Брекон и Мертир-Тидфил: История железной дороги Уэльса

The Brecon and Merthyr Tydfil Junction Railway (B&MR) was a railway company in Wales. It was originally intended to link the towns in its name. Finding its access to Merthyr difficult at first, it acquired the Rumney Railway, an old plateway, and this gave it access to Newport docks. This changed its emphasis from rural line to mineral artery. It opened at the Brecon end to a point near Dowlais in 1863, and in 1865 it opened a disconnected section from Rhymney to Newport. In due course the company connected the two sections and reached Dowlais and Merthyr, but had to concede sharing a route with the powerful London and North Western Railway. The B&MR was always short of money, and was notable for its prodigious gradients, but it survived until the grouping of 1923, when it became part of the Great Western Railway. Its network declined steeply after 1945, and passenger operation ceased in 1962. Goods and mineral operation also lost its market, and as of 2020, only a short stub to a quarry at Machen remains rail connected.

Brecon was an important regional centre in mediaeval times, due to its location at the confluence of the River Honddu and the River Usk. Its relatively remote location meant that transport was always an important consideration. The difficult terrain southwards would require crossing the ridge of the Brecon Beacons into the high ground at the head of the South Wales Valleys, and the first turnpike connected eastward to Abergavenny and south westward to Swansea. The Brecknock and Abergavenny Canal, later part of the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal, was opened to Brecon in 1800 continuing the alignment to the east. In 1816 the Hay Railway was opened; this was a horse drawn plateway 24 miles long, connecting Brecon to Hay, and later Eardisley. Industry south of the Brecon Beacons was linked in to the canal when the Brinore Tramway (or Bryn Oer Tramway opened in 1815. It connected the industrial site of Brinore, near Trevil, north of Tredegar, to Talybont on Usk, on the Brecknock and Abergavenny Canal.

In the 1859 session of Parliament, the Brecon and Merthyr Bill was considered. It proposed a railway from a junction with the Dowlais Railway of 1851 near its terminus at Dowlais, to Brecon near the head of the canal. The Dowlais Railway was built chiefly to serve the Dowlais iron company, so that the proposed B&MR would provide an outlet, via the canal, for its products. It also connected Dowlais and Merthyr in difficult terrain—it included a rope worked incline—that might save expense for the B&MR in reaching Merthyr. During the progress of the Bill the Brecon to Talybont section was dropped, conceding the part of the route to another planned railway company; this failed to get authorised, but this was too late for the B&MR to reinstate the omitted section. The railway as authorised on 1 August 1859 was from Dowlais to Talybont. A railway further north got authorised: the Hereford, Hay and Brecon Railway. It had made arrangements with the larger Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway to work it. The Hay Railway was intent as this stage on selling its line, and the Hereford, Hay and Brecon Railway proposed to purchase it, simplifying the issue of land acquisition. After considerable negotiation, the HH&BR agreed to partition the Hay Railway, conceding part to the Mid Wales Railway and the southern section from Talyllyn to Brecon was granted to the B&M. These arrangements were ratified by the Hay Railway Act of 6 August 1860. Accordingly, relying on the confirmation of the agreement, the B&MR was able to get powers to extend from Talybont through Talyllyn to Brecon, by Act of 15 May 1860. A triangular junction would be formed at Talyllyn with the Mid Wales Railway. Mutual running powers arrangements were agreed. The B&MR had got hold of an obsolescent railway but with it came access to Newport over the Monmouthshire Railway from Bassaleg. The B&MR now had to set about the modernisation of the line itself, including a considerable amount of easing of the sharp curves. Captain Rich, after two refusals, agreed to reopening for passenger operation following his inspection on 7 June 1865, and the line opened to passenger operation between Pengam and Newport Dock Street (Monmouthshire Railway) on 14 June 1865; the operation was extended up to Rhymney from 16 April 1866, and in 1867 coal traffic started running.

The company's trains were being worked by Thomas Savin and John Ward, who paid the proprietors 5% on their capital, but early in 1866 [or 1865] the contractor failed. Suddenly the B&MR was unable to deal with its own financial commitments and it starting to miss debenture payments, and the Company went into administration. This meant that it was unable to complete the Merthyr branch, and the restrictive clauses in its Acts meant that it oriented from opening the line through to Newport. was to use the B&MR from Machen to Bassaleg, but needed to pass over a mile or so of the Monmouthshire Western Valley line to reach Newport Docks, and the GWR did not make the facility available at first, on 7 July 1884. After a stand off the use of the line was conceded. In 1882 the Newport Docks company reconstituted itself as the Alexandra (Newport and South Wales) Docks and Railway and was clearly in the lead over the affairs of the PC&NR, and it obtained powers in 1883 to build an additional double track alongside the Western Valley line from Bassaleg. This opened in April 1886. The approach to Machen on the B&MR Caerphilly branch was on a steeply graded single line, and working the heavy mineral traffic over it was inconvenient; the PC&NR obtained powers to build a second, nearly parallel single line on easier gradients: the Machen Loop. This was opened on 14 September 1891 of the new Great Western Railway; the change took effect on 1 July 1922. There had, of necessity, been capital reconstructions in 1882 and 1902. In the twentieth century interest was paid on preference shares, and in 1918 – 1921 this was as high as 4%, but on preference shares only.

Alfred Henshaw, 1863 – 1894. John Gall 1894 – 1903. Herbert R. Price 1903 – 1922. – February 1922 (died in office) Exiting from south east portal of the tunnel, the line descended for along a 1:38 (2.6%) gradient by the side of Glyn Collwyn and the (later: 1931) Talybont reservoir.

Only one B&MR coach has survived into the present day; the body (only) of coach No.111 stands in a private residence at Armscote. (2017) A goods wagon, no.197 is currently (2017) at the Severn Valley Railway.

Some sections of the route have become part of the National Cycle Network. These routes are NCN 4 (Celtic Trail) between Machen and Trethomas, NCN 469 between Bargoed and Fochriw and NCN 8 (Taff Trail) between Torpantau and Talybont Reservoir. NCN 468 runs from Aberbargoed northwards.