The Bethesda branch line was a railway branch line between Bangor and Bethesda in

Gwynedd Gwynedd (; ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the North West Wales, north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County B ...

, North Wales. Its primary purpose was to bring quarried slate down to the main line for onward transport. It opened in July 1884, and a local passenger service was run as well as trains for the mineral traffic. Intense road competition led to the cessation of ordinary passenger services in 1951; goods traffic and occasional passenger excursion journeys kept the line going until its complete closure in July 1962.

Conception

The

Chester and Holyhead Railway The Chester and Holyhead Railway was an early railway company conceived to improve transmission of Government dispatches between London and Ireland, as well as ordinary railway objectives. Its construction was hugely expensive, chiefly due to ...

opened its main line in 1850. Its main objective was to convey the Irish mail traffic, and at the time intermediate traffic was expected to be insignificant. Quarrying was a significant industry in Bethesda: the local quarries were known as

Penrhyn Quarry The Penrhyn quarry is a slate quarry located near Bethesda, North Wales. At the end of the nineteenth century it was the world's largest slate quarry; the main pit is nearly long and deep, and it was worked by nearly 3,000 quarrymen. It has ...

, and they were served by a narrow gauge line, the Penrhyn Railway, opened in 1801. The slate was conveyed to

Port Penrhyn Port Penrhyn ( cy, Porth Penrhyn) is a harbour located just east of Bangor in north Wales at the confluence of the River Cegin with the Menai Strait. It was formerly of great importance as the main port for the export of slate from the Penrh ...

, immediately east of Bangor for onward transport to market. The Penrhyn line had inclined planes. In 1852 a standard gauge line was built in partial substitution for the narrow gauge line.Peter E Baughan, ''A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: volume 11: North and Mid Wales'', David St John Thomas, 1991, Nairn, , pages 110 to 112Bill Rear, ''From Chester to Holyhead: the Branch Lines'', Oxford Publishing Company, Hersham, 2003, , pages 129 to 135 Bethesda was situated on Thomas Telford’s road to Holyhead, so road communication was already unusually good for the early period.Rex Christiansen, ''Forgotten Railways: North and Mid Wales'', David St John Thomas, 1984, , pages 97 and 98 A line was proposed in 1866 for a line between Bangor and

Llanberis (; ) is a village, community and electoral ward in Gwynedd, northwest Wales, on the southern bank of the lake and at the foot of Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales. It is a centre for outdoor activities in Snowdonia, including walking, ...

through Bethesda, but it failed in Parliament. A similar scheme for a narrow gauge line was put forward in 1871 but it too failed. Nevertheless there was local demand for a standard gauge railway connection, and a branch line from a junction with the Chester and Holyhead line near Bangor was authorised by Parliament on 6 August 1880. By now the Chester and Holyhead Railway had been absorbed into the

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the ...

Opening

The line was duly built by the LNWR and opened for passenger traffic on 1 July 1884, and for goods trains on 1 September 1885.

1895 passenger service

Bradshaw’s Guide for 1895 shows the passenger trains service: there were four trains each way weekdays, with an additional later train each way on Saturdays.''Bradshaw's Rail Times for Great Britain and Ireland: December 1895'', reprint, Middleton Press, Midhurst, 2018, The passenger train service was six trains each way daily, but railmotors were introduced in 1908 and the service was increased to 16 daily, 9 on Sunday by the 1930s.

After 1923

In 1923 the main line railways of Great Britain were grouped in to one or other of four new, large concerns, under the

Railways Act 1921 The Railways Act 1921 (c. 55), also known as the Grouping Act, was an Act of Parliament enacted by the British government and intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies, by "grouping" them into four l ...

. The LNWR was a constituent of the new

London Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally ...

. In 1948 a further restructuring took place, when the four railways including the branch were nationalisation under the

Transport Act 1947 The Transport Act 1947 (10 & 11 Geo. 6 c. 49) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Under the terms of the Act, the railway network, long-distance road haulage and various other types of transport were nationalised and came under ...

, and combined into British Railways. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

the passenger use of the line had reduced considerably; more convenient buses to Bangor used the Telford road, and passenger trains were withdrawn on 3 December 1951. Occasional excursions ran after that date, as the area had a certain beauty, but the line closed completely on 7 October 1963.

Topography

The line climbed all the way from the main line, rising for much of the way at 1 in 40. Tregarth Tunnel was on the line, just below Bethesda. It is in length.Tregarth Tunnel on Subterranea Britannica
/ref> Location list: all stations opened 1 July 1884; closed 3 December 1951: * ''Bethesda Junction'', diverging from main line to Rhyl; * Felin Hen; * Tregarth; * Bethesda. Michael Quick, ''Railway Passenger Stations in England, Scotland and Wales: A Chronology'', the Railway and Canal Historical Society, Richmond, Surrey, 2002

References

{{reflist Transport in Gwynedd Closed railway lines in Wales Railway lines opened in 1884 Railway lines closed in 1962 Standard gauge railways in Wales Bethesda, Gwynedd