Llanidloes and Newtown Railway

[ ] Llanidloes and Newtown Railway
Oswestry and Newtown Railway Newtown (Powys) River Severn River Severn Scafell Halt Moat Lane Junction Cambrian Line Moat Lane (old) River Severn Llandinam Dolwen River Severn Llanidloes Llangurig branch Mid-Wales Railway

The Llanidloes and Newtown Railway was an early Welsh railway, and the first to be built by David Davies, Llandinam. This line was unusual in that at neither terminus did it connect with any other railway, and the engines and carriages had to be carried on specially constructed wagons from Oswestry, 36 miles away.

The Welsh railway network was built by a series of small railway companies, which by the time of grouping in 1923 had all become part of the Great Western Railway. In 1845, a broad gauge scheme had been proposed to connect industrialised Northwest England and Manchester to the deep water port of Milford Haven, giving an alternative to access North America than the dominant Port of Liverpool. However, the Manchester and Milford Railway did not gain approval until 1859, when the London and North Western Railway backed a standard gauge proposal. However, by that time Parliament had authorised a second railway between Llanidloes and Aberystwyth, authorising the Mid-Wales Railway in 1860.

By 1861 both railways were fast approaching Llanidloes, the M&MR from Llangurig in the west, the MWR from Builth Wells in the south. After fierce clashes between engineers and navies building the two schemes, in 1864 Parliament approved the construction of a joint line, the Llanidloes and Newtown Railway. This would extend southwards of Llanidloes with 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of double track to Penpontbren Junction, where the M&MR's Llangurig branch for Strata Florida, and MWR mainline for Builth Wells would diverge.

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