr and the Caerphilly to Machen section closed from 20 November 1967. Ogilvie Colliery on the Deri line remained in use until 3 September 1978. By 1980 only one short section of survived, serving coal traffic to Bedwas Navigation Colliery, from Newport via Bassaleg and Nine Mile Point. When the Bedwas colliery closed, the section of the branch between Bedwas and Machen was also closed, in 1985. The section between Machen and Bassaleg Junction has experienced sporadic stone traffic from Hanson Aggregates' limestone quarry, east of Machen. ==1878 accident==

The was subject to a number of accidents; the extreme gradients were often a cause. On 2 December 1878 a particularly tragic accident took place. A goods and mineral train was descending the seven-mile bank, and inadequate wagon brakes had been applied. The train got out of control, and derailed near Talybont, running down the embankment slope. The train consisted of 22 wagons of coal, three of goods, 11 empties, and a brake van; it was worked by three 0-6-0 saddle tank engines; the aggregate weight of the train was 397 tons. Two drivers and two firemen were killed. ==Rolling stock==

Initially, the was worked by the contractor Thomas Savin, who provided locomotives and rolling stock from a fleet that was also used to work several other Welsh lines, such as the Mid Wales Railway. Savin went bankrupt in February 1866 and fourteen of his 56 locomotives then came into ownership. Whilst the was absorbed by the on 1 July 1922, its locomotives were not taken into stock until the four-week period that ended on 8 October that year. At the time, there were 47 locomotives allocated to five depots: Bassaleg (29 locomotives), Brecon (13), Dowlais (2), Rhymney (2) and Talyllyn (1). All were tank locomotives: most were of the 0-6-0T (23 locomotives) and 0-6-2T (18) wheel arrangements, there were also 2-4-0T (5) and 4-4-2T (1). Many of the locomotives were withdrawn by the end of 1934, leaving 14 0-6-2T; of these, one was withdrawn in 1947 and the remainder were inherited by British Railways in 1948, the last two being withdrawn in 1954. Bassaleg locomotive depot opened in 1875. The gave it the code BSG, and it closed in 1926 – the locomotives were transferred to Newport (Ebbw Junction) depot. Brecon locomotive depot was shared with the Cambrian Railways, it opened in 1863 on the southern side of Watton station. The gave it the code BCN and number 39. At the end of 1947, it had 14 locomotives: nine 0-6-0, four 0-6-0PT and one 0-4-2T. British Railways initially gave it the code 89B but in November 1959 it became a sub-shed of Oswestry, so the locomotives allocated to Brecon carried the 89A code of Oswestry. Regional boundary changes at the end of 1960 moved Oswestry into the London Midland Region, but Brecon remained in the Western Region, and again gained its own code, this time 88K. It closed in December 1962. Dowlais locomotive depot was on the western side of Dowlais Central station; it opened in 1898. The gave it the code CVU and number 78, altering the code to DLS in 1940. At the end of 1947, it had a single locomotive – ex-TVR O4 class 0-6-2T no. 292. British Railways made it a sub-shed of Merthyr, so the locomotives allocated to Dowlais carried the 88D code of Merthyr. It closed in May 1960. Rhymney closed by 1930. Talyllyn was a sub-shed of Brecon, and closed in 1922. There were 114 coaching stock vehicles (76 four-wheel and 38 six-wheel) taken into stock on 24 July 1922, of which 91 (60 third-class, 18 composite, 11 brake third and two saloons) were passenger carrying, and the remainder (17 brake vans, three horse boxes, two carriage trucks and an inspection car) non-passenger. There were also three "market vans", authorised to run in passenger trains. Virtually all of these were withdrawn within a few years of grouping – only two were still in stock at the end of 1928: a third-class coach, withdrawn in 1930; and a brake van (used as a breakdown van), withdrawn in 1948. • Goods vehicles (mainly coal): 629. By 1913, the line carried nearly 3.5 million long tons a year of coal and 227,000 long tons of other minerals. The main workshops for locomotives, carriages and wagons were at Machen; it was open by 1863, and was reconstructed in 1875. The works was about half a mile east of Machen station on the northern side of the line (). Although overhaul of the whole rolling stock fleet was carried out there, new construction was confined to wagons, including the three "market vans". One locomotive, no. 25, part-built by Robert Stephenson & Co., was completed at Machen during 1898. After the Grouping, the rationalised the workshops inherited from the various railways of South Wales, and the Caerphilly works of the former Rhymney Railway was selected for enlargement. The work was completed in 1926, and Machen works, just a few miles to the north-east, was then closed. ==Traffic managers and general managers==

Alfred Henshaw, 1863 – 1894. John Gall 1894 – 1903. Herbert R. Price 1903 – 1922. ==Locomotive Superintendents==

• John Thomas Simpson: 1863 – 10 June 1869 (killed in accident at Maesycwmmer) • Thomas Mason: 1869 – November 1871 (resigned) • Charles Long: January 1872 – May 1888 (retired) • George C. Owen: 1888 – 18 April 1909 (killed in accident at Machen) • James Dunbar: 1909 – February 1922 (died in office) Following the death of Dunbar, the post remained vacant until the absorbed the locomotive stock on 1 July 1922. During this period, H. F. H. Gibson, the chief draughtsman, was in charge of the locomotive department. ==Topography==