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South Wales, ancient and modern
Photos taken during 11 years living in Wales, and on visits since; with as many coal trains and 37^s as I could find!
Ken Strachan
![If you open this picture on your screen, to the right of image 60690, you will have your very own time slip, as a Heads of Valleys train circa 1910 approaches the modern scene of 2017. Picture postcard from my collection.<br><br>[Ken Strachan //1910]](/images/63000/63260.jpg "Nantybwch")
![This may look like a nasty accident, but the HST is passing under the road bridge to the West of Newport station in 1987. There is a pub just behind the photographer called <i>The Engineer's Arms</i> - scene of many a whizzo evening when I lived in Wales.<br><br>[Ken Strachan //1987]](/images/31000/31100.jpg "Newport")
![In the absence of visible passengers, there's a dream-like quality to this Class 33 leaving Newport in 1987, probably with a Crewe-Cardiff service. I was well aware that loco' haulage was on its way out, and photographed whatever I could - especially as my parents had just moved in with me!<br><br>[Ken Strachan //1987]](/images/31000/31122.jpg "Newport")
![An unidentified Cardiff-bound 47 enjoying the pool of light around the then-recently-opened new Cwmbran station (the earlier Cwmbran station being South-West of here, near Oakfield, on the link from this line to the Eastern Valley route to Blaenavon and Brynmawr). This station was built slightly South of the earlier Pontnewydd station - not to be confused with Upper Pontnewydd or Pontnewynydd, both on the Eastern Valley line.<br><br>[Ken Strachan /04/1987]](/images/26000/26696.jpg "Cwmbran")
![Looking South at the then-recently opened Cwmbran station in April 1987. The station was opened just after a book had been published bemoaning perceived neglect of Cwmbran, titled 'The Trains Don't Stop Here Any More'.<br>See <a target=query href=/queries/closed.html>query 2287</a><br><br>[Ken Strachan /04/1987]](/images/73000/73140.jpg "Cwmbran")
![Looking South from the road overbridge in 1987, the remains of a platform at Llanvihangel can be seen on the right. The narrow gauge trackbed to the right of the green fence in the background is the long closed Grwyne Fawr Reservoir Railway; which like many such railways, was built to serve reservoir construction; and abandoned once its role was complete. (thanks to John Thorn for confirming this). This location is now very overgrown, but the shallow embankment in the field to the South of this view is probably still there.<br><br>[Ken Strachan /04/1987]](/images/73000/73472.jpg "Llanvihangel (Monmouth)")
![A viewpoint just West of the former station allowed me to watch this up HST heading for London at speed. The Bishton flyover to the right leads to Llanwern steelworks, left. For the other end of the steelworks see image [[1725]].<br><br>[Ken Strachan 16/05/1987]](/images/54000/54122.jpg "Magor")
![A 47 hauling oil tanks (probably empties) West through Newport in the dim and distant late eighties. Just out of shot to the right is the old goods yard see image [[30821]], which was later redeveloped as a shopping centre, while the bus station was revamped over half a mile away. No transport interchange planning there.<br><br>[Ken Strachan /08/1987]](/images/31000/31571.jpg "Newport")
![33.059 hauling VSOE stock (empty, if I recall correctly) east into Newport in the late eighties. Cardiff was an <I>Orient Express</I> destination in those days.<br><br>[Ken Strachan /08/1987]](/images/31000/31598.jpg "Newport")
![37902 is about to give its Mirrlees engine and Brush alternator a good workout on the Ebbw Vale branch as it approaches Hillfield tunnels in the summer of 1987.<br><br>[Ken Strachan /08/1987]](/images/31000/31619.jpg "Newport")
![A lot of things have changed since I took this picture West of Newport station in 1987. The sidings on the left are still there, but rather overgrown; and sadly, you won't see 37's on steel trains any more.<br><br>[Ken Strachan /08/1987]](/images/53000/53853.jpg "Newport")
![This junction, at a level crossing with a signal box and a helpful, friendly signalman, was where the Oakdale line (formerly Hall's Tramroad) joined the line to Ebbw Vale. I miss the heavy freight in South Wales, but not the rain. The 56 is heading South with a loaded MGR. These trains used to run East through Newport at about 6.30 at night. It all came to a halt when the colliery closed in 1989.<br><br>[Ken Strachan //1988]](/images/26000/26195.jpg "Risca")
![A Railfreight-liveried 37 hauls coiled steel up to Ebbw Vale for tin plating, circa 1988. It is approaching Park Junction - the line in the foreground used to go straight down to Newport docks, but since demolition of the bridge across the GW main line, was just a siding. I remember a leisurely Christmas lunch in the restaurant at the nearby Bassaleg station, when we ate in an old coach adjacent to the Machen line. Over two hours, a light engine came down from Machen, while one steel train went up to EV and another came down - good value! The hill on the left is called the Gaer - hence the tunnel and junction names.<br><br>[Ken Strachan //1988]](/images/26000/26221.jpg "Park Junction")
![Rolling thunder - the Llanwern ore trains headed by two 56's used to burst out of Hillfield tunnels sounding like Concorde on reheat. The size of Llanwern steelworks (proposed 1862, built 1962) can be judged by the fact that this train is about to turn right through ninety degrees, and will easily be contained within the works.<br><br>[Ken Strachan //1988]](/images/26000/26226.jpg "East Usk Yard")
![Tractor country: when I photographed this stabling point in 1988, it was inconceivable that it would be closed and lifted. But better safe than sorry...<br><br>[Ken Strachan //1988]](/images/26000/26230.jpg "Newport Godfrey Road")
![An unusual visitor to this stabling point in 1988 was 97.806 - an 09 in all but number - with the Severn Tunnel Rescue Train, which was normally kept in sidings at Sudbrook. Quite how the well wagon on the right would accommodate all of the passengers from an HST was never put to the test - just as well really...<br><br>[Ken Strachan //1988]](/images/26000/26238.jpg "Newport Godfrey Road")
![An investment banker would describe this as part of a mixed portfolio of investments offering varied returns and risk. An estate agent would say it suits an enthusiast. I would say it's not worth nicking. (the sign was adjacent to the Monmouthshire and Brecon canal passing Newport, Gwent. Notice the 'recycled' rail holding the sign up.)<br><br>[Ken Strachan //1988]](/images/26000/26842.jpg "Bettws")
![A <I>Valley Train</I> branded DMU waits at Cardiff Central platform 6 in 1988 with the next service to Rhymney.<br><br>[Ken Strachan //1988]](/images/49000/49044.jpg "Cardiff Central")
![A Railfreight class 47 heads an up parcels train at Cardiff Central in 1988. The awning seems to have suffered from excessive diesel exhaust.<br><br>[Ken Strachan //1988]](/images/49000/49054.jpg "Cardiff Central")
![The GW liveried DMU takes a breather in platform 2 at Cardiff Central in September 1988<br><br>[Ken Strachan /09/1988]](/images/27000/27292.jpg "Cardiff Central")
![A Westbound BR <I>InterCity 125</I> HST - most likely bound for Cardiff or Swansea - passes the branch to Uskmouth and the semaphore signals for East Usk yard in September 1988. Llanwern steelworks (proposed 1862, built 1962) is in the background.<br><br>[Ken Strachan /09/1988]](/images/46000/46943.jpg "Newport")
![1988 - when men were men... and 155308 was factory fresh. The DMU is heading North from Newport towards Cwmbran, past the site of Ponthir station. That yellow number in the foreground would be a milepost, not a TOPS number.<br><br>[Ken Strachan /09/1988]](/images/47000/47015.jpg "Ponthir")
![Northbound DMU approaching Tirphil on a <brass monkeys> winter evening circa 1988. Notice the jiggles in the DMU headlight trail - let alone in the car brake light trails on the left! There were sheep on the platform, but they haven't come out - they moved during the 30-second exposure.<br><br>[Ken Strachan /12/1988]](/images/25000/25707.jpg "Tirphil")
![I loved the Oakdale coal trains when I lived in Gwent. The 56's made dramatic noises going downhill or up, and the tramroad converted to a railway had curves, tunnels, disused stations, the lot. This dramatic view (notice the offset platforms, one to the right of the loco') was taken in the final year of operations. The trackbed has been cut by a new road.<br><br>[Ken Strachan /06/1989]](/images/25000/25879.jpg "Woodfieldside")
![When I first walked across this bridge, I thought 'I'm glad I'm not on that ropey old railway bridge', which of course supported the footbridge I was using. Obviously strong enough, as I once saw someone ride a motorbike across it! The parking area next to the Boat Inn see image [[26689]] was closed after a Citroen BX handbrake let go, allowing the car to roll into the river; and a local teenager to demonstrate more valour then sense by holding onto its rear spoiler until someone arrived with a rope! There is a rumour that they don't make teenagers like they used to. When I lived in Wales, a local pensioner wanted to reopen the Wye Valley line as an electrified branch off an electrified GWR main line - a brave concept. <br><br>[Ken Strachan /07/1989]](/images/26000/26688.jpg "Redbrook")
![This splendid bridge crosses the Wye near the former Redbrook station. It has now spent about 45 years providing the very useful social function of connecting the Boat Inn, over my left shoulder in Penallt, Wales; with its car park, which is across the river in England. The graffiti artist who wrote 'Wolfman Jack' (obviously a fan of 'American Graffiti') on the horizontal girder was certainly intrepid. <br><br>[Ken Strachan /07/1989]](/images/26000/26689.jpg "Redbrook")
![<I>Come on in, the water's lovely!</I> 37.141 hauling fresh ballast from Machen quarry goes for a paddle at Church Road on its way back to Park Junction in 1990. If I remember rightly, I was killing time before returning to work after a disastrous job interview.<br><br>[Ken Strachan //1990]](/images/26000/26216.jpg "Church Road")
![The Blaenavon Express: the P&B used to have only one operating steam engine, with BROOKFIELD emblazoned on its tanks IIRC. It is pushing its single coach up to the later location of Whistle Inn halt in September 1991. The 'landscaped' background looks distinctly bleak; as viewers of the TV programme 'Time Team' will know, it contains a buried viaduct.<br><br>[Ken Strachan /09/1991]](/images/25000/25714.jpg "Whistle Inn")
![The current motive power on this short preserved line is Devonport Dockyard saddle tank no. 19. You can almost feel every piston stroke on the steep climb to Whistle Inn.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 25/05/2009]](/images/25000/25766.jpg "Furnace Sidings")
![These saddle tanks are stabled next to the Big Pit mining museum, where one can go underground into the old pit (easiest for those under 4'10'!). One engine has a concealed speaker playing 'loose coupled shunting' noises - rather eerie.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 25/05/2009]](/images/25000/25768.jpg "Big Pit Mining Museum")
![When I lived in Wales, it was all growling 37's and 0-8-0 diesel shunters here. So a squeaky clean 150 looks a bit out of place. But it was encouraging to see the service well patronized, even on a Bank Holiday Monday - and even feeding into Cardiff.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 25/05/2009]](/images/25000/25770.jpg "Ebbw Vale Parkway")
![I couldn't quite hear what the fireman was saying. It might have been 'another 50 tea bags should do it, drive'; or it could have been 'Shut up about Beeching and McGregor and I'll let you out again'...<br><br>[Ken Strachan 25/05/2009]](/images/25000/25784.jpg "Furnace Sidings")
![Creeping modernization on platform 2. Given the current rate of change, I suggest detachable panels.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 25/05/2009]](/images/25000/25787.jpg "Cardiff Central")
![It's nice to have two steam trains stabled adjacent to the Big Pit museum. But by the state of the track in the foreground and the wagon on the right, the volunteers will be busy for years yet.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 25/05/2009]](/images/25000/25792.jpg "Big Pit Mining Museum")
![These teenage snakes - no stamina. Or perhaps it's a modern art display? Watering hoses actually, on Platform 0. Notice the (non-railway) water tower in the background. It was freshly painted with giant daffodils when I arrived in Wales in 1985 - all faded away now.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 25/05/2009]](/images/25000/25811.jpg "Cardiff Central")
![Going in through the way out - as you do. There used to be two rather grand staircases at this major Valleys junction; but even with the recent revival in traffic, one is quite enough these days.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 31/05/2010]](/images/30000/30355.jpg "Pontypridd")
![<I>It Came From Another Planet...</I> the sole remaining structure at the former Hafodyrynys colliery, which straddled the Pontypool-Neath line just East of Crumlin viaduct, is the former washery, seen here in May 2010. A local businessman asked for it to be left standing so that he could convert it into a restaurant. By the time he had found out that he couldn't get the curved glass needed for the windows, the demolition team had moved on.. the building still stands.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 31/05/2010]](/images/30000/30371.jpg "Hafodyrynys Colliery")
![This is where the Pontypool to Neath line crossed Hall's Tramroad (later known as the Oakdale Colliery branch) on the level. For 25 years since my first visit, I had assumed that someone had half-inched the signal box ground floor on the way home from the pub, but apparently it was always this low; being built on the side of an embankment. It looked a lot better when the windows were visible: the cladding is to deter vandals.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 31/05/2010]](/images/33000/33437.jpg "Penar Junction")
![If you need a house with a large external storage area, try Central Street in Ener'glyn, on the North side of Caerphilly. This dramatic arch, which dwarfs the 17-seat minibus below, is all that remains of the Barry Railway viaduct. The BR was known to staff of rival companies as 'the spoilt child of Parliament' - like the GCR, it arrived last and closed first, surviving for only 40-odd years during the peak of coal production in the Rhondda. So this viaduct was used for 45 years, but has been derelict for 73. Sad. The Valley line to Caerphilly passes to the left of this arch; there is a plan to build a new station here. <br><br>[Ken Strachan 31/05/2010]](/images/33000/33471.jpg "Llanbradach Viaduct")
![A quiet village in the Welsh Valleys, Cymer Afan once had two railways running East-West plus this line to North Rhonnda. The viaduct, of composite stone and steel construction, is a little known relic. In May 2010 a recent grass fire allowed a well defined shadow of the girders down the North side of the valley. The viaduct provided a breath of fresh air for up engine crews, as it was just outside the tunnel from Caerau. see image [[49918 for a view about a mile West, of the line on the South side of the valley]]<br><br>[Ken Strachan 31/05/2010]](/images/49000/49912.jpg "Cymer Afan")
![It's not every day you get an aerial view of a complete branch line. Cwmparc colliery buildings were just to the left of the large building at left side vertical centre; while the junction with the main line was in Treorchy, to the right. Treherbert nestles at the head of the valley, below the strip of trees running uphill; while Pontypridd is out of shot to the right. Picture taken from a lay-by alongside the A4061 in May 2010. Spot the sheepish looking sheep!<br><br>[Ken Strachan 31/05/2010]](/images/49000/49923.jpg "Cwmparc")
![Miniature railway trains are slow and light, so line of sight operation is feasible, especially with one engine in steam. Nonetheless, the driver of the model traction engine waited to be sure that our train would stop before crossing.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 31/05/2010]](/images/49000/49935.jpg "Aberkenfig")
![All traces of Pontypridd Graig station are now swept away in favour of a hospital car park; but the North portal of the tunnel which opened off the station platforms is harder to hide. The BBC once produced a drama series set in Pontypridd Graig hospital circa 1900 - it must have had very good soundproofing, you never heard a steam train go by.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 31/05/2010]](/images/49000/49945.jpg "Pontypridd Graig")
![The stone-built station at Cymer - which saw DMU services until about 1970 - is now very well kept as a rather pleasant pub. There were some fascinating pictures of Hafodyrynys and other South Welsh coal mines on the walls when I visited. See image [[49912]]<br><br>[Ken Strachan 31/05/2010]](/images/49000/49980.jpg "Cymer Afan")
![The far two tracks were on the Brecon and Merthyr line between Machen (right) and Hengoed (left). The solution to extending the bridge to support the tracks of the converging Barry Railway from Llanbradach viaduct see image [[33471]] seems to have been to copy the existing brickwork. Some 46 years after closure of the B&M, and 73 years after the BR closure, the walls still support a water pipe. Off to the right the East end of Llanbradach viaduct has been demolished to make way for a quarry.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 31/05/2010]](/images/50000/50290.jpg "Barry Junction")
![Turning left from my previous shot see image [[49912]], this view looks West under the stone arch at the South end of the viaduct in the general direction of Port Talbot. Two levels can be seen on the right hand side of the valley. The upper line is a road, while the lower line is the SWMR. This branch closed in 1951 after a tunnel collapse. [Ref query 6885]<br><br>[Ken Strachan 31/05/2010]](/images/50000/50302.jpg "Cymer Afan")
![Turning left from the view of the signal box see image [[33437]], the platform wall on the right seems to be all that remains of Penar Junction Halt on the Pontypool to Neath line in May 2010. The trackbed is well kept some 50 years after closure. This must be one of the few accessible trackbeds in Wales which I have not covered!<br><br>[Ken Strachan 31/05/2010]](/images/50000/50322.jpg "Penar Junction Halt")
![Straight as a die: looking West towards Margam in May 2010, the Western section of the 'Tondu loop' is very well kept for a line used only for occasional freight, and for passenger diversions. The Eastern section is used for passenger trains from Bridgend to Maesteg, see image [[32941]].<br><br>[Ken Strachan 31/05/2010]](/images/50000/50330.jpg "Aberkenfig")
![Zooming out at Cymer Afan see image [[50302]], we see the R&SB trackbed in excellent order for walking or cycling. A trip West on the R&SB, and back on the SWMR, makes a pleasant outing. The North portal of the tunnel from Caerau can be found to the left, but all traces of the spur to that line from the R&SB have gone.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 31/05/2010]](/images/50000/50343.jpg "Cymer Afan")
![Better than nothing I suppose - this nameboard on the down platform is sadly all that remains of Brecon station in May 2011, the site now being occupied by a care home.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 08/05/2011]](/images/34000/34053.jpg "Brecon Joint")
![About a mile East of Sennybridge, the N&B line crossed the River Usk at an angle, whereas this minor road takes the direct route. The road bridge may be weak, but it can carry 18 tons more than the rail bridge! View looks North in May 2011.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 08/05/2011]](/images/34000/34062.jpg "Devyock and Sennybridge")
![Every abutment tells a story. Just North-West of the current Risca station on the Ebbw Vale line is one end of the former Risca Long Bridge. It was originally built as part of a tramway, but later replaced by an embankment around 1905 to allow easement of curves. I was told by a local resident that the demolition contractor was paid one pound per arch - that is £32 - to demolish the bridge; but was allowed to keep the stone, which he used to build a terrace of houses nearby. Sadly, he paid for this deal with the loss of one eye in an accident during the demolition. Notice the number of drains in the abutment - I counted eight!<br><br>[Ken Strachan 13/08/2011]](/images/35000/35725.jpg "Risca")
![67002 is hardly overburdened by four Mark 3 coaches as it heads the Welsh Assembly sponsored Premier Train from Cardiff to Holyhead under the 'titanium worm' footbridge at Newport on 20 June. With a half coach of First Class dining, a buffet counter for standard class, and a non-stop run from Abergavenny to Shrewsbury, this is a very civilized way to travel - especially for regular fares. <br><br>[Ken Strachan 20/06/2012]](/images/39000/39316.jpg "Newport")
![This 0-4-0 saddle tank has been minding its own business on a track panel pointing towards the West bank of the River Usk - approximately along one of the old coal loading lines - for some ten years. It's quite vandal resistant, but the wagon behind it has fared less well. Apparently, some homeless people started sleeping in it - the longitudinal timber frame member on the right side broke soon afterwards. As the original safe load was 12 tons, the timber must have been quite rotten. This engine can just be seen from trains coming into Newport station, on the South side.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 20/06/2012]](/images/39000/39348.jpg "Llanarth Street Junction")
![That's the Great Western main line on top of the bridge (see signal gantry on left), but why that curious structure beneath? That was an underbridge for the direct line from the Blaenavon collieries to ships on the wharves on the River Usk. see image [[39348]] Newport station is to the right (West) of this view. Mill Street station was just North of this bridge; it was open to passengers from 1853 to 1880, and had standard gauge track; as opposed to the broad gauge High Street station, and the 4 foot 4 inches Dock Street!<br><br>[Ken Strachan 20/06/2012]](/images/39000/39372.jpg "Newport")
![View East in Newport, parallel to Cardiff Road (left). The sunken roadway in front of the houses used to be a railway from the River Usk wharves see image [[39348]] to Courtybella Junction (actually well behind the photographer) and the Ebbw Junction area. The GWR latterly ran a light engine along this route once a year to keep it legally open. Its blaze of glory came in 1927-28 when Newport station was being resignalled. At that time crowds turned out to see main line express trains diverted through the streets in order to avoid the station. These days, they'd put on buses. <br><br>[Ken Strachan 20/06/2012]](/images/39000/39471.jpg "Courtybella Junction")
![Somebody told me there wasn't much freight in South Wales any more. They were wrong. 66090 hauls empty steel coil wagons off the River Usk bridge and through Newport station on 20th June. The new brickwork on the right is part of the conversion of the old station booking hall into a council information centre. The Upper Crust cafe on the left survives, somewhat improbably, adjacent to the walled-up steps to the old footbridge, at the opposite end of the station to all of the other passenger facilities.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 20/06/2012]](/images/39000/39504.jpg "Newport")
![As if in a time warp - only the yellow platform barrier just visible on the right shows that the 10.31 to Swansea is approaching its stopping point, rather than being there already, as Newport station has been effectively moved West following its recent rebuild. The rear power car has just passed the former rail-over-rail bridge see image [[39372]].<br><br>[Ken Strachan 20/06/2012]](/images/39000/39681.jpg "Newport")
![I have no problem with the appearance of the 158 forming the 10.44 to Portsmouth Harbour from platform 4 see image [[39316]]; but from this angle, the recently built footbridge bears a passing resemblance to a giant hairdryer.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 20/06/2012]](/images/40000/40773.jpg "Newport")
![In contrast to Cardiff Road see image [[39471]], here in Ebenezer Terrace, with its brightly colured houses, the narrow bit on the right was the road; and the broad bit on the left was the railway. View looks North and slightly East, towards the River Usk in June 2012; the junction would be perhaps sixty feet behind the photographer. The junction was named after a pub; the standard local salutation being 'Awrightabutt', which might not do as the name of a junction.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 20/06/2012]](/images/42000/42283.jpg "Salutation Junction")
![Looking the opposite way from my previous shot see image [[41577]], the electric crossing barriers, installed in 1960, have gone; but rails are still visible, and the long, thin car park for the Royal Gwent Hospital is a bit of a giveaway. These tracks connected the Western Valley to Newport docks; I rode down them on a Monmouthshire RS railtour in 1988.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 20/06/2012]](/images/42000/42332.jpg "Courtybella Junction")
![This location isn't as sylvan as it looks - there are two tracks of railway and four busy lanes of road under that concrete bridge. Now that the former Pontypool Road station building has been demolished see image [[9934]], and Crane Street station building removed, the only railway building left in the former 'Crewe of South Wales' is this station masters house, which was renovated in the late 1980s. Recent modifications have further changed the building's character, although the tile hung wall has obvious benefits when it rains.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 20/04/2014]](/images/47000/47112.jpg "Pontypool and New Inn")
![Imagine that you are a miner, about to go underground. This view of a saddle tank and wagons from the window could be the last daylight view you see for eight hours or more. Hope you like trains.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 20/04/2014]](/images/47000/47228.jpg "Big Pit Mining Museum")
![Not every preserved railway has doubled its number of stations in the last year or two. This recently-built halt is visible from Big Pit museum, making it harder for visitors to the former coal mine to be ignorant of the steam railways existence. Having said that, services from Furnace Sidings to this platform are usually diesel powered, whereas the main line service from Whistle Inn to Blaenavon High Level is normally steam - hauled see image [[47060]]. This is similar to the dual services from Lydney Junction to Norchard and Parkend on the Dean Forest Railway.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 20/04/2014]](/images/48000/48666.jpg "Big Pit Mining Museum")
![Here is a picture oozing with atmosphere, from the sleeper crossing in the foreground and the foundations of a demolished hut to the pit props waiting to be used underground. The dark horizontal line across the hills in the background is also historic. According to local legend, a large excavator had been shipped to Blaenavon in parts and built on site to do a job. Its next job was just a few miles South, so they used it to dig its own road along the hillside. This took place shortly after WW2 - presumably, the word remediation had not yet entered the dictionary.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 20/04/2014]](/images/74000/74261.jpg "Big Pit Mining Museum")
![This rather run down building was formerly the Lower Race wagon works, adjacent to the Pontypool to Neath line just West of Clarence Street station. When I lived in Wales, this was a good value car scrapyard. Going by the screens bolted onto the skips, there is something very hush-hush going on there now; or at least when I took this picture in 2014.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 20/04/2014]](/images/74000/74612.jpg "Pontypool Crane Street")
![Slightly South and East of the former Abersychan and Talywain signalbox see image [[41491]], the Eastern Valley line passed behind the top of the impressive retaining wall on the left. Just West of Pentrepiod halt, a branch dropped down to the North of the main line, and passed through this short wide tunnel - known locally as Big Arch, latterly used by road vehicles as well as rail. The branch served the British Iron Works, which closed in 1889; and Blaenserchan Colliery, which closed in 1985. View looks East.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 24/08/2014]](/images/48000/48601.jpg "British Ironworks")
![A short walk South from Blaenavon High Level station gives you a choice: steadily down to Newport, or up a once-notorious 1 in 22 to Varteg Hill colliery. This is where the colliery line crossed the B4246 Varteg Road, between Blaenavon and Abersychan. The steep rise of the Eastern Valley is shown by the view of the Mendip Hills above the approaching cars - the Mendips are 40 miles away, across the Bristol Channel. View looks South.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 24/08/2014]](/images/48000/48608.jpg "Varteg Hill Colliery")
![The business end of 4-6-2 locomotive No 2, seen from the caboose in August 2014. see image [[48358]]. This engine was built in Philadelphia in 1930, and exported to a South African cement works, where it suffered a serious accident in 1974. It was rebuilt in the BMR workshops at Pant, and went back into service in 1997 after a four year rebuild.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 24/08/2014]](/images/48000/48644.jpg "Pontiscill")
![Is that a smokebox in your workshop, or are you just pleased to see me? The BMR workshop at Pant in August 2014. Full of interesting machines and components, it looks well capable of repairing a bent Baldwin see image [[48644]].<br><br>[Ken Strachan 24/08/2014]](/images/48000/48920.jpg "Pant")
![Baldwin no 2 being coaled by hydraulic grab outside Pant on the Brecon Mountain Railway. See image [[48358]]<br><br>[Ken Strachan 24/08/2014]](/images/48000/48966.jpg "Pant")
![A plastic dragon and a collection of slag heaps - we could, perhaps, be West of the Severn. 'Mechanical Navvies Limited' prepares to take the 3pm down train away from Whistle Inn halt in August 2014. There is a tramway tunnel under the hill in the background.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 24/08/2014]](/images/48000/48973.jpg "Blaenavon")
![The converted former goods shed at Panteg and Griffithstown in August 2014. It must be very practical to use such a building as a nursery see image [[10016]] - even the most distraught toddler would find it hard to break a window. Notice the bus stop equivalent of the 'Harrington Hump' on the left.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 24/08/2014]](/images/49000/49224.jpg "Panteg and Griffithstown")
![Looking southwards over the engine from the caboose on the Brecon Mountain Railway in 2014.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 24/08/2014]](/images/63000/63876.jpg "Torpantau")
![Number 2 see image [[48358]] marks its passing on the way to Torpantau. View looks South; taken from the caboose.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 24/08/2014]](/images/71000/71666.jpg "Dolygaer")
![This schematic of the Valley Lines (on an NEC stand belonging to the Welsh inward investment trade body) shows Cwmgrach, Tower Colliery, Cwmbargoed, Machen, Ford Bridgend, and the freight line South-West of Tondu. Gwaun-cae-Gurwen is out of view to the West, while Uskmouth and Glascoed would be shown to the East. Notice also the recently opened stations at Energlyn and at Rogerstone - Ebbw Vale Town clearly wasn't opened quite soon enough.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 12/05/2015]](/images/51000/51333.jpg "South Wales Valleys")
![As the road beneath curves right, the single track rail viaduct curves to the left - honest! You will also have to take it from me that there is an equally elegant former canal viaduct to the right, and that access to the cyclepath across the viaduct is from a path around the back of a closed school on Oakwood Avenue. View looks North-East. [Ref query 44441]<br><br>[Ken Strachan 22/10/2016]](/images/56000/56972.jpg "Pontrhydyfen")
![When I first called here in 1988, in a borrowed Jaguar, I found a very hospitable local gent on the deck, and a lovely view down the valley. Now both ends are fenced off; but it's still a marvellous bridge.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 22/10/2016]](/images/57000/57139.jpg "Cwm-Du Viaduct")
![This crossing keeper's cottage at Llangeinor on the Blaengarw branch seems to have been extended in most available directions. Photographed from the bridge which replaced the crossing - view looks North.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 22/10/2016]](/images/57000/57586.jpg "Llangeinor")
![The other viaduct at Cymer see image [[49912]]. This one is oriented East-West, and was damaged by a derailed coal train in 1962. The parapets have still not been repaired. View looks North.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 22/10/2016]](/images/57000/57700.jpg "Cymer Afan")
![One of the defining characteristics of the current Valleys rail network is that all routes crossing from one valley to another have been closed. Although the PTR&D Co line is clinging to the side of the valley here, it is about to turn sharp right behind the photographer. The Lynvi and Ogmore line see image [[57586]] is at the bottom of the valley.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 22/10/2016]](/images/57000/57883.jpg "Llangeinor")
![There is something of an 'enchanted forest' look to this view of a road overbridge slightly East of Cwm-Du viaduct see image [[57139]]. Notice that the two sides of the bridge have very different facings. Historical note: this line closed from here to Cwmdu in 1960.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 22/10/2016]](/images/57000/57887.jpg "Lletty Brongu")
![Looking South over the viaduct. see image [[56972]]<br><br>[Ken Strachan 22/10/2016]](/images/57000/57900.jpg "Pontrhydyfen")
![One for April 1st.. the Garw Valley Railway at Pontycymer is privileged to own the only surviving prototype of the GWR 'belly tank' locomotive, which was intended to increase stability on sharply curved Valley lines, on the principle that water is heavier than steam, so you might as well keep it down the bottom, like.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 22/10/2016]](/images/57000/57981.jpg "Pontycymer")
![The Welsh certainly like their fresh air. Partly restored brake van in the GVR shed, seen on a Railway Ramblers visit in October 2016. see image [[57981]]<br><br>[Ken Strachan 22/10/2016]](/images/58000/58276.jpg "Pontycymer")
![With a name which must be pronounced carefully and a challenging climate, the residents of this village had quite enough to cope with before their station was closed to passengers in 1962 and goods in 1964. There was a goods yard to the right of the platform, and a station building where the modern house now stands. A pub was located across the road, and remains in business. [Ref query 30 August 2017] <br><br>[Ken Strachan 19/08/2017]](/images/60000/60595.jpg "Fochriw")
![This was once the highest standard gauge station in England and Wales. Having experienced the local climate, I can understand the use of trees as a windbreak for the station master's house. View looks towards Blaenavon. [Ref query 4 September 2017]<br><br>[Ken Strachan 19/08/2017]](/images/60000/60645.jpg "Waenavon")
![This station has lain derelict and boarded up for many years See image [[31525]] since the restoration of passenger services to the new station, which is ironically at a higher level than the former High Level. Now the old station is being restored with new windows and roof. This seems to be connected to the construction of the new Aberdare College building across the nearest road.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 19/08/2017]](/images/60000/60649.jpg "Aberdare High Level")
![The former, and hopefully future, site of Blaenavon High Level signal box. Notice the slots to allow the rodding to pass through the brick lower wall.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 19/08/2017]](/images/60000/60655.jpg "Blaenavon High Level")
![HPE had a similar business model to Alan Keef Limited, retaining and using their skills in steam locomotion until their sad demise in 1996. The building with the red door was their main factory; that with the grey door was a locomotive shed. The sleepers at lower right were at the start of a dead straight quarter mile long test track, which ran alongside one of the industrial estate roads. There was no connection to the national network, but the line ran slightly North of the former LNWR Heads of the Valleys line.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 19/08/2017]](/images/60000/60682.jpg "Tafarnabauch Industrial Estate")
![The station may have been demolished to make way for the Heads Of Valleys road, but the station cottages live on. The larger house on the left was allocated to the station master; while the Eastern end of the Abergavenny platform corresponds to the grassed area around the white car just visible in the right of this photograph. A resident assured me that the cottages were very well built. See also image [[60980]].<br><br>[Ken Strachan 19/08/2017]](/images/60000/60690.jpg "Nantybwch")
![This view looks North from a location about half a mile from Waenavon station see image [[60645]], which was once the highest standard gauge station in England and Wales. (the Black Mountains appear to be visible on the horizon)This area was once completely ploughed up for opencast coal mining, so it is possibly more by luck than judgement that the cyclepath shown follows the course of the railway. The Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway want to reopen this stretch - I hope they compact the ground thoroughly first!<br><br>[Ken Strachan 19/08/2017]](/images/60000/60705.jpg "Waenavon")
![When you're 73 years old, it's easy to forget where you left things - like, three coaches. 'Mech Navvies No. 1' runs round its coaches on 19th August. View looks North West, towards Furnace Sidings.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 19/08/2017]](/images/60000/60941.jpg "Blaenavon High Level")
![One of the few structures remaining from the Heads of Valleys railway is this viaduct, which is clearly visible from the Heads of Valleys road. There is a road nearby called Nine Arches, but I could only see seven. A tarmacked foot or cycle path crosses the viaduct.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 19/08/2017]](/images/60000/60980.jpg "Nantybwch Viaduct")
![I visited Aberdare to photograph the curious layout in the old High Level goods yard, where tarmac had been laid up to rail level, and industrial units had their brick side walls built across the rails. It looked as though the determined goods yard rambler would have to knock on doors to ask the local entrepreneurs' permission to walk through their industrial units. But things have changed; the whole goods yard area is now a car park for the local college. The width of the piers for the river bridge North of the station, however, show that here was once a fan of tracks here. Notice the new roof on the station building (left). View looks south. [Ref query 1 October 2017]<br><br>[Ken Strachan 19/08/2017]](/images/60000/60994.jpg "Aberdare High Level")
![The Heads of Valleys road has destroyed or hidden much of the trackbed of the former LNWR Heads of Valleys railway; but occasional relics remain. I suspect that Nantybwch viaduct - here seen looking West through some recent artistic additions - was saved not for its own merits, but because of the number of houses which would have had to be demolished to build the road; which now passes South (to the left) of this view. see image [[60980]]<br><br>[Ken Strachan 19/08/2017]](/images/61000/61258.jpg "Nantybwch")
![If anyone suggests to you that steam engines are old fashioned, just show them this picture. 'Mech Navvies No. 1' had a sliding sunroof over 40 years before any Sierra or Montego.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 19/08/2017]](/images/61000/61468.jpg "Blaenavon Furnace Sidings")
![Ladelling on the atmosphere with a trowel - especially as this is only a passenger station in the preservation era - originally sidings for Big Pit coal mine.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 19/08/2017]](/images/61000/61517.jpg "Blaenavon Furnace Sidings")
![Looking northwards at Blaenavon it is hard to believe that this location was once just sidings for a coal mine. The footbridge is a recent arrival from Hinckley in the English Midlands. 19th August 2017<br><br>[Ken Strachan 19/08/2017]](/images/61000/61543.jpg "Blaenavon Furnace Sidings")
![A 'nodding donkey' for Penarth calls at Pontlottyn in August 2017. The waiting shelter is very practical in the damp Valleys climate.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 19/08/2017]](/images/61000/61583.jpg "Pontlottyn")
![0-6-0ST no. 71515 at the Southern end of working on the Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway, near to the junction for the Varteg Hill branch (see image [[48608]]). The latter line is the only disused railway where I have asked the landowner's permission for access; the laconic reply being Why not? Everyone else walks up it<br><br>[Ken Strachan 19/08/2017]](/images/74000/74217.jpg "Blaenavon High Level")
![A gnome can only have so much patience, you know. After 59 years of waiting for more trains to pass from his viewpoint atop the pole in the right distance, he finally turned his back on the railway and looked up the garden instead. This view looks towards Nantybwch station (see image [[63260]]) from the direction of the viaduct.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 19/08/2017]](/images/74000/74276.jpg "Nantybwch")
![You can see from this picture that Big Pit Halt is readily visible from the Big Pit mining museum. The branch and halt were built to advertise the rest of the railway when they found out that tourists came to Blaenavon to go underground in the mining museum, but did not know that the steam railway was there!<br><br>[Ken Strachan 19/08/2017]](/images/74000/74538.jpg "Big Pit Mining Museum")
![Looking North towards Cwmbargoed at the station site in the remote village of Bedlinog in June 2018. Although locals told me that Cwmbargoed was closed, the rails were shiny. Ironically, there is a travel agent's office at the entrance to the former station yard. [Ref query 11 July 2018]<br><br>[Ken Strachan 30/06/2018]](/images/64000/64804.jpg "Bedlinog")
![On a steaming hot day, there was no shortage of water on the Merthyr Vale colliery branch line. This view looks South towards Cardiff - all trace of the branch line had been removed behind the camera. To the right of the safety fencing, two rows of colliery cottages stood abandoned - a sad sight, especially as they had been updated with mod con's like double glazing and satellite dishes. A protest graffiti, 'My town is not for sale', did not seem to have had the desired effect.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 30/06/2018]](/images/64000/64841.jpg "Merthyr Vale Colliery")
![The trees surrounding the former Low Level station have all grown up in the 30 years since I first visited this station. So many houses have been built on the site of the old High Level station that the only clue to its existence is a footpath between properties leading to its far side.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 30/06/2018]](/images/65000/65174.jpg "Quakers Yard")
![The Pontypool and Neath railway is often hard to trace. Quakers Yard High Level station is completely gone, but this bridge abutment on the Nelson side is A Big Clue. The trackbed to the left is part of somebody's lawn!<br><br>[Ken Strachan 30/06/2018]](/images/69000/69675.jpg "Quakers Yard High Level")
![Soon to be historic rolling stock: a down 143 heads for Cardiff as an up 142 heads for Merthyr (Valleys convention) at the loop at Merthyr Vale on 30th June 2019. The former colliery was to the right, and behind the photographer.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 30/06/2018]](/images/69000/69864.jpg "Merthyr Vale")
![There is always a new experience in trackbed walking - here is a tiled trackbed, south east of Quakers Yard High Level in June 2018. The next section, just beyond the bushes, is subsumed under a playing field; behind my back was a children's playground.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 30/06/2018]](/images/73000/73501.jpg "Quakers Yard High Level")
![If you go to Raven Square station, they will give you a leaflet telling you how to walk there along the trackbed from the current NR station. Unfortunately you then need to read it backwards. This well preserved solum is parallel to Brook Street; and is about as steep as Golfa bank. Raven Square is behind the photographer. [Ref query 2 September 2018]<br><br>[Ken Strachan 18/08/2018]](/images/65000/65446.jpg "Welshpool")
![Welshpool Town Council started work in 2015 on restoring the former W&L / Cambrian dual gauge exchange siding and cattle dock. This is close to the present Network Rail station, but separated from it by a road. see image [[38805]] The site was isolated from the rest of the W&L in 1963. The surviving dual gauge track and cattle docks (complete with pens) are being restored as a heritage attraction and certainly make a pleasant surprise in 2018.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 18/08/2018]](/images/65000/65736.jpg "Welshpool")
![The goods shed at Usk was at a lower level than the station, and on the far (Pontypool) side of the River Usk. It was used as a garage; but as the garage now has new buildings, the future of the shed is uncertain.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 20/04/2019]](/images/68000/68680.jpg "Usk")
![Just off the Eastern end of the platforms at Monmouth Troy, the railway split to head for Ross-on-Wye (left) or Chepstow (right). The PW hut is original, the brick gatepost more modern. The viaduct on the Chepstow line is deteriorating rapidly, and should be visited sooner rather than later - so long as the steel gates at the station end are open!<br><br>[Ken Strachan 20/04/2019]](/images/70000/70032.jpg "Monmouth Troy")
![This tunnel entrance is adjacent to the Monmouth Troy station site, which is on the outskirts of the town, easily accessed from Troy Gardens. The tunnel is used by a rifle club; despite the door visible in this view, they obtain access at the other end. 21st April 2019.<br>See <a target=query href=/queries/closed.html>query 2086</a><br><br>[Ken Strachan 21/04/2019]](/images/68000/68885.jpg "Monmouth Troy")
![A Northbound Marches unit approaches Cwmbran (=Crow Valley) on 21st April. In the background, a supermarket has been built; and further work is in progress; on what was once the Lucas Girling truck brake factory car park (many of the employees live within walking distance of the factory). Where the buildings are visible immediately adjacent to the tracks in the background, there was once a single siding to take wartime defence products out of the Lucas factory; which is still in business under new ownership.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 21/04/2019]](/images/71000/71755.jpg "Cwmbran")
![37421 hauls the second evening commuter train from Cardiff Central to Rhymney out of Tirphil on 27th August 2019. Fans of the class 37 exhaust note should enjoy these trains, as there are some 15 stops - especially tuneful uphill. We had risen at 04.30 to catch the 07.24 into Cardiff - a long day. see image [[25707]] for the same station looking rather less spruce over 30 years ago.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 27/08/2019]](/images/70000/70308.jpg "Tirphil")
![The parting of the ways - the Ford engine factory branch leaving the Vale of Glamorgan line, one way and another.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 27/08/2019]](/images/70000/70316.jpg "Ford Works Junction")
![The main entrance hall at Cardiff, looking very smart; and somewhat reminiscent of Leeds station IIRC. Unfortunately the bus station, which was very sensibly located to the left of this view, has been relocated elsewhere.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 27/08/2019]](/images/70000/70340.jpg "Cardiff Central")
![Sparks coming. Electrification in progress at Cardiff Central in August 2019.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 27/08/2019]](/images/71000/71830.jpg "Cardiff Central")
![The extensive steelworks at Llanwern, seen from across the Bristol Channel (Kewstoke beach, near Weston-super-Mare) in August 2020. Unfortunately, the extensive internal rail system cannot be discerned from this distance.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 07/08/2020]](/images/74000/74003.jpg "Llanwern")
