Construction The railway was built to connect the quarries at Glyn Ceriog with the
Shropshire Union Canal at Chirk. A standard gauge "Ellesmere & Glyn Valley Railway" was authorised by the '
(29 & 30 Vict. c. cccxxxv) of 6 August to run from the Cambrian Railway at Ellesmere to the GWR at Chirk and thence to follow the Glyn Ceiriog road to the quarries. No construction took place and by the (32 & 33 Vict. c. cli), the Ellesmere to Chirk portion was abandoned. A further act of Parliament, the ' (
33 & 34 Vict. c. clxvi), obtained on 10 August 1870, allowed the original company to be dissolved, and the Glyn Valley Tramway to be incorporated to take over the rights, assets and goodwill of the previous company. The company believed it could not raise the £120,000 capital required to build the standard gauge line.
Henry Dennis suggested a narrow gauge line instead, which would only require £25,000. The line would run from the canal at Chirk Bank to the
Cambrian Slate Quarries. This initial line, at long, was opened in 1873, and was worked by horse and gravity traction carrying passengers and freight. The 1874 timetable shows three passenger journeys each way per day, originating at "New Inn, Glyn" at 8am, reaching "Pontvaen (Chirk)" at 8.45. The return journey took an hour. The terminus at Pontfaen was on the South side of the bridge as an account of an accident in December 1874 stated that "near the Chirk terminus there is a sharp curve, almost at a right angle, to cross the River Ceriog by a wooden bridge". The tram reached this curve at too great a speed and the trucks were shot over the side throwing some of the passengers down the steep rocky bank into the river, fortunately without any fatalities.
Expansion In 1885, additional parliamentary powers were obtained in the ''''
(48 & 49 Vict. c. cxl) to abandon the Quinta Tramway'' section between Pontfaen and Chirk Bank, replacing it with a new line from Pontfaen to the
Great Western Railway's
Chirk station. Under the 1885 act access to canal wharfage was obtained by extending the tramway further North from Chirk Station to the redundant Black Park Collieries Dock Basin. A two-mile extension was also authorized from Glyn to the quarries around
Pandy. While the modified route was opened for mineral traffic promptly, there was a substantial delay in opening for passenger traffic arising from a dispute about the erection of a fence between the railway and the road on the new section into Chirk. The tramway eventually re-opened for passengers on Monday 16 March 1891. The re-opened passenger service had three intermediate stations, Castle Mill, Pontfadoc and Dolywern, with no provision for stopping between stations. The journey time was 50 minutes, with 5 up trains from Chirk and 4 return trains. There was a new 12 person passenger carriage at the opening made by the Midland Carriage Co. of Shrewsbury and there was no distinction between classes of seating. Tickets were bought from the van at the rear of the train, obviating the need for booking clerks and station masters. The locomotives used on this service were "Sir Theodore" and "Dennis". The 1905 timetable shows Pontfaen introduced as a request stop, and journey times reduced to 40 minutes. There were 4 trains each way with extra trains on Wednesday and Saturday.
Quarries Decline and closure After the
First World War costs started to rise significantly, while revenues did not. The railway's financial situation declined steadily during the 1920s. The railway needed to carry approximately 45,000 tons of traffic per year to break even. In 1929 it carried 64,857 tons, but by 1932 this had dropped to 21,400 tons. Increased use of road haulage and a change in the ownership of the remaining quarries was the cause of this downturn in traffic. In 1932, a bus service was started in the valley, for the first time offering passengers a serious competition to travelling on the tramway. Passenger receipts declined steeply that year, and passenger services were abandoned at the beginning of 1933. Freight traffic continued to decline and the losses to mount on the railway and all services ceased in July 1935 as the company went into voluntary liquidation. In 1936 the track was removed and all the locomotives were scrapped. == Locomotives ==