Cylchgronau Cymru

Chwiliwch trwy dros 450 o deitlau a 1.2 miliwn o dudalennau

Railway Life at Tredegar 80 Years Ago J. F. Burrell Tredegar was a remote outpost of the Crewe and Euston empire of the London and North Western Railway. That enterprising company had got there by means of a joint line with the Great Western from, its own metals, at Shrewsbury to Hereford and by running powers thence over the GW to Abergavenny Junction. Tredegar engine shed had 14 duties, but in some instances was responsible to Abergavenny, which was for many years the mechanical and administrative headquarters for the LNW and later LMS in South Wales. Most of the 14 duties involved a 12 hour day, in two instances, where more than 12 hours were involved, the crews were relieved. Coal was the principal traffic and the main collieries worked were Pochin, Bedwellty, Abernant and Ty Trist. This coal was worked down the valley to Nine Mile Point' where it was handed over to the GW, either for shipment at Newport or for destinations on the GW. Coal was also worked down the valley, the shorter distance, to Tredegar Junction (later known as Pontllanfraith) on the GW line from Pontypool Road to Neath. From Tredegar Junction it was worked round the spur to Ystrad Mynach where it was handed over to the Rhymney Railway for shipment at Cardiff. Coal was worked northwards up the valley to Nantybwch where it either went westwards to the Dowlais Works or eastwards to Abergavenny for shipment at Birkenhead. A few years later this northern traffic was to reach tremendous proportions with coal for the fleet at Scapa Flow. There were also the passenger duties which consisted of the service between Nantybwch and Newport plus some shorter workings to fit the requirements of the collieries, which services were not usually advertised in the public timetable. Tredegar men also, sometimes, ventured out of the Sirhowy Valley with passenger duties on the Abergavenny Merthyr line. An early start was often the order of the day, as for instance, No.2 Duty which began with the 3.50 a.m. Colliers passenger train from Tredegar to Pochin. The size of the colliery can be assessed by the colliers train sometimes consisting of no fewer than 18, 4 or 6 wheeled coaches. After bringing the coaches back to Tredegar this was one of five duties involved in trips between Tredegar and Nine Mile Point. An interesting duty was No.22, which functioned only on Tuesdays, Abergavenny market day. An early start from Tredegar was made at 6.30