The Mid-Wales Railway

Originally published in 1990 and then in this enlarged form in 2003, this is a reprint of a title that has been unavailable for many years. The book commences with a gloriously, mainly empty of railways, map of Wales in 1854 ‘waiting to be filled in’. The Mid-Wales line was from Talyllyn Junction in the north to Penpontbren Junction in the south, with a few miles run jointly with another company. The railway was born in a short period of Welsh railway mania. The ten chapters start with origins and construction, ending with Nationalisation and then closure. Initially independent, the Mid-Wales was amalgamated with the Cambrian Railway in 1904 after 16 years of the latter company working the line. There was little money available from either company for investment, and WWI didn’t help, and the Great Western absorbed them in the post-war Grouping. Besides chapters on the line’s history from early days to closure, there is a The Route Described chapter and one on locomotives and carriages. The book is well illustrated with maps, diagrams and many photographs.

160 pages. Paperback.