Capel Bangor railway station

Infobox UK station
name = Capel Bangor
other_name=
code =


caption = Capel Bangor station - an afternoon train arriving from Aberystwyth
manager = Vale of Rheidol Railway
locale = Capel Bangor
borough = Ceredigion
lowusage0405=
lowusage0506=
platforms = 2
latitude =
longitude =
years = 1902
events = Station opens
years1 = August 31 1939
events1 = Station closes due to World War 2
years2 = July 23 1945
events2 = Station reopens
years3 = 1989
events3 = Station privatised

Capel Bangor railway station is a railway station serving Capel Bangor in Ceredigion in Mid-Wales. It is an intermediate station on the preserved Vale of Rheidol Railway. The station limits are clearly defined by fencing and identified by name signs. Facilities include a passing loop (allowing two trains to pass in opposite directions, or the locomotive to run round a train that is changing direction of travel), and sidings which also link the main running line with a large train shed.

History and Description

The village community at Capel Bangor was once much larger than it is today, and in the earliest days of the Vale of Rheidol Railway Capel Bangor was the third 'principle station' along with the two termini. It had a resident Station Master, and was equipped with waiting shelters, booking office, passing loop, sidings, and a large carriage shed. These facilities were all removed with the gradual decline of the village population, although in the 1980s British Rail, then the operators of this line, rebuilt a stone waiting shelter, and provided a picnic area for passengers alighting from trains here.

In 2001 the new operator embarked upon a process of restoration of operating facilities at Capel Bangor. The passing loop was restored, as was a single carriage siding, accessed 'out and back' via a lengthy headshunt. Subsequently the 1980s waiting shelter was demolished, but the single carriage siding was joined by a second, parallel line (accessed via the same headshunt), and a large modern train shed was constructed. Both stock sidings run into this shed, and there is a pedestrian access door at its opposite end, but there are no windows. Immediately prior to the train shed's construction the carriage siding at Capel Bangor was used for the storage of some stock items belonging to the Phyllis Rampton Trust, who are the 100% shareholders of the railway's operating company. The 'secret location in Ceredigion' wherein many stock items belonging to this Trust are stored, is likely to be the new Capel Bangor train shed. [Two locomotives from this collection are clearly visible in the carriage siding in photograph 628807 at the Geograph Project [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/628807 viewable here] .]

The passing loop is not currently required for purposes of operating the timetabled service trains, even on the high season timetable. However, the loop has proved useful for allowing service trains to cross with specially chartered passenger trains and with works (maintenance) trains. The principle use, however, has been as a run-round loop for locomotives involved with bringing rolling stock to or from the new train shed.

References

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