.. Cwmbran and it's Railway Connections ..

Today, Cwmbran's `one and only` railway  Station, which opened in 1986, is situated on Somerset Road, north east of the Town Centre, the station lies on the line known as the `Welsh Marshes Line` which runs between Newport and Hereford. The station and line are part of the British railway system, which is owned by Network Rail. The company that operates the `line` is called Arriva Trains Wales, one of the 26 rail companies within the United Kingdom.

.. Crowds gather for the opening ceremony of Cwmbran Station 1986 .. A `special visitor` was the Class 37 diesel locomotive No. 37430 manufactured by the English Electric Co.  and aptly named " Cwmbran".

................... ... Click to view `nameplate` .....

.. `Cwmbran` photographed in Manchester Victoria station 1992 .. The last sighting, reported some time ago, was in Scotland on the `Locomotives withdrawn line` accompanied by many others of the same Class.

.. But, if we now take  a `step back in time` Cwmbran and it's immediate area, had five stations ..

The stations particular to Cwmbran were, Pontrhydyrun Halt, Upper Pontnewydd, Lower Pontnewydd Cwmbran and Llantarnam.

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..  .. Pontrhydyrun  Halt ..

.. Pontrhydyrun Halt  (now demolished) .. ...............	.. Pontrhydyrun `railway` Bridge .. (now demolished) Over the years several high sided vehicles found themselves `wedged` under the low bridge.

.. ..Upper Pontnewydd Station ..

.. Postcard view of Upper Pontnewydd Station -  early 20th Century ..

 

Upper Pontnewydd Station, adjacent Station Terrace; on the original Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company line, later to be known as the Eastern Valley Line. The station opened in 1859 at a cost of £300 The station closed in April 1969. Station Terrace are the houses on the left hand side. Tynewydd Tin Plate works (right of photograph)	In the early 1980`s the disused  railway line, which originally ran from Blaenafon to Newport, was removed.  The A4051 Trunk Road, named locally as `Cwmbran Drive` runs along a previous railway section..

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.. Wagon Label -  British Railways - Risca to Upper Pontnewydd - Steel Bars for Avondale Tin Plate Co.  ..

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.. Rail ticket - Cwmbran to Upper Pontnewydd - Dated 23rd April 1960 ..

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One of several rails used as `fence posts` at the rear of `Fairces Two` Public House. They can still be viewed from the pedestrian lane which runs down from Commercial Street to the present day car park (previous Station) - Pontnewydd

Colin Bowen (formerly from Pontnewydd ), worked at Pontypool Road Station, in the early 1960`s as a `Goods Guard` recalls:-

When our shift came around we had  to work the `Cwmbran Pilot`; the local pickup/drop off train, which would leave Pontypool Road Station at 8am and steam down to Pontnewydd to pick up or drop off any goods; then we would leave Pontnewydd and go down to the Brickworks at Ponthir.

A  Pannier Tank Engine 0-6-0, the same configuration as the `Cwmbran Pilot` and one of the class of 863 locomotives introduced by C. B. Collett and built in Swindon at the Factory between 1929 and 1950.  (Photograph contributed by Colin Bowen)

After that it was on to Caerleon, to shunt at the goods yard, from there we would return to Cwmbran and the Abbey Road `goods sidings`.

.. .. Cwmbran Station ..

.. Cwmbran Station .. The station was situated on the `new link` line, from Cwmbran to Llantarnam and was built in 1878, when the Great Western Railway (G.W.R.) took over the Monmouthshire Railway & Canal (M.R.& C.C.) Company stock.	Cwmbran Village Surgery, situated on Victoria Street, stands on the former site of Cwmbran Station.

This photograph appeared in the `1976 Souvenir Calendar` designed and published by Checkpoint,

 .. Cwmbran's monthly community newspaper..

.. Cwmbran Railway staff 1919 + Dickie and his dog .. Back Row:- Dickie `The Lock`Williams (lock keeper) Ted Price, Jim Gunter, Ron Perkiss, Front Row:- Chris Reeves, Jim Miles, Mr.Capron (Station Master), Ron Edwards, Harry Perrott, Vince Brinkworth.

 

Cwmbran Station looking towards, Pontnewydd	Cwmbran Station circa 1905 looking towards, Pontnewydd

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A view showing several `goods` wagons, the canal with the `Abbey` Public House, which was situated on Abbey Road, in between. . . . .

When we had finished our work there, we would move up to Cwmbran `main sidings` outside G.K.N. (Guest. Keen and Nettlefolds) where there was plenty of work to do, sorting out all the goods wagons we picked and also the goods wagons coming out of the G.K.N. factory and foundry and check all the destination labels on each wagon; by then it was 5pm.

... In 1900 the  Patent Nut & Bolt Co. Ltd., became Guest Keen & Nettlefolds Ltd...

When we had finished our work there, we would move up to Cwmbran `main sidings` outside G.K.N. (Guest. Keen and Nettlefolds) where there was plenty of work to do, sorting out all the goods wagons we picked and also the goods wagons coming out of the G.K.N. factory and foundry and check all the destination labels on each wagon; by then it was 5pm.

.. Guest Keen & Nettlefolds (G.K.N) .. .. (now demolished and replaced by Cwmbran Retail Park) .. G.K.N had it's own sidings and produced castings, including  `railway chairs` amounting to 800 tons per week, which were despatched to nearly all the regional railway companies, together with Indian, Crown Colonies and South American railways; another product they produced was hundreds of thousands of London Underground, Cable Brackets.

We still had to form the train to go back to Pontypool Road; I spent many a happy hour at Cwmbran Sidings shunting with the locomotive. By 6pm the train was ready to go back to Pontypool Road, `south junction`, where our train would be shunted all over again onto other made up trains, with destinations around the United Kingdom and the rest of the world.

.. .. Llantarnam Station ..

.. Llantarnam Station (now demolished) .. The steam locomotive No.6946, seen here was operated by G.W.R. Built unnamed in December 1942. First shed allocation Cardiff Canton. Named in March 1946 `Heatherden Hall`. August 1950 shed allocation Cardiff Canton. In March 1959, her last shed allocation Pontypool. Withdrawn June 1964. Scrapped at Bird's, Newport.  (Photograph contributed by Colin Bowen)

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* Reference: Lower Pontnewydd Station - Location: Station Road, on the Newport /Hereford Line

• On the 1st January 1860 G.W.R. (Great Western Railway) acquired the Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway Company with it's track length of thirty eight and a quarter miles.

• There was a connecting `Branch Line` from `Cwmbran Junction` on the Eastern Valley line, to the Newport/Hereford Line.

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Colin Bowen also recalls:-

Most stations had a parcels office and made up their own stamps. The stamp itself was a small box in which you could insert your own letters and numbers. In those days you had pick up your own parcels from the station; if it was too heavy or too large to carry at Pontnewydd; the small transport firm of Jim Griffin would deliver the goods for you, The firm's yard was at the Cenotaph.

.. G.W.R. (Great Western Railway) Parcel Labels .. Circa 1945

Colin Bowen  further  recalls:-

During the late 1940`s I spent many a happy Saturday afternoon at Lower Pontnewydd station collecting train numbers. Lower Pontnewydd was the main line to most places in England or Wales. On a Saturday, You could catch as many as 50 train numbers in one afternoon. These were very heavy express trains of up to 500 tons and would be travelling up to 70mph; when the speed of road traffic was 20 to 30mph.

From Pontypool Road Station to Lower Pontnewydd it was down hill and if an express was coming from Pontypool, by the time it came around the curve, opposite Avondale Tinplate works, it was travelling 60 to 70mph. If you were on the station platform when this train came through, the noise of steam and speed was fantastic!

A lot of trains coming from Newport, would have two locomotives, because of the uphill gradient. Most of these express trains never stopped at Lower Pontnewydd.

Sadly these were the last days of the Great Western Railways (G.W.R) as things were about to change forever..

 

And back in 1963/64, at Lower Pontnewydd `Goods yard`, I recall watching four `Pannier Tank` Engines being cut up for scrap by the Newport firm of John Buttiegiegs.

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Steve Morgan (West Pontnewydd) recalls:-

When I was young I used to stay with my Gran in Harold Street. The railway ran along the end of the street where Cwmbran Drive runs now.  There were coal yards there (behind the gardens of Cromwell Place) where the trains used to unload coal from the pits in the north of the valley.

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.. If you have interesting memories or photographs of a `bygone` age and would like to share them, please click here ..

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.. A little historical info on the Eastern Valley Line ..

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• In 1845, an Act brought before Parliament, by the Monmouthshire Canal Navigation; was passed which made provision to convert tramways to railways, allow construction of a railway from Pontnewynydd to Newport Town Dock; permit the Company to use steam engines and become sole carriers.

 

• In 1848, an amendment to the 1845 Act was sanctioned, allowing the carrying of passengers and permitting a name change to become the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company. ... the provision as `sole carriers` was revoked.

 

• On June 30th 1852, the railway line was opened as a single line suitable for passengers.

 

• The Head Quarters of the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company were situated at Bolt Street, Newport.

 

• The railway line ran from Blaenafon to Newport and was formerly known as the Eastern Valley Line.

 

• The Passenger line was closed in 1962 and `Goods` traffic had ceased by 1980

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.. A little more `General ` info ..

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•  Between 1914 and 1918 (World War1) and up to 1921 The railways throughout the country were state controlled.

 

• 1921 Railways Act: Due to increasing `losses` made by many of the 120 railway companies, nation wide, which was partly due to internal competition, and also for the `country` to retain some of  the benefits of a state controlled  railway; the Government, with David Lloyd George at it's `head`; passed the Railways Act; this Act was also known as the `Grouping Act`.

 

• During the next two years many mergers between railway companies took place and by 1st January 1923, the date the Act was to take effect, four companies, known as `The Big Four` were ready for the `New Railway Era`.

 

• `The Big Four` were:-
  • Great Western Railway (GWR)
  • London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS)
  • London and North Eastern Railway (LNER)
  • Southern Railway (SR)

   

• In 1947 the Transport Act was announced, whereby the `The Big Four` railway companies, long distance road hauliers etc; were acquired by the state and operated by the British Transport Commission.

 

• In January 1948: the Act took effect and the railway system was operated by British Railways (BR), later known  as British Rail, until its privatisation in stages between 1994 and 1997.

 

• Over the forthcoming years massive changes and expenditure took place, steam locomotives were replaced by diesel and electric powered locomotives, passenger traffic was encouraged and eventually replaced freight as the main source of business and the rail network was severely rationalised.

 

• The result of this modernisation plan, which although investing huge amounts of money on new equipment (e.g. Locomotives etc.) did not investigate deeply enough into the `role of the railway and it's requirements`, the implications resulting from `changing old- fashioned working practices` and the inherent `overmanning` within the system; was to burden the railway with excessive and mounting debts.

 

• In 1961 the Conservative government appointed Dr. Richard Beeching as the chairman of British Railways, with a brief to cut the spiralling losses.

 

• Dr. Beeching believed the railway system should be run, not as a public service, but as a business and if parts of the railway system were not profitable e.g. some rural branch lines, they should be closed down. He believed that once these were closed, the remaining core of the system would be restored to profitability.

 

• 1962 Transport Act, was passed by Harold Macmillan's Conservative government to dissolve the British Transport Commission, which had been established by Clement Attlee's Labour government in the 1940s to oversee railways, canals and road freight transport. The act established the British Railways Board, which took over the British Transport Commission's railway responsibilities from 1 January 1963 until the passing of the Railways Act 1993.

   

• On March 27, 1963 Dr. Beeching published a report entitled "The Reshaping of British Railways", he proposed a massive closure programme. The report proposed that 6,000 miles of Britain's then 18,000 miles of railway system be closed (mostly rural branch and cross country lines) and that many other rail lines should lose their passenger services and be kept open for freight only. In addition, many lesser-used stations would close on lines that were to be kept open. The report was accepted by the government.

  ... The newspapers of the day, dubbed this report the "Beeching Bombshell" or the "Beeching Axe" ...

   

• 1993 Railways Act, John Major's Conservative government introduced legislation which led to the break-up of British Rail, the handover of train services to various private companies including Virgin, Connex and the coach companies Stagecoach and National Express, and the handover of the railway infrastructure to Railtrack, with track maintenance being contracted to private companies. The latter organisation has been replaced by Network Rail, and the privatisation process has begun to reverse, with Network Rail taking all track maintenance in house.

   

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  .. To find out more `info` on  the Railways `pop along` to ..

   The Griffithstown Railway Museum
  Station Road, Griffithstown, Pontypool, Torfaen, NP4 5JH

  Telephone: 01495 762908

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