THE LAST PASSENGER TRAIN TO CWMBARGOED?
Early in 2024 centuries of large scale coal mining in Wales finished.
(Welsh word for coal is Glo)
The last train transporting coal from Cwmbargoed Disposal Point to Port Talbot was on February 23.
It travelled down the Taff Bargoed Valley and through Ystrad Mynach, carrying a load from the UK’s last opencast mine, Ffos y Fran, which closed in November 2023.
This brings the end of rail traffic on one of the longest non-passenger branch lines in Britain, the Cwmbargoed branch.
(approx.over 10 Miles)
A very sad day indeed, for most of my life these coal trains have passed close to my home in Caerphilly every weekday. Now they are gone forever!
Given the high (1200ft+) and remote location, with no habitation, further use for the line seems unlikely.
This railtour, may well have been the very last chance for passengers to visit the upper parts of this wild valley, which has no roads, and little even in the way of tracks or footpaths.
The South Wales Valleys have a rich history of coal production that dates back to the 18th century.
Coal helped to fuel production as the local iron and steel industries boomed.
By 1913, the Welsh mines produced 36 million tonnes of coal - more than any other time in the country’s industrial history.
Was this the last train to Cwmbargoed?
With most of the line inaccessible I decided on the village of Bedlinog for my first location & the continual climb to Cwmbargoed of between 1:40 & 1:49.
As it was on my last visit exactly 12 months ago when I videoed a railtour on this branch it rained!
For my return location I chose Ystrad Mynach station on the Rhymney Valley line.
Its at Ystrad Mynach where the Cwmbargoed branch begins.
I videoed the Railtour arriving at the junction & after a 40 min wait ‘The Cwm & Glo’ departed on its long journey back to Burton-on-Trent.
While waiting I videoed new TfW service trains Stadler Flirt Class 231s.
26 авг 2024