Lost Railways of South Wales

Many readers will be familiar with Nigel Welbourn’s long running series of books, covering lost railways in Britain and Ireland. This new book Lost Railways of the World is the latest by this author on the subject of disused railways. The material for this volume has been collected and researched over a period of almost fifty years of world travel by the author. Informative text records the fortunes of the world’s lost railways and every country with significant disused railways is included. Lost railways are a unifying theme, being found throughout the world, from the hottest African desert to the coldest steppes of Russia. The book has a surprisingly British flavor as historically many railways throughout the world used British equipment and operating practices. On his first trip in the 1970s the author discovered British signaling equipment in Europe. In 2020 he discovered the same firms’ equipment in South America. The world’s top ten lost lines are listed, from the seven-mile-long sea bridge on a line that ran through the Florida Keys, to the rugged mountain splendor of the Khyber Pass Railway. Some of the oldest, largest, longest, most northerly, southerly, expensive, crookedest, steepest, highest, lowest and most notorious lost railways are included. Quirky and other unique tales from lost railways are included, such as the disappearing phantom bridge, a line destroyed by molten lava, to one that sank under the sea, another that conveyed giant turtles, to a memorial to a brave railway elephant. The author also visited remote areas of Argentina and provides more information on the mysterious disappearance of the ex-Lynton & Barnstaple Railway locomotive Lew. A large number of the 300 color illustrations have not been published before, maps and stories from around the world will delight not only the railway enthusiast, but appeal to a wider cadre of readers with an interest in nostalgia, history, geography and travel. To some the book will be an informative source of information, to others it is written in a way that highlights the most amazing lost railways in the world, but either way it is a fascinating and unique book.

The drastic railway closures of the 1960s led to the slow decay and re-purposing of hundreds of miles of railway infrastructure. Though these buildings and apparatus are now ghosts of their former selves, countless clues to our railway heritage still remain in the form of embankments, cuttings, tunnels, converted or tumbledown wayside buildings, and old railway furniture such as signal posts. Many disused routes are preserved in the form of cycle tracks and footpaths. This colourfully illustrated book helps you to decipher the fascinating features that remain today and to understand their original functions, demonstrating how old routes can be traced on maps, outlining their permanent stamp on the landscape, and teaching you how to form a mental picture of a line in its heyday.

The Lost Railways series expands into Wales with this comprehensive account of Gwynedd's railway and tramway networks. It is hard to credit that there was a time when a train passenger could expect to travel from Porthmadog to Llandudno within an hour; today, the journey by road takes more than twice as long. Apart from North Devon, there is possibly nowhere else in Great Britain where you can travel so far without seeing a modern working railway line. They may be gone except, for some preserved lines such as the Welsh Highland Railway, but fortunately much of the county's railways and engines were captured in their prime by many local and enthusiast photographers. Fifty-two of these rare period photographs are collected here with valuable statistics and historical accounts of each line. Locations featured include: the Aberglaslyn Pass, Trawsfynnydd, Beddgelert, Ynys, Menai Bridge, Treborth, Port Dinorwic, Dinas Junction, Groeslon, Penygroes, Pant Glas, Llangybi, Chwilog, Nantlle, Cwm-y-Glo, Llanberis, Bala Junction, Bala, Arenig, Cwm Prysor, Trawsfynnydd Lake, Ffestiniog, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Felin Hen, Bethesda, Garneddwen, Drws-y-Nant, Penmaenpool, Dolgellau, Barmouth, Dinas Mawddwy, Cemaes Road, Waenfawr, Bettws Garmon, Bryngwyn, South Snowdon, Nantmor, Porthmadog, Corris, Machynlleth, Aberllefeni, Pontrhythallt and Pwllheli.

Two different companies built the long-lost railway that once ran between Rhyl and Corwen through the rich farm lands of the Vale of Clwyd. Later in the 1950s, it became part of the route of hugely popular scenic rail cruises run for the benefit of holiday makers in the north coast resorts. This nostalgic photographic journey along its tracks will bring back many memories of the line and the trains which once ran on it.

The first railway in Cheshire was the Liverpool & Manchester, which opened in 1830. At that time the county was very rural, but as the railway ran along its northern border it quickly attracted other railway companies wishing to build lines linking it to potentially profitable routes into north Wales and the Wirral. From this time on Cheshire developed one of the highest concentrations of railways anywhere in the country. After the high point of the Victorian era however, the first half of the twentieth century saw the beginning of a decline and today, the once extensive web of branch lines has all but disappeared. Many have long been forgotten but this entertaining and detailed history tells their story. It includes forty-eight period photographs, mostly of lost stations but with a very few that are still in use. This book shows them all in their steam heyday. The locations featured are Heswall, Bollington, Capenhurst, Chester Northgate, Dunham Massey, Neston & Parkgate, Whitegate, Winsford & Over, Northenden, Stockport Tiviot Dale, Higher Poynton, High Lane, Middlewood, Marple Rose Hill, Over & Wharton, Bank Quay, Arpley, Latchford, Lymm, Heatley & Warburton, Broadheath, Waverton, Malpas, Wheelock & Sandbach, Worleston, Beeston Castle & Tarporley, Saltney, Minshull Vernon, and Hartford & Greenbank.