Llangollen Railway
|
Rheilffordd Llangollen |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Llangollen railway station from across the River Dee | |
| Locale |
 Wales, UK |
| Terminus | Eastern: Llangollen Western: Corwen |
| Coordinates | 52°58′12″N 3°11′31″W / 52.970°N 3.192°WCoordinates: 52°58′12″N 3°11′31″W / 52.970°N 3.192°W |
| Commercial operations | |
| Name | Llangollen Railway |
| Original gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge |
| Preserved operations | |
| Operated by | Llangollen Railway Trust |
| Stations | 5, and 1 halt |
| Length | 10 miles (16 km) |
| Preserved gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge |
| Commercial history | |
| Opened | 1862 |
| 1877 | Absorbed by Great Western Railway |
| 1964 | Closed |
| Preservation history | |
| 1975 | Llangollen railway station taken over by the Preservation Society & full restoration work and reconstruction begins |
| 1980 | Llangollen Railway, Granted Light Railway Order |
| 1981 | Pentrefelin reached as Line extended first time (but re-opened) |
| 1986 | Re-opening of extension to and Berwyn Re-opens |
| 1990 | Deeside Halt opens, line extended |
| 1993 | Glyndyfrdwy Reopens, line extended |
| 1996 | Opening of extension to and Carrog Re-opens |
| 2011 | Work starts on extension to Corwen |
| 2013 | Extension work reaches Bonwm Halt |
| 2014 | Extension work reaches Corwen, Corwen East opens. |
| Headquarters | Llangollen |
The Llangollen Railway (Welsh: Rheilffordd Llangollen) is a volunteer-run heritage railway in Denbighshire, Wales, which operates between Llangollen and Corwen.
At 10 miles (16 km) long, it is currently the longest preserved standard gauge steam railway in Wales. It operates daily in summer as well as weekends throughout the winter months, using a variety of mainly ex-GWR steam locomotives. A minority of timetabled trains are diesel-hauled.
Work had been in the later stages of being carried out on 2 1⁄2 miles (4 km) of extension from Carrog to a new station (and western terminus) on the outskirts of Corwen, which has now brought the railway's total operating length to 10 miles (16 km).
Llangollen was already a popular place for tourists by the 1840s. Travel up to this point had been by horse-drawn carriage, but by the 1840s the Shrewsbury to Chester line had been completed, allowing passengers to alight at Llangollen Road (later known as Whitehurst Halt), and then take a coach towards Holyhead.
However, the commercial development of the local mining industry meant that the development of a railway became essential to the region's economic development. A number of schemes were proposed, including one by the LNWR, but it was not until 1 August 1859 that scheme engineered by Henry Robertson received Royal Assent. The 5 1⁄4 miles (8.4 km) Vale of Llangollen Railway left the Shrewsbury to Chester main line 1⁄2 mile (0.8 km) south of Ruabon, and proceeded as a single track line on a double track route via Acrefair to the new station at Llangollen. The line opened to freight on 1 December 1861, and to passengers on 2 June 1862 at a temporary terminus on the town's eastern outskirts.
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