Glynllifon Street railway station

Glynllifon Street
Location
Place	Blaenau Ffestiniog
Area	Gwynedd
Coordinates	52°59′36″N 3°56′02″W / 52.9934°N 3.9338°W / 52.9934; -3.9338Coordinates: 52°59′36″N 3°56′02″W / 52.9934°N 3.9338°W / 52.9934; -3.9338
Grid reference	SH 702 457
Operations
Original company	Festiniog and Blaenau Railway
Platforms	0
History
Spring 1883	Opened
5 September 1883	Last passenger train called^[1]
10 September 1883	Replacement standard gauge Blaenau Festiniog station opened^[2]
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z
UK Railways portal

Festiniog &
Blaenau Railway

Legend

to Porthmadog Harbour

Dolgarregddu Junction

Duffws (FR)

Duffws (F&BR)

inclines to quarries

Glynllifon Street

wooden viaduct

Tan-y-Manod

to Graig Ddu and

Manod quarries

Tyddyngwyn

Festiniog

Key

Ffestiniog Railway

Festiniog & Blaenau Rly

quarry lines

Bala & Festiniog Railway

Legend

Conwy Valley Line

to Llandudno

Ffestiniog Railway

to Porthmadog Harbour

Blaenau Ffestiniog (LNWR)

Stesion Fain

Blaenau Ffestiniog(

FR &

GWR

)

Ffestiniog Railway

to Duffws (FR)

Duffws (F&BR)

Glynllifon Street(F&BR)

Former wooden viaduct

Tan-y-Manod(F&BR)

Craig Ddu Quarry

Pengwern Quarry

Tyddyngwyn(F&BR)

Manod

Teigl Halt

Festiniog

Maentwrog Road

Line to south dismantled

Trawsfynydd power station

loading point

Trawsfynydd Lake Halt

Capel Celyn Halt

Section flooded by Llyn Celyn

Tyddyn Bridge Halt

(under dam wall)

Frongoch

Bala (New)

Bala Junction

Ruabon to Barmouth Line

to Llandderfel

Bala (Penybont)

(original Bala Lake Halt)

Bala Lake Railway

to Llanuwchllyn

Ruabon to Barmouth Line

to Barmouth

Glynllifon Street railway station was a temporary northern terminus station of the Festiniog and Blaenau Railway (F&BR), sited next to the street of the same name in Blaenau Ffestiniog in what was then Merionethshire, now Gwynedd, Wales.

Context

The complex and confusing evolution of Blaenau's passenger stations is expanded here.

History

From April to September 1883 the 1 ft 11 ³⁄₄ in (603 mm)^[2] narrow gauge F&BR was rebuilt as a standard gauge line. Narrow gauge services continued throughout the rebuilding by laying a third rail on the sleepers. At the line's northern end, however, the scale and complexity of replacing the line's Duffws (F&BR) terminus and goods yard made it impossible to continue to meet passengers' needs, so a temporary terminus was provided at Glynllifon Street, approximately 10 chains (200 m) short of Duffws.

Glynllifon Street station is only mentioned in one published source, which refers to a published postcard showing a train at the station.^[3] No hint of its existence is given in the standard work on the F&BR.^[4]

It is likely that the station had no platforms, in common with all other F&BR stations. Carriages were very low to the ground, so passengers boarded from and alighted to the trackside.

Closure

Narrow gauge trains ceased running on 5 September 1883 with standard gauge services beginning on 10 September 1883. Glynllifon Street station was closed permanently when the narrow gauge ended, being replaced by a permanent terminus initially known as "Blaenau Festiniog" on the site of the former Duffws (F&BR) terminus. The terminus was renamed Blaenau Ffestiniog Central in 1951, closed to passenger traffic in January 1960 and closed completely in January 1961.

The line reopened

The line through the site of Glynllifon Street station closed in 1961 but it was mothballed pending building the long-discussed cross-town link to enable trains to run along the Conwy Valley Line, through Blaenau and on to Trawsfynydd nuclear power station which was then being built. The line through the site reopened on 24 April 1964, but none of the station's facilities were brought back to life. The line closed again in 1998 as the nuclear plant was being decommissioned. Once more the route was mothballed in case a future use is found.

The station site in the 21st Century

By 2011 no hint of the station remained. In Spring 2016 the mothballed single track line still ran past the site to the former nuclear flask loading point.

The future

Between 2000 and 2011 there were at least two attempts to put the mothballed line through the site to use. In 2011 there were proposals to use the rails as a recreational velorail track. Neither this nor the earlier idea came to anything. The possibility remains that the surviving line could see future preservation or reuse by the nuclear industry.^[5]

To considerable local surprise fresh moves to reopen the line from Blaenau as far south as Trawsfynydd began in September 2016, with the formation of The Trawsfynydd & Blaenau Ffestiniog Community Railway Company. On 21 September at least one regional newspaper reported that "Volunteers are set to start work this weekend on clearing vegetation from the trackbed between Blaenau Ffestiniog and Trawsfynydd." The company was quoted as saying "We have been given a licence by Network Rail to clear and survey the line."^[6]

Preceding station	Disused railways			Following station
Terminus		Festiniog and Blaenau Railway Narrow gauge		Tan-y-Manod Line and station closed

References

↑ Boyd 1988, p. 68.
1 2 Boyd 1988, p. 47.
↑ Glynllifon Street temporary terminus, via Festipedia
↑ Boyd 1988.
↑ Pagnamenta 2016, p. 38.
↑ Crump 2016, p. 15.

Sources

Boyd, James I.C. (1988) [1972]. Narrow Gauge Railways in South Caernarvonshire - Volume 1. Headington, Oxford: The Oakwood Press. ISBN 978-0-85361-365-7. OCLC 20417464.
Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0508-1. OCLC 60251199.
Crump, Eryl (21 September 2016). "Back on Track. Dream of reopening railway moves step closer". Daily Post. Wales.
Pagnamenta, Robin (23 May 2016). "Rivals line up to build small nuclear plants in Snowdonia". The Times. London.
Quick, Michael (2009) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (4th ed.). Oxford: Railway and Canal Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-901461-57-5. OCLC 612226077.

Further material

Boyd, James I.C. (October 1959). Mansell, K.G., ed. "Bala & Festiniog Section - W.R.". Railway World. London: Railway World Limited. 20 (233).
Christiansen, Rex (1976). Forgotten Railways: North and Mid Wales. Newton Abbot, Devon: David and Charles. ISBN 0 7153 7059 6.
Coleford, I. C. (October 2010). Smith, Martin, ed. "By GWR to Blaenau Ffestiniog (Part One)". Railway Bylines. Radstock: Irwell Press Limited. 15 (11).
Coleford, I. C. (November 2010). Smith, Martin, ed. "By GWR to Blaenau Ffestiniog (Part Two)". Railway Bylines. Radstock: Irwell Press Limited. 15 (12).
Ferris, Tom (2004) [1961]. British Railways Volume 4 - Bewdley To Blaenau (DVD). demanddvd. DEMDVD084.
Green, C.C. (1996) [1983]. North Wales Branch Line Album. Shepperton: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 0 7110 1252 0.
Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2010). Bala to Llandudno: Featuring Blaenau Ffestiniog. Midhurst, West Sussex: Middleton Press (MD). ISBN 978 1 906008 87 1.
Morton Lloyd, M.E. (April 1961). Cooke, B.W.C., ed. "Farewell to Bala-Blaenau Branch". The Railway Magazine. London: Tothill Press Limited. 107 (720).
Richards, Alun John (2001). The Slate Railways of Wales. Llanrwst: Gwasg Carreg Gwalch. ISBN 0-86381-689-4.
Southern, D. W. (1995). Bala Junction to Blaenau Ffestiniog (Scenes from the Past, Railways of North Wales, No. 25). Stockport: Foxline Publishing. ISBN 1 8701 19 34 7.
Turner, Alun (2003). Gwynedd's Lost Railways. Catrine, Ayrshire: Stenlake Publishing. ISBN 9781840332599.

External links

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