Glynllifon Street railway station

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.

Glynllifon Street
Location
PlaceBlaenau Ffestiniog
AreaGwynedd
Coordinates52.9934°N 3.9338°W / 52.9934; -3.9338
Grid referenceSH 702 457
Operations
Original companyFestiniog and Blaenau Railway
Platforms0
History
July 1882Opened
5 September 1883Last passenger train called[1]
10 September 1883Replacement 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
Bala & Festiniog Railway
Conwy Valley line
to Llandudno
Ffestiniog Railway
to Porthmadog Harbour
 Blaenau Festiniog Junction
 Blaenau Ffestiniog North
 Blaenau Ffestiniog
Ffestiniog Railway
to Duffws (FR)
 Duffws
(F&BR)
 Glynllifon Street
(F&BR)
Former wooden viaduct
 Tan-y-Manod
(F&BR)
Graig 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
 Trawsfynydd Camp
 Trawsfynydd
 Llafar Halt
 Bryn-Celynog Halt
Cwm Prysor Viaduct
 Cwm Prysor Halt
 Arenig
 Capel Celyn Halt
Section flooded by Llyn Celyn
Tyddyn Bridge Halt
(under dam wall)
 Frongoch
 Bala (New)
 Bala Junction
Ruabon–Barmouth line
to Llandderfel
Bala (Penybont)
(original Bala Lake Halt)
Bala Lake Railway
to Llanuwchllyn
Ruabon–Barmouth line
to Barmouth

Context

The evolution of Blaenau's passenger stations was complex with five different railway companies providing services to the area.

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]

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

Sources
  • 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.
  • 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).CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Christiansen, Rex (1976). Forgotten Railways: North and Mid Wales. Newton Abbot: David and Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-7059-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • 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)
  • Green, C.C. (1996) [1983]. North Wales Branch Line Album. Shepperton: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7110-1252-3.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2010). Bala to Llandudno: Featuring Blaenau Ffestiniog. Midhurst: Middleton Press (MD). ISBN 978-1-906008-87-1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • 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). ISSN 0033-8923.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Richards, Alun John (2001). The Slate Railways of Wales. Llanrwst: Gwasg Carreg Gwalch. ISBN 978-0-86381-689-5.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Southern, D. W. (1995). Bala Junction to Blaenau Ffestiniog (Scenes from the Past, Railways of North Wales, No. 25). Stockport: Foxline Publishing. ISBN 978-1-870119-34-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Turner, Alun (2003). Gwynedd's Lost Railways. Catrine: Stenlake Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84033-259-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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