Trawsfynydd Lake Halt railway station
| Trawsfynydd Lake Halt | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Place | North east of Llyn Trawsfynydd |
| Area | Gwynedd |
| Coordinates | 52°55′40″N 3°56′12″W / 52.9279°N 3.9368°WCoordinates: 52°55′40″N 3°56′12″W / 52.9279°N 3.9368°W |
| Grid reference | SH 699 384 |
| Operations | |
| Original company | Great Western Railway |
| Platforms | 1 |
| History | |
| 14 April 1934 | Opened for passengers only |
| 4 January 1960 | Closed, but line remained open for goods |
| 28 January 1961 | Line closed |
| 10 April 1964 | Line reopened from the north, but not the halt |
| 17 October 1998 | Line closed and mothballed |
| 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 |
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Trawsfynydd Lake Halt was a solely passenger railway station near the northeastern tip of Llyn Trawsfynydd, Gwynedd, Wales. Many Nineteenth and early Twentieth Century institutions in Wales were given anglicised names, this station being one. Over the years, and especially since the Second World War, most have been rendered into Welsh or given both Welsh and English names. Trawsfynydd Lake Halt closed before this happened.
The line through the site of the future halt was opened in 1882 by the Bala and Festiniog Railway The company and line were subsequently taken over by the Great Western Railway (GWR) which went on to open the halt in 1934. Trawsfynydd Lake Halt was one of the 198 opened by the Great Western Railway (GWR) between 1927 and 1939, in this case in pursuit of leisure business, in particular angling and walking, though the few locals on this upland rural area also made use of it.
Llyn Trawsfynydd is man made. It opened in 1928 as part of a hydro-electric power scheme. "Reservoir Siding" was opened by the GWR in 1925 to serve firms building the dam and hydro power station; It diverged towards the lake just north of the site of the future halt. This remained open but little used after the scheme opened. When the halt was opened the siding ended behind its waiting shelter. The siding would go on to have a future undreamed of even for those behind the original hydroelectric venture.
The unstaffed halt's single platform's edge was made of sleepers, the platform itself being infilled with ash and cinders. It was a mere 50 feet (15 m) long, drivers had instructions to stop so that the guard's compartment was alongside. The amenities provided were a platform shelter and an oil lamp, with access by a footpath.
The September 1959 timetable shows
In 1935 the Ministry of Transport stated that the halt was used by 20 passengers per week.
After the Second World War at the latest most trains were composed of two carriages, with one regular turn comprising just one brake third coach. At least one train along the line regularly ran as a mixed train, with a second between Bala and Arenig. By that time such trains had become rare on Britain's railways. Workmen's trains had been a feature of the line from the outset; they were the Festiniog and Blaenau Railway's biggest source of revenue. Such a service between Trawsfynydd and Blaenau Ffestiniog survived to the line's closure to passengers in 1960. Up to 1930 at the earliest such services used dedicated, lower standard, coaches which used a specific siding at Blaenau where the men boarded from and alighted to the ballast.
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