NINETEEN SIXTY TWO – PART 86
Return to Pantydwr
Michael L. Roach
In Part 80 about signalling a visit was made to Pantydwr Station in Mid-Wales to see a Dutton signal box dating from 1891 which was in use until the line closed at the end of 1962. The village of Pantydwr is strung out along the B4518 road between Rhayader and Llanidloes and the Mid-Wales Railway ran parallel to the road. Pantydwr is the largest village between the two towns which were 14 miles apart by rail but the whole parish has a population of just 280 persons. There is very little traffic on the B4518 because of the sparse population and because there is an alternative road – the A470 trunk road. The railway was conceived as a route mainly for long distance traffic. There was something very alluring about a steam-operated single line passing through isolated and remote hill country with magnificent views but few trains. In 1962 the station at Pantydwr saw just four passenger trains and one freight train in the hours between 6.24am and 7.04pm, Monday to Saturday only. However some lengths of the 60-mile route had more trains over short parts of the route.
A manned station like Pantydwr was not just there for passengers to catch trains – it was much more. It was where farmers could have their agricultural supplies and new equipment delivered; where the local coal merchant had his coal depot to heat people's homes; where you could collect and send your parcels, particularly larger ones. It was the passenger train that brought the mail, the newspapers and sometimes the milk. Further down the line the day before 0n 4 September 1962, while travelling on the 2.50pm Moat Lane to Brecon train, I had seen 16 crates of freshly bottled milk being taken off the train at Builth Road Low Level to be transferred to the High Level Station to travel two stations down the Central Wales line to Garth Station. However this was an era that was, in 1962, rapidly coming to an end with the closure of many small stations. The small country passenger stations that did survive had few facilities – often just a shelter and half a dozen car parking spaces.
I was there in Mid-Wales for a complete week centred on Brecon attempting to photograph every station and halt in the 100 miles between Newport (Mon) and Moat Lane Junction. Most days I had a train ride, but on this particular day, Wednesday 5 September 1962, there was no train ride and I visited 20 locations in 10 hours. Of necesssity many stations were photographed with not a train in sight because I had to move on. I was at Pantydwr for just 10 minutes as recorded between the time of the first and last photograph at two locations.
As I left the village heading south along the B4518 I stopped at a bridge over the line to take the last two photos in this group. When the railway was being designed road and rail clashed at this point at the same level. The road was diverted parallel to the railway, raised up on an embankment, and dog-legged over the railway on a bridge from which the last two images were taken. Amazingly, in my view, since the railway closed the highway authority has found the money for so little traffic to remove the bridge and its approach embankments and restore the road to its original pre-railway line and level for a B-road which carries one percent of the traffic carried by some of the B-roads in Cornwall which desperately need money spent on them. The last image shows the single track railway photographed from that bridge and crossing the River Marteg on an iron bridge. The railway fits neatly into the landscape and soon disappears in a series of reverse curves. In my humble opinion the railway enhanced the landscape and fitted in well; especially when you think of the near 100 years of benefits it brought to this remote area.
This photograph (scan 1210) is my favourite landscape photo of the whole holiday. For those interested in single-track rural railways, in the days of steam, when there was a full complement of railway infrastructure the Mid Wales was one of the most interesting and I feel privileged to have known it. The photographs in Derek Lowe's A4-size book of the line are quite outstanding and brilliantly capture the atmosphere of the line with several showing trains in the landscape printed full-page. If you decide to buy the book the money will be well spent and the book will not disappoint. Also worth having is the second book recommended which covers a much larger geographical area. The third book is for those seeking more words and more about the history and construction of the line.
RECOMMENDED READING:
The Mid Wales Line by Derek J. Lowe. ISBN: 978 1 909625 79 2
Steam in Mid Wales by Michael Hale. ISBN: 0 9527267 5 0
The Mid-Wales Railway by R.W.Kidner. ISBN: 0 85361 406 7
A manned station like Pantydwr was not just there for passengers to catch trains – it was much more. It was where farmers could have their agricultural supplies and new equipment delivered; where the local coal merchant had his coal depot to heat people's homes; where you could collect and send your parcels, particularly larger ones. It was the passenger train that brought the mail, the newspapers and sometimes the milk. Further down the line the day before 0n 4 September 1962, while travelling on the 2.50pm Moat Lane to Brecon train, I had seen 16 crates of freshly bottled milk being taken off the train at Builth Road Low Level to be transferred to the High Level Station to travel two stations down the Central Wales line to Garth Station. However this was an era that was, in 1962, rapidly coming to an end with the closure of many small stations. The small country passenger stations that did survive had few facilities – often just a shelter and half a dozen car parking spaces.
I was there in Mid-Wales for a complete week centred on Brecon attempting to photograph every station and halt in the 100 miles between Newport (Mon) and Moat Lane Junction. Most days I had a train ride, but on this particular day, Wednesday 5 September 1962, there was no train ride and I visited 20 locations in 10 hours. Of necesssity many stations were photographed with not a train in sight because I had to move on. I was at Pantydwr for just 10 minutes as recorded between the time of the first and last photograph at two locations.
As I left the village heading south along the B4518 I stopped at a bridge over the line to take the last two photos in this group. When the railway was being designed road and rail clashed at this point at the same level. The road was diverted parallel to the railway, raised up on an embankment, and dog-legged over the railway on a bridge from which the last two images were taken. Amazingly, in my view, since the railway closed the highway authority has found the money for so little traffic to remove the bridge and its approach embankments and restore the road to its original pre-railway line and level for a B-road which carries one percent of the traffic carried by some of the B-roads in Cornwall which desperately need money spent on them. The last image shows the single track railway photographed from that bridge and crossing the River Marteg on an iron bridge. The railway fits neatly into the landscape and soon disappears in a series of reverse curves. In my humble opinion the railway enhanced the landscape and fitted in well; especially when you think of the near 100 years of benefits it brought to this remote area.
This photograph (scan 1210) is my favourite landscape photo of the whole holiday. For those interested in single-track rural railways, in the days of steam, when there was a full complement of railway infrastructure the Mid Wales was one of the most interesting and I feel privileged to have known it. The photographs in Derek Lowe's A4-size book of the line are quite outstanding and brilliantly capture the atmosphere of the line with several showing trains in the landscape printed full-page. If you decide to buy the book the money will be well spent and the book will not disappoint. Also worth having is the second book recommended which covers a much larger geographical area. The third book is for those seeking more words and more about the history and construction of the line.
RECOMMENDED READING:
The Mid Wales Line by Derek J. Lowe. ISBN: 978 1 909625 79 2
Steam in Mid Wales by Michael Hale. ISBN: 0 9527267 5 0
The Mid-Wales Railway by R.W.Kidner. ISBN: 0 85361 406 7
View of Pantydwr Station looking north on Wednesday 5 September 1962. There was a small goods yard at the far end of the station on the right. Copyright Michael L. Roach.
Pantydwr Station looking north from the road bridge which carried the B4518 over the railway at the south end of the village. Copyright Michael L. Roach.
Looking south east from the same bridge showing how the railway fitted into the landscape. The rail bridge carried the line over the Afon Marteg; a tributary of the River Wye. At the end of the left hand curve seen in the photo the line curved to the right for a considerable distance to reach the next station at St. Harmons. Copyright Michael L. Roach.
Our continued thanks to you, Michael, for providing these articles.
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For more from Michael, please click here.
Bodmin & Wenford Railway in 2004
Jon Hird
'Alfred' in the livery of an engine from a popular childrens TV programme. April 2004, copyright Jon Hird.
An ex-works 08444 at Boscarne Junction. March 2004. Copyright Jon Hird.
A smart 50042 at Bodmin General. March 2004. Copyright Jon Hird.