Newtown and Machynlleth Railway
| Newtown and Machynlleth Railway | |
|---|---|
Moat Lane Junction, a joint station with the Llanidloes and Newtown Railway. The N&MR to the Cambrian Mountains and Cardigan Bay proceeds ahead, the L&NR to Builth Wells proceeds to the left. Two LMS Ivatt Class 2 2-6-0's work within the station, 11 May 1957.
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| Overview | |
| System | Cambrian Railways |
| Status | Operational, Cambrian Line |
| Locale | Mid Wales |
| Termini |
Newtown (Powys) Machynlleth |
| Stations | Scafell Halt, Moat Lane Junction, Caersws, Pontdolgoch, Carno, Talerddig, Llanbrynmair, Commins Coch Halt, Cemmes Road |
| Operation | |
| Opened | 1863 |
| Owner | Original: Newtown and Machynlleth Railway Current: Network Rail |
| Operator(s) | Original: Cambrian Railways Current: Arriva Trains Wales |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 23 mi (37 km) |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge |
| Newtown and Machynlleth Railway | |
|---|---|
The Newtown and Machynlleth Railway (N&MR) was a short railway created to allow the Oswestry and Newtown Railway and the Mid-Wales Railway access to the Mid-Wales market town of Machynlleth, from their communal station at Newtown, Powys. Crossing the River Severn and the Cambrian Mountains, it was completed in 1863 and became part of the Cambrian Railways system in 1864.
The railways of Wales were built by a series of ad hoc companies, often backed by a network of local and national investors, and engineered by a group of communal civil engineers.
The difficulty with the construction of the N&MR, was geographic over any other obstacle. Firstly, exiting Newtown, all routes had to cross the River Severn. Secondly, then heading due west, the railway had to make an economic and accessible to railway locomotives crossing of the Cambrian Mountains. This made the shortest but direct route both difficult to construct, resultantly expensive and potentially unworkable. This was much like the dilemma which resulted in the economic termination of the strategic route which was the Llangurig branch of the Manchester and Milford Railway.
Vested by an Act of Parliament on 27 July 1857, by the start of construction in 1860, the Llanidloes and Newtown Railway had already bridged the River Severn south of Newtown, leaving the N&MR to only need to construct the twin spans of Penstrowed bridge to head west. After a junction with the Van Railway at Caersws, the line then followed the natural line of the rising ground up towards the village of Talerddig, where Talerddig cutting enabled the railway to cross the Cambrian Mountains. Now heading gently down hill along the course of River Twymyn towards the coast at Cardigan Bay, via a junction with the Mawddwy Railway at the Anglicanised-named Cemmes Road, the line terminated at Machynlleth. Even though it was single track, economic control of all costs created a meandering path, but low cost of construction of the line.
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