Rhymney Bridge railway station

Rhymney Bridge
Rhymney Bridge station, 1951
Location
Place	Llechrhyd
Area	Caerphilly
Coordinates	51°46′40″N 3°17′55″W / 51.7778°N 3.2987°W / 51.7778; -3.2987Coordinates: 51°46′40″N 3°17′55″W / 51.7778°N 3.2987°W / 51.7778; -3.2987
Grid reference	SO104095
Operations
Original company	Nantybwch and Rhymney Joint
Pre-grouping	London and North Western Railway and Rhymney Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway and Great Western Railway
Platforms	3
History
2 October 1871 (1871-10-02)	Opened for Rhymney Railway services
1 January 1873	Start of L&NWR services
21 September 1953	Withdrawal of Rhymney services
22 November 1954	Withdrawal of goods facilities
6 January 1958 (1958-01-06)	Final closure
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

Rhymney Bridge railway station was a station on the London and North Western Railway's Heads of the Valleys line serving the village of Llechrhyd in the Welsh county of Glamorganshire.

The first section of the Merthyr, Tredegar and Abergavenny Railway from Abergavenny to Brynmawr was opened on 29 September 1862. The line was leased and operated by the London and North Western Railway (L&NWR) which acquired the smaller railway company on 30 June 1866. On 1 March 1864, the line was extended from Brynmawr to Nantybwch. A further 3-mile (4.8 km) extension to Rhymney Bridge through to Rhymney was jointly constructed by the L&NWR and the Rhymney Railway; the section to Rhymney Bridge was double-track whilst the Rhymney portion was single-track. The joint line came into operation on 5 September 1871 when the junction was opened; the L&NWR had running powers over the Rhymney's line to Cardiff Docks.

The station, which was at first known as Rumney Bridge, opened to Rhymney services on 2 October 1871 and to L&NWR services on 1 January 1873. It took its name from the bridge over the River Rhymney which was situated a short distance to the south-east; the nearest settlement was the village of Llechrhyd. The station had three platform faces and, as with the junction at Nantybwch, the signal box stood in the "V" of an island platform. The two platforms serving the Abergavenny and Merthyr line had no passenger accommodation, although a brick station building stood on the Merthyr platform. This structure has been described as "resembling a peasant's dwelling from the bleak wastes of northern China". Rhymney Bridge itself was situated in a desolate location, with scant protection from the inclement weather provided by a weather-boarded footbridge linking the platforms. The Rhymney branch platform was situated at a lower level to the main line platforms and was skirted by two goods loops which were useful for slow-moving goods trains.