Maespoeth Junction

Maespoeth Junction is a railway location to the south of Corris in Gwynedd. It lies in the historic county of Merionethshire/Sir Feirionnydd, in the valley of the Afon Dulas. It is known principally as a railway junction on the historic Corris Railway, and is also the site of a small number of residential dwellings.

Maespoeth was where the horse-hauled Upper Corris Tramway from the slate quarries around Corris Uchaf met the main line (opened in 1859) of the Corris Railway coming from Aberllefenni. The place name, which translates as "Hot Field", is shared with a nearby house.

The site was merely the meeting place of the two lines until 1878. In that year the Corris Railway Company identified Maespoeth as the site for its new engine shed, planned as part of the introduction of steam engines, which commenced operating later that year.

Constructed in the vee of the two lines, the new shed held the railway's three steam locomotives and was equipped to handle all but the heaviest repairs to the locomotives and rolling stock. Immediately to the north of the engine shed is a small stream. At an unknown date a section of the stream was lined with slate and a wood-framed dunny or latrine was built over it to provide toilet facilities with constant running water. Although this remains in situ it is no longer used by railway staff.

In the early 1920s the arrival of a fourth locomotive exceeded the capacity of the engine shed, and a small wooden building was built against the south wall of the engine shed and initially used to store one of the railway's original three locomotives. This building was later used to store carriages under repair. It disappeared in the early 1930s.

A smaller stone building was later constructed to the south of the engine shed, and used as a stable and store for the Signals & Telegraph (S&T) department. A wooden signal cabin with a stone chimney was built to protect the lever frame controlling the points and signals at the south end of the site.

Much of the engineering machinery was removed after the line became part of the Great Western Railway in 1930, but the engine shed and associated structures survived the closure of the railway in 1948 and subsequently served as a winter working base for the Forestry Commission.

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