The Ruabon–Barmouth line was a

standard-gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...

line owned by the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

across the north of

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

which connected

Ruabon Ruabon (; ) is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough Wrexham County Borough () is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough, with city status in the United Kingdom, city status, in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. I ...

, in the east, with

Barmouth Barmouth (formal ; colloquially ) is a seaside town and community in the county of Gwynedd, north-west Wales; it lies on the estuary of the Afon Mawddach and Cardigan Bay. Located in the historic county of Merionethshire, the Welsh form of t ...

on the west coast.

History

The line opened in stages by various companies: * Vale of Llangollen Railway – 1 December 1861 (goods); 2 June 1862 (passenger) * Llangollen and Corwen Railway – 1 May 1865. This section of the line had gained royal assent in 1860. * Corwen and Bala Railway – 16 July 1866 (Corwen to Llandrillo); 1 April 1868 (Llandrillo to Bala). *

Bala and Dolgelly Railway Bala may refer to: Films * ''Bala'' (1976 film), an English-language dance documentary * ''Bala'' (2002 film), a Tamil-language action film * ''Bala'' (2019 film), a Hindi-language black comedy Life forms *Bala shark (''Balantiocheilos melano ...

– 4 August 1868. *

Aberystwith and Welsh Coast Railway The Aberystwith and Welsh Coast Railway was a standard gauge railway company, running a line along the west coast of Wales. The railway was planned to run between Anglicised place name spellings were used during most of the history of the line ...

– 10 October 1867 The Aberystwith and Welsh Coast Railway was absorbed by the

Cambrian Railways The Cambrian Railways owned of Railway track, track over a large area of mid Wales. The system was an amalgamation of a number of railways that were incorporated in 1864, 1865 and 1904. The Cambrian connected with two larger railways with c ...

which, with the other companies, was absorbed into the GWR. The line was double track from Ruabon (Llangollen Junction) to Llangollen Goods Yard. From there it was single line with passing loops at the following stations: Deeside Halt, , , , , , , , , , , and .

Connections

* At

, the line connected with the

Shrewsbury–Chester line The Shrewsbury–Chester line is a railway line between Chester and Shrewsbury in England, with the line passing through Wrexham in Wales. Passenger train services are operated by Transport for Wales Rail between , in the north, and , in the so ...

(part of the GWR mainline from to

Birkenhead Woodside Birkenhead Woodside was a railway station located at Woodside, in Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula, Cheshire. It served both local services within Cheshire and long-distance services to southern England, including London. Background Birke ...

). * At

Trevor Trevor ( Trefor in the Welsh language) is a common given name or surname of Welsh origin. It is an habitational name, deriving from the Welsh ''tre(f)'', meaning "homestead", or "settlement" and ''fawr'', meaning "large, big". The Cornish langu ...

an incline ran to the Monsanto works. This also connected to the Pontcysyllte Branch, which eventually rejoined the main line near Wrexham. * At

Corwen Corwen is a town and community in the county of Denbighshire in Wales. Historically, Corwen was part of the county of Merionethshire. Corwen stands on the banks of the River Dee beneath the Berwyn mountains. The town is situated west of Llang ...

the line connected with the Denbigh, Ruthin and Corwen Railway line. * At Bala Junction the line connected with the

Bala and Festiniog Railway The Bala and Festiniog Railway was a , standard gauge, railway backed by the Great Western Railway (GWR) in north-west Wales. It connected Bala with Blaenau Ffestiniog. History The railway originally connected Bala with Llan Ffestiniog. I ...

. * At Barmouth Junction, the line connected with the

Cambrian Coast Line The Cambrian Line (), sometimes split into the Cambrian Main Line () and Cambrian Coast Line () for its branches, is a railway line that runs from Shrewsbury in England, westwards to Aberystwyth and Pwllheli in Wales. Passenger train services ...

, which was owned by the

Closure

The whole line was listed for closure as part of the

Beeching Axe The Beeching cuts, also colloquially referred to as the Beeching Axe, were a major series of route closures and service changes made as part of the restructuring of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain in the 1960s. They are named ...

. Goods services between Morfa Mawddach (formerly Barmouth Junction) and Llangollen ceased in 1964. Although the whole line was planned to close for passenger services on 18 January 1965, services were suspended on 12 December 1964 following flooding. The section between Ruabon and Llangollen was subsequently reopened on 17 December for passenger trains until 18 January after which only freight services ran until 1968 when the line was closed completely. The section between Llangollen and Bala Junction was abandoned following flooding although a substitute bus service served the stations until 18 January 1965. The section Dolgellau to Morfa Mawddach reopened on 14 December and the section between Bala, Bala Junction and Dolgellau was reopened on 17 December. The whole route closed on 18 January 1965.Steam World magazine October 2012 Lifting of the track was completed in 1969.

Preservation

Two stretches of the line have long been reopened as preserved railways; the narrow-gauge

Bala Lake Railway The Bala Lake Railway ( Welsh: ''Rheilffordd Llyn Tegid'') is a narrow-gauge railway along the southern shore of Bala Lake in Gwynedd, North Wales. The line, which is long, is built on a section of the former standard-gauge Ruabon–Barmouth ...

in 1972; and the standard-gauge

Llangollen Railway The Llangollen Railway () is a volunteer-run heritage railway in Denbighshire, North Wales, which operates between Llangollen and Corwen. The standard gauge line, which is long, runs on part of the former Ruabon Barmouth Line, Ruabon – Barmo ...

which first opened to passengers in 1981. A section between Barmouth Junction and Dolgellau is used as the

Mawddach Trail The Mawddach Trail () is a cycle path route, part of Lôn Las Cymru, which runs for some from Dolgellau to Morfa Mawddach railway station , by Barmouth bridge on the Cambrian coast. It is maintained by the Snowdonia National Park and is popu ...

, a cycle route and bridleway, conversion of which was assisted in 1976 when heavy floods washed away most of the remaining ballast. Several sections have been used for road improvement schemes, including a section through

Dolgellau Dolgellau (; ) is a town and Community (Wales), community in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, lying on the River Wnion, a tributary of the River Mawddach. It was the traditional county town of the Historic counties of Wales, historic county of Merion ...

, and the station site and trackbed west of . The trackbed has also been redeveloped at the west end of

and a number of houses and apartments have been built immediately east of

Llangollen Llangollen () is a town and community (Wales), community, situated on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, in Denbighshire, Wales. Its riverside location forms the edge of the Berwyn range, and the Dee Valley section of the Clwydian Range and Dee Val ...

. Infringements occur between Llangollen and

Acrefair Acrefair (; ) is a village in Wrexham County Borough, north-east Wales, in the community of Cefn. It was formerly part of the ancient parish of Ruabon, and is located between Wrexham and Llangollen. It is close to the villages of Trevor, C ...

(typically garden extensions and outbuildings) and the cutting through Cefn Mawr is partially blocked following land slips. At the end of

Llanuwchllyn Llanuwchllyn () is a village and Community (Wales), community in Gwynedd, Wales, near the southern end of Bala Lake (Llyn Tegid). It is one of the most sparsely populated communities in Wales. The electoral ward includes the small settlement ...

station, a house straddles the trackbed. In the countryside between these sites the trackbed remains disused although some sections are used for grazing cattle. In 2020, a group was formed with the aim of reopening the section from Bala to Llandrillo as a greenway.

Citations

References

Sources

* * * The Llangollen Line – Ruabon to Barmouth, by W G Rear & N Jones. * Dickinson, Peter (2018). ''The Ruabon to Barmouth Line''. Toadsmoor Road, Brimscombe, Stroud: Fonthill Media. * Railway Walks: Exploring Disused Railways, by Gareth Lovett Jones.
RAILSCOT on Vale of Llangollen Railway

Llangollen Railway site, including a detailed history of the whole line

Gwynedd Council – Recreational Routes – Mawddach Trail
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruabon-Barmouth line Closed railway lines in Wales Railway lines opened in 1868 Standard gauge railways in Wales 1868 establishments in Wales 1965 disestablishments in Wales