Glynllifon Street railway station

Glynllifon Street railway station was a temporary northern terminus station of the Festiniog and Blaenau Railway (F&BR), sited between the street of the same name and Cwmbowydd Road in Blaenau Ffestiniog. It was never named.

Glynllifon Street
Location	Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd Wales
Coordinates	52.9934°N 3.9338°W
Grid reference	SH 702 457
Platforms	0
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Festiniog and Blaenau Railway
Key dates
July 1882	Opened
5 September 1883	Last passenger train called[1]
10 September 1883	Replacement standard gauge Blaenau Festiniog station opened[2]

Festiniog & Blaenau Railway
to Porthmadog Harbour Dolgarregddu Junction Duffws (FR) Duffws (F&BR) inclines to quarries Glynllifon Street wooden viaduct Tan-y-Manod to Graig Ddu and Manod quarries Tyddyngwyn Festiniog
Key
Ffestiniog Railway Festiniog & Blaenau Rly quarry lines

Bala & Festiniog Railway
Conwy Valley line to Llandudno Ffestiniog Railway to Porthmadog Harbour Blaenau Festiniog Junction Blaenau Ffestiniog North Blaenau Ffestiniog Ffestiniog Railway to Duffws (FR) Duffws (F&BR) Glynllifon Street (F&BR) Former wooden viaduct Tan-y-Manod (F&BR) Graig Ddu Quarry Pengwern Quarry Tyddyngwyn (F&BR) Manod Teigl Halt Festiniog Maentwrog Road Line to south dismantled Trawsfynydd power station loading point Trawsfynydd Lake Halt Trawsfynydd Camp Trawsfynydd Llafar Halt Bryn-Celynog Halt Cwm Prysor Viaduct Cwm Prysor Halt Arenig Capel Celyn Halt Section flooded by Llyn Celyn Tyddyn Bridge Halt (under dam wall) Frongoch Bala (New) Bala Junction Ruabon–Barmouth line to Llandderfel Bala (Penybont) (original Bala Lake Halt) Bala Lake Railway to Llanuwchllyn Ruabon–Barmouth line to Barmouth

Context

The evolution of Blaenau's passenger stations was complex, with five different railway companies providing services to the area.

History

From May 1882 to September 1883 the 1 ft 11 ³⁄₄ in (603 mm)[2] narrow gauge F&BR was rebuilt as a standard gauge line. Narrow gauge services continued throughout the rebuilding by laying a third rail on the sleepers. At the line's northern end, however, the scale and complexity of replacing the line's Duffws (F&BR) terminus and goods yard made it impossible to continue to meet passengers' needs, so the F&BR's terminus was closed on 1 November 1882[3] and a temporary terminus was provided between Glynllifon Street (an area also known as Fourcrosses[4]) and Cwmbowydd Road, approximately 10 chains (200 m) short of Diphwys.

The temporary station is only named in one published source, which refers to a published postcard showing a train at the station.[5] One source states that narrow gauge services continued 'to a temporary terminus just short of Dolgarregddu'[6] No hint of its existence is given in the standard work on the F&BR.[2] Indirect evidence that the station existed can be inferred from the fact that the F&BR's other stations remained open after the closure of the F&BR's Blaenau terminus. No source suggests that Tan-y-Manod became the temporary terminus, indeed, the F&BR went to trouble and expense to provide a temporary track to bipass Bethania viaduct whist it was being rebuilt..

The station had no platforms, in common with all other F&BR stations. Carriages were very low to the ground, so passengers boarded from and alighted to the trackside.

Closure

Narrow gauge trains ceased running on 5 September 1883 with standard gauge services beginning on 10 September 1883. The temporary station was closed permanently when the narrow gauge ended, being replaced by a permanent terminus initially known as "Blaenau Festiniog" on the site of the former Diphwys (F&BR) terminus. The terminus was renamed Blaenau Ffestiniog Central in 1951, closed to passenger traffic in January 1960 and closed completely in January 1961.

The line reopened

The line through the site of the temporary station closed in 1961 but it was mothballed pending building the long-discussed cross-town link to enable trains to run along the Conwy Valley Line, through Blaenau and on to Trawsfynydd nuclear power station which was then being built. The line through the site reopened on 24 April 1964, but none of the station's facilities were brought back to life. The line closed again in 1998 as the nuclear plant was being decommissioned. Once more the route was mothballed in case a future use is found.

The station site in the 21st Century

By 2011 no hint of the station remained. In Spring 2016 the mothballed single track line still ran past the site to the former nuclear flask loading point.

The future

Between 2000 and 2011 there were at least two attempts to put the mothballed line through the site to use. In 2011 there were proposals to use the rails as a recreational velorail track. Neither this nor the earlier idea came to anything. The possibility remains that the surviving line could see future preservation or reuse by the nuclear industry.[7]

To considerable local surprise fresh moves to reopen the line from Blaenau as far south as Trawsfynydd began in September 2016, with the formation of The Trawsfynydd & Blaenau Ffestiniog Community Railway Company. On 21 September at least one regional newspaper reported that "Volunteers are set to start work this weekend on clearing vegetation from the trackbed between Blaenau Ffestiniog and Trawsfynydd." The company was quoted as saying "We have been given a licence by Network Rail to clear and survey the line."[8]

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Terminus		Festiniog and Blaenau Railway Narrow gauge		Tan-y-Manod Line and station closed

References

1. Boyd 1988, p. 68.
2. Boyd 1988, p. 47.
3. Butt 1995, p. 84.
4. The Cambrian News, 24-11-1882
5. Glynllifon Street temporary terminus, via Festipedia
7. Pagnamenta 2016, p. 38.
8. Crump 2016, p. 15.

Sources

• Boyd, James I.C. (1988) [1972]. Narrow Gauge Railways in South Caernarvonshire – Volume 1. Headington: The Oakwood Press. ISBN 978-0-85361-365-7. OCLC 20417464.
• Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
• Crump, Eryl (21 September 2016). "Back on Track. Dream of reopening railway moves step closer". Daily Post. Wales.
• Pagnamenta, Robin (23 May 2016). "Rivals line up to build small nuclear plants in Snowdonia". The Times. London.
• Quick, Michael (2009) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (4th ed.). Oxford: Railway and Canal Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-901461-57-5. OCLC 612226077.

Further material

• Boyd, James I.C. (October 1959). Mansell, K.G. (ed.). "Bala & Festiniog Section - W.R.". Railway World. London: Railway World Limited. 20 (233).
• Christiansen, Rex (1976). Forgotten Railways: North and Mid Wales. Newton Abbot: David and Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-7059-9.
• Coleford, I. C. (October 2010). Smith, Martin (ed.). "By GWR to Blaenau Ffestiniog (Part One)". Railway Bylines. Radstock: Irwell Press Limited. 15 (11).
• Coleford, I. C. (November 2010). Smith, Martin (ed.). "By GWR to Blaenau Ffestiniog (Part Two)". Railway Bylines. Radstock: Irwell Press Limited. 15 (12).
• Ferris, Tom (2004) [1961]. British Railways Volume 4 - Bewdley To Blaenau (DVD). demanddvd. DEMDVD084.
• Green, C.C. (1996) [1983]. North Wales Branch Line Album. Shepperton: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7110-1252-3.
• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2010). Bala to Llandudno: Featuring Blaenau Ffestiniog. Midhurst: Middleton Press (MD). ISBN 978-1-906008-87-1.
• Morton Lloyd, M.E. (April 1961). Cooke, B.W.C. (ed.). "Farewell to Bala-Blaenau Branch". The Railway Magazine. London: Tothill Press Limited. 107 (720). ISSN 0033-8923.
• Richards, Alun John (2001). The Slate Railways of Wales. Llanrwst: Gwasg Carreg Gwalch. ISBN 978-0-86381-689-5.
• Southern, D. W. (1995). Bala Junction to Blaenau Ffestiniog (Scenes from the Past, Railways of North Wales, No. 25). Stockport: Foxline Publishing. ISBN 978-1-870119-34-4.
• Turner, Alun (2003). Gwynedd's Lost Railways. Catrine: Stenlake Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84033-259-9.

External links

• The station site on a navigable OS Map National Library of Scotland
• The station and line Rail Map Online
• Festiniog and Blaenau Railway, via Festipedia