A fascinating photo of Rhymney Ironworks in the 1880s. The Rhymney Railway line to Cardiff is in the foreground with a mix of coal company wagons including GWR Collieries and Lewis Merthyr.
This picture is of the Bute Ironworks which was established in 1825, later merging with the older Union Ironworks (1801) in 1837. The Bute Trustees repeatedly tried to lease the Rhymney Railway in the 1860s.
©️ Amgueddfa Cymru/Museum of Wales
The Rhymney Railway system totalled just 62 miles with a further 22 miles jointly owned. But it was a major player in the South Wales coalfield and its main line is still largely in use today!
See our review: ‘The Rhymney Railway: Vol 1, The main Line from Cardiff' by John Hutton
A fascinating aspect of this book is to see the railway system in the Rhymney Valley expand and then start to shrink again from the middle of the 20th Century.
Private lines such as those owned by the NCB are included, along with the Rhymney Ironworks standard gauge layout in 1875!
Our Review: ‘Track Layout Diagrams of the GWR & BR WR: Section 42, Rhymney Valley’ by R.A. Cooke
Containing 57 pages of diagrams covering railway track layouts in the Rhymney Valley from the early days.
Some locations are spread across multiple pages which show the layout at different points in time.
Fascinating to follow the expansion and contraction of the system from Rhymney right down to Machen and Bassaleg.
Review: ‘Track Layout Diagrams of the GWR & BR WR: Vol 42, Rhymney Valley’ by R.A. Cooke
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Leaving aside the slightly bizarre mix of Welsh/English locations, this Railway Clearing House map from 1903 shows much.
For example:
The joint line between Nantybwch and Rhymney gave the LNWR a route to Cardiff and the Rhymney a route to the Midlands/North of England via Abergavenny.
The Brecon and Merthyr railway to the south of Rhymney was actually converted from the old Rumney Tramroad which dated back to 1826!
#Wales #RailwayHistory #Railway #Nantybwch #Rhymney #Cardiff #History
A superb range of images dating way back to the 1890s and maps to the 1870s.
Some more recent photographs from the 1970s and 1980s lack clarity which may be the result of poor reproduction.
See our review: ‘The Rhymney Railway: Volume 1, The main Line from Cardiff' by John Hutton
Containing 57 pages of track layout diagrams covering the Rhymney Valley. The route strictly follows the river Rhymney as it turns eastwards towards Bassaleg, so Caerphilly is covered in a separate volume.
Some locations are spread across multiple pages showing the layout at different points in time from the mid-nineteenth century onwards.
Our review: ‘Track Layout Diagrams of the GWR & BR WR: Vol 42, Rhymney Valley’ by R.A.Cooke
Photographs dating back to the 19th Century provide a glimpse of a line at the heart of South Wales railway history.
Maps ably support the images enabling the reader to place them in geographical context.
The branch lines are covered in Volume 2.
See our review: ‘The Rhymney Railway: v.1, The main Line from Cardiff' by John Hutton
There are times when no matter how many words you use (even a thousand!), things become so much clearer with a diagram.
This is never more true than with railways and their layouts! Especially as their routes changed over time.
See our review: ‘Track Layout Diagrams of the GWR & BR WR: Volume 42, Rhymney Valley’ by R.A. Cooke
Along with detailed diagrams, this book contains handy overall maps, including one showing the sequence of line closures.
Beware, though, that as the book follows the Rhymney Valley towards Machen, neither the Darran valley nor Rhymney Railway south of Pengam are shown.
See our review: ‘Track Layout Diagrams of the GWR & BR WR: Section 42, Rhymney Valley’ by R. A. Cooke
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