Bala railway station was on the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

Bala Ffestiniog Line The Bala and Festiniog Railway was a , standard gauge, railway backed by the Great Western Railway (GWR) in north-west Wales. It connected Bala with Blaenau Ffestiniog. History The railway originally connected Bala with Llan Ffestiniog ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. It replaced the first Bala station which was further away from the town, on the

Ruabon–Barmouth line The Ruabon–Barmouth line was a standard-gauge line owned by the Great Western Railway across the north of Wales which connected Ruabon, in the east, with Barmouth on the west coast. Connections * At Ruabon, the line connected with the Shrews ...

. The route to Blaenau was single track throughout. The stations at Bala, Arenig, Trawsfynydd and Festiniog had two platforms, each with its own track. This both allowed for potential traffic and provided

passing loop A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains or ...

s. A fifth loop was provided between 1908 and 1950 immediately north of Cwm Prysor, when intermittent heavy military traffic to and from was likely.

Decline

The line northwards to

Blaenau Ffestiniog Blaenau Ffestiniog is a town in Gwynedd, Wales. Once a slate mining centre in historic Merionethshire, it now relies much on tourists, drawn for instance to the Ffestiniog Railway and Llechwedd Slate Caverns. It reached a population of 12,00 ...

closed to passengers on 2 January 1960 and to freight on 27 January 1961, following a "Last Train" special a week earlier. The short section to Bala Junction closed on 18 January 1965. The goods shed was an unusual feature. Local landowner Mr. Price of Rhiwlas objected to the construction of the line, and to appease him the goods shed was built to resemble a castle, with mock battlements and turrets.* There was a small

engine shed The motive power depot (MPD) or locomotive depot, or traction maintenance depot (TMD), is the place where locomotives are usually housed, repaired and maintained when not being used. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine shed ...

- a sub-shed of

Croes Newydd Croes Newydd was a large steam locomotive shed, marshalling yard and junction in Wrexham, in Wales. History The Wrexham and Minera Railway was opened on 22 May 1862, with little ceremony except a note from the Traffic Manager of the Great Wes ...

- to the south east of the station. It opened and closed with the line and was subsequently demolished.

History

The station was opened by the

Bala and Festiniog Railway The Bala and Festiniog Railway was a , standard gauge, railway backed by the Great Western Railway (GWR) in north-west Wales. It connected Bala with Blaenau Ffestiniog. History The railway originally connected Bala with Llan Ffestiniog. ...

, which was bought by the

in 1910. The station passed to the

Western Region of British Railways The Western Region was a region of British Railways from 1948. The region ceased to be an operating unit in its own right on completion of the "Organising for Quality" initiative on 6 April 1992. The Region consisted principally of ex- Great ...

nationalisation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

in 1948. It was closed by the

British Transport Commission The British Transport Commission (BTC) was created by Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government as a part of its nationalisation programme, to oversee railways, canals and road freight transport in Great Britain (Northern Ireland had the se ...

The site today

The station was demolished and a fire station built on the site. The goods yard is now in light industrial use.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Further material

* * * *

External links

The station site on a navigable OS Map, via ''National Library of Scotland''

* ttp://www.RailMapOnline.com/UKIEMap.php?lat=52.91242&lng=-3.59386 The station and line, via ''Rail Map Online''
The line LJT2 with mileages, via ''Railway Codes''

* [https://uk.images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A9mSs3Qyu59Xxm8AJbtLBQx.;_ylu=X3oDMTByZmVxM3N0BGNvbG8DaXIyBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--?p=Llan+Ffestiniog+Railway+Station&fr=mcafee#id=92&iurl=http%3A%2F%2F6g.nwrail.org.uk%2Fdmucollision1.jpg&action=close Images of the station, via ''Yahoo'']
Festiniog and Blaenau Railway, via ''Festipedia''

Driver's view north of Bala to Blaenau, via ''YouTube''

The station, via ''RailScot''

Working timetable A working timetable (WTT) - (Fr. ''horaire de service (HDS)'' or ''service annuel (SA)''; N. America ''Employee timetable'') - The data defining all planned train and rolling-stock movements which will take place on the relevant infrastructure duri ...

, via ''2D53''
Details of Summer 1989 excursions through the station, via ''Six Bells Junction''

Deatails and photos of 22 Jan 1961 railtour, via ''Six Bells Junction''

The 1961 last train special, via ''YouTube''

An inspection saloon ride on the line, Part 1, via ''YouTube''

An inspection saloon ride on the line, Part 2, via ''YouTube''

Mothballed tracks at the station site in 2015, via ''RailScot''

{{Closed stations Gwynedd Disused railway stations in Gwynedd Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1882 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1965 Former Great Western Railway stations Beeching closures in Wales Bala, Gwynedd 1882 establishments in Wales 1965 disestablishments in Wales