Bala Junction railway station

Opened by the Great Western Railway, it remained in that company through the Grouping of 1923. The station passed to the Western Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948. Passenger services to Bala and on the Ruabon-Barmouth line ceased in January 1965; the service beyond Bala to Blaenau Festiniog having been withdrawn in 1960.

During its operational life, Bala Junction served as an interchange station for the branch line train to Blaenau Festiniog, usually operated by small tank locomotives such as the 6400 Class 0-6-0PT and 5800 Class 0-4-2T tank locomotives. These trains did not run beyond Bala Junction, instead returning north to the GWR station at Blaenau Festiniog. There were no goods facilities here either; all goods trains stopped to shunt detached wagons for the branch line train.

As a junction station, Bala Junction was equipped with standard GWR lower quadrant semaphore signals to control train movements between the Bala Ffestiniog and Ruabon-Barmouth lines. These were used particularly when the branch line train was shunting in preparation for its return to Blaenau Festiniog as there were no turning facilities here. To run around, the branch line engine had to cross from Platform 3 (the Bala Ffestiniog platform) onto the main line and run back along Platform 2, used by eastbound trains running to Ruabon.

As of 2014, the only remnants at Bala Junction are the trackbeds of the Bala Ffestiniog and Ruabon-Barmouth lines and the platform faces. The site is close to a nearby dam; part of the access road for this uses the formation of the Bala Ffestiniog line, passing close to the remains of a short bridge that carried the line into Bala Junction itself.

• 
  BR Standard 4MT 75028 arrives at Bala Junction with the 12.45 Pwllheli-Chester.
• 
  View NE from the station along the Ruabon Barmouth Line.

• Baughan, Peter E. (1980). A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: Volume 11 North and Mid Wales (1st ed.). Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-7850-3. OCLC 6823219.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Boyd, James I.C. (1988) [1972]. Narrow Gauge Railways in South Caernarvonshire – Volume 1. Headington: 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 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
• Clemens, Jim (2003) [1959]. North Wales Steam Lines (DVD). The Jim Clemens Collection No.6. Uffington, Shropshire: B&R Video Productions. Vol 79.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2010). Bala to Llandudno: Featuring Blaenau Ffestiniog. Midhurst, West Sussex: Middleton Press (MD). ISBN 978-1-906008-87-1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• 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.
• 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.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Turner, Alun (2003). Gwynedd's Lost Railways. Catrine, Ayrshire: Stenlake Publishing. ISBN 9781840332599.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2010). Ruabon to Barmouth. West Sussex: Middleton Press. figs. 63-69. ISBN 9781906008840. OCLC 651922152.
• Coleford, I. C. (October 2010). Smith, Martin (ed.). "By GWR to Blaenau Ffestiniog (Part One)". Railway Bylines. Radstock: Irwell Press Limited. 15 (11).CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Coleford, I. C. (November 2010). Smith, Martin (ed.). "By GWR to Blaenau Ffestiniog (Part Two)". Railway Bylines. Radstock: Irwell Press Limited. 15 (12).CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Ferris, Tom (2004) [1961]. British Railways Volume 4 - Bewdley To Blaenau (DVD). demanddvd. DEMDVD084.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

• The station site on a navigable OS Map, via National Library of Scotland
• The station on a navigable 1953 OS map, via npe Maps
• The station and line, via Rail Map Online
• The line LJT2 with mileages, via Railway Codes
• The line RUA with mileages, via Railway Codes
• Bala and Dollgellau Railway, via Railscot
• Bala and Festiniog Line, via Railscot
• Corwen and Bala Railway, via Railscot
• Remisinscences by a local railwayman, via Forgotten Relics
• Images of the station, via Yahoo
• Driver's view north of Bala to Blaenau, via YouTube
• Train leaving Bala station, via alamy
• Several photos of the Blaenau line, via Penmorfa
• Several photos of the Blaenau line, via Penmorfa
• A special on the Blaenau line, via 2D53
• 1960 Working timetable, via 2D53
• Details of Summer 1989 excursions through the station, via Six Bells Junction
• Deatails and photos of 22 Jan 1961 railtour, via Six Bells Junction
• The 1961 last train special, via YouTube
• An inspection saloon ride on the line, Part 1, via YouTube
• An inspection saloon ride on the line, Part 2, via YouTube
• Signal box diagram, via Signalling Record Society