The Vale of Llangollen Railway was built as a spur from the

Shrewsbury and Chester Railway The North Wales Mineral Railway was formed to carry coal and ironstone from the mineral-bearing area around Wrexham to the River Dee, Wales, River Dee wharves. It was extended to run from Shrewsbury and formed part of a main line trunk route, ...

south of Ruabon to the town 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 ...

. The line was built along the northern side of the Dee Valley and authorized by an act of Parliament, the ( 22 & 23 Vict. c. lxiv), on 1 August 1859. It was initially opened for goods only on 1 December 1861 and to passenger traffic on 2 June 1862, and was worked from the outset 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, ...

. The line ran from Llangollen Line Junction (0 miles 54

chains A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A ...

) and served Acrefair, Trevor (and

Sun Bank Halt Sun Bank Halt in Wrexham County Borough, Wales, was a minor station on the Ruabon to Barmouth line. It opened as Garth & Sun Bank Halt in 1905 but was renamed on 1 July 1906. The line was double track and there was never a signal box nor freigh ...

from 1905), before terminating at a temporary station in the east of Llangollen. In 1865 the line was extended by another Great Western Railway-backed line, the Llangollen & Corwen Railway, with the line using a new permanent station in

. The Vale of Llangollen Railway Company was amalgamated with Great Western as from 1 July 1896 by means of the Great Western Railway (Additional Powers) Act 1896 ( 59 & 60 Vict. c. ccxxxii) of 7 August 1896.

The line today

The disused trackbed between Ruabon (the former Llangollen Line Junction) and the eastern outskirts of Llangollen is still visible and largely intact. However, there is little trace of the line on its approach to Llangollen station, as a number of apartments, new houses and a health centre have been built on the formation. The extension of the Vale of Llangollen Railway from Llangollen to Corwen, which opened in 1865, still exists as the preserved

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 ...

References

Railway lines in Wales Early Welsh railway companies Railway lines opened in 1861 Standard gauge railways in Wales 1861 establishments in Wales {{UK-rail-transport-stub