Brecon and Merthyr Railway

The Brecon and Merthyr Junction Railway (B&MJR) was one of several railways that served the industrial areas of South Wales and Monmouthshire. It ranked fifth amongst them in size, although hemmed in by the Taff Vale Railway (TVR) and Great Western Railway (GWR). It notably gained the unfortunate nickname of "Breakneck and Murder Railway" owing to a certain tendency towards having accidents - which, owing to the steep gradients, were generally rather severe.

History

The B&MJR was once described as a "lively octopus in a tank of sharks", but despite the aggressive activities of the "sharks", it survived until the railway grouping. In the process, it absorbed several smaller companies and by negotiating running powers over the lines of other companies, it established links between Newport Docks in Newport and Brecon, and hence into Mid-Wales.

The company was established by a Bill of 1858, with the directors including several prominent Brecon citizens. The Beacons tunnel (also known as Torpantau)was completed by 1862, and runs between Brecon and Pant commenced in 1863. The complicated series of amalgamations (including its originator the "Hay Railway") can best be appreciated [http://www.railscot.co.uk/Brecon_and_Merthyr_Railway/frame.htm here] to explain how the B&MJR came about.

The system eventually came to comprise two sections of lines:
*The Southern section linked Bassaleg (where there were connections with the GWR and the London and North Western Railway) and the ironworks town of Rhymney, near the head of the Rhymney valley. The TVR ran up the same valley in parallel with the B&MJR.
*The Northern section linked Deri junction by means of running powers over a section of the Rhymney Railway in the Bargoed Rhymney Valley to Pant, Pontsticill and Brecon via a tunnel through the Brecon Beacons.

Initially, the only connection to Merthyr Tydfil was by means of a horse-drawn bus from Pant, but by 1868, a connection with Merthyr had been established by sharing lines with Vale of Neath, London and North Western and Taff Vale railways. This involved the building of nearly seven miles of line from Pontsticill to Merthyr, with an almost continuous descent of 1 in 45-50, two complete reversals of direction and the construction of two viaducts to carry the line over the Taf Fechan at Pontsarn, and the Taf Fawr at Cefn Coed. The Pontsarn viaduct is convert|455|ft|m long and convert|92|ft|m height, whilst the Cefn Coed (or Pontycapel) viaduct is convert|770|ft|m long with a height of convert|115|ft|m.

The section to the north of Pant was primarily a passenger service, serving isolated farms and villages. South of Pant, it was mainly a mineral line and carried coal from the mines down to the Newport Docks.

Tunnels

To develop routes into and through the rugged South Wales landscape, it was forced to construct two tunnels:
*The tunnel through the Beacons was convert|666|yd long, and reached by a three mile (5 km) ascent. Exiting from the tunnel, the line descended along the side of Glyn Collwyn (now flooded to form a reservoir) to the River Usk at Talybont, and thence to Brecon. It was the highest above sea level anywhere in Britain. Both portals are now flooded.

*A second tunnel was situated at Tal-y-llyn, located about convert|5|mi|km to the east of Brecon, just after Tal-y-llyn junction (with the Cambrian railway). This tunnel is convert|674|yd long, and it survived long enough to become the oldest in regular use on Britain's railways.

Rolling stock

*Locomotives: 35 Several of those were still running post-WWII
*Coaching stock: 69
*Goods vehicles (mainly coal): 629. Collieries also provided some, including Powell Dyffryn. By 1913, the line carried nearly 3.5 million tons a year of coal and 227,000 tons of other minerals.

"The slow train"

Prior to the two sections of line being linked, the train services had been somewhat unpunctual, with unconnected timetables, and the company acquired the unenviable reputation of operating "slow trains". They became the butt of music-hall jokes.

Post-grouping

The end of the Brecon and Merthyr

The line was amalgamated with the Great Western Railway following the Grouping. The ex-B&MJR system survived nationalisation into British Railways, but during and after the Beeching Axe, most were eventually closed. By 1980, only one short section of 10.5 miles (16.8km) survived, serving coal traffic to Bedwas colliery. With the demise of the coal industry in Britain, the section between Bedwas and Machen was closed in the 1980s. The section between Machen and Bassaleg Junction (with the GWR Ebbw Valley line) remains to serve Hanson's limestone quarry.

Partial resurrection of the Brecon and Merthyr

In 1980, a private company, the Brecon Mountain Railway began to build a narrow-gauge steam-hauled tourist line on the existing convert|5.5|mi|km|sing=on roadbed from Pant through Pontsticill to Dol-y-gaer. The initial section of convert|1.75|mi|km from Pant to Pontsticill opened in June 1980. Plans exist to extend the line.

References

*The Brecon and Merthyr Railway, by D S Barrie. Oakwood Press, 1957-1980
*A Brief History of Merthyr Tydfil, by Joseph Gross. Starling Press, 1980

External links

* [http://www.railscot.co.uk/Brecon_and_Merthyr_Railway/frame.htm Historical notes including maps of system]
* [http://www.breconmountainrailway.co.uk/direct.html The Brecon Beacons Mountain Railway]