Carnarvon Castle railway station

Carnarvon Castle
The station area with two loaded railway wagons, stacks of slates and road carts
Location
Place	Caernarfon, Gwynedd
Area	Gwynedd
Coordinates	53°08′20″N 4°16′32″W / 53.1388°N 4.2755°W / 53.1388; -4.2755Coordinates: 53°08′20″N 4°16′32″W / 53.1388°N 4.2755°W / 53.1388; -4.2755
Grid reference	SH 478 626
Operations
Original company	Nantlle Railway
Platforms	0
History
11 August 1856	Opened
12 June 1865 (last train 10 June)	Closed
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

Carnarvon Castle railway station was opened in 1856 by the narrow gauge Nantlle Railway near the foot of what is today the Allt Y Castell which slopes down to Caernarfon's harbour area. It was the line's northern terminus and was the closest of Caernarfon's ultimately five stations to the historic town centre.

The Nantlle Railway was the first public railway in North Wales. It opened on 12 July 1828 and was horse-drawn throughout its life. Its primary purpose was to carry slates from quarries near Nantlle nine miles northwards to the quayside at Caernarfon where most were loaded onto ships. Other products such as lead, dung and iron ore were anticipated, but in practice slate was the clear number one northbound, with copper ore a distant second. Southbound traffic was almost monopolised by coal; carrying fare-paying passengers was an afterthought.

As with all other Nantlle Railway passenger stopping places, the Carnarvon Castle terminus had no platforms, passengers boarded from and alighted to the trackside. There was no separate station siding or reserved length of track, passenger trains simply stopped at an agreed place near the line's sole passenger building of any description, the "Booking Office", near the Harbour Office.

Passenger carrying did not begin until the railway (sometimes referred to as a tramway) had been running for 28 years, but it nevertheless made a significant contribution to income, e.g. over a quarter in 1862, but its profitability was another matter, particularly as it risked interfering with slate traffic. This issue exercised many contemporary minds.

From the outset timetables appeared regularly in the "Carnarvon & Denbigh Herald" and in Bradshaw from October 1856. That of August and September 1856 shows three passenger trains taking 1hr 30mins southbound from Carnarvon Castle to Nantlle and 1hr 21mins northbound, the difference being caused by the prevailing gradients. The speed of six or seven mph compared favourably with what a horseless person from Nantlle could possibly hope to achieve, with effects carried as well. The trains had various mixtures of 1st, 2nd and 3rd class provision. All trains called at all stations (though, as at Carnarvon Castle, "stopping place" may have been a better description.) The final timetable published in June 1865 showed fewer trains but nearly equal timings north and southbound. There were extra trains on Saturdays but no Sunday service was ever provided. The timetable varied over the life of the service and by season. An additional stop, five minutes before arriving at the Castle terminus, appeared in October 1857, northbound only, advertised as "Carnarvon"; this disappeared soon afterwards never to reappear. Connecting coaches to Portmadoc were provided from Penygroes and formally advertised from 1860.