Bala Junction railway station was on the
Ruabon to Barmouth line
Ruabon ( cy, Rhiwabon ) is a village and Community (Wales), community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. The name comes from ''Rhiw Fabon'', ''rhiw'' being the Welsh word for "slope" or "hillside" and ''Fabon'' being a mutation from Mabyn, St M ...
in southern
Gwynedd, Wales. It closed to passengers on Monday 18 January 1965. Bala Junction was unusual in that it was inaccessible by road and merely served as an interchange station; it was located about ¾ mile to the south-east of the town of Bala.
The station was at the junction with the
Blaenau Ffestiniog branch. It was built as a crossing point for trains on the Bala Ffestiniog and Ruabon Barmouth lines, and featured three platforms with a small waiting room and signalbox on a central island platform. There was also a cast-iron GWR water tank.
History
Opened by the
Great Western Railway, it remained in that company through the
Grouping
Grouping may refer to:
* Muenchian grouping
* Principles of grouping
* Railways Act 1921, also known as Grouping Act, a reorganisation of the British railway system
* Grouping (firearms), the pattern of multiple shots from a sidearm
See also ...
of 1923. 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 We ...
on
nationalisation in 1948. Passenger services to Bala and on the Ruabon-Barmouth line ceased in January 1965; the service beyond Bala to Blaenau Festiniog having been withdrawn in 1960.
During its operational life, Bala Junction served as an interchange station for the branch line train to Blaenau Festiniog, usually operated by small tank locomotives such as the
6400 Class 0-6-0PT and
5800 Class 0-4-2T tank locomotives. These trains did not run beyond Bala Junction, instead returning north to the GWR station at Blaenau Festiniog. There were no goods facilities here either; all goods trains stopped to shunt detached wagons for the branch line train.
As a junction station, Bala Junction was equipped with standard GWR lower quadrant semaphore signals to control train movements between the Bala Ffestiniog and Ruabon-Barmouth lines. These were used particularly when the branch line train was shunting in preparation for its return to Blaenau Festiniog as there were no turning facilities here. To run around, the branch line engine had to cross from Platform 3 (the Bala Ffestiniog platform) onto the main line and run back along Platform 2, used by eastbound trains running to Ruabon.
As of 2014, the only remnants at Bala Junction are the trackbeds of the Bala Ffestiniog and Ruabon-Barmouth lines and the platform faces. The site is close to a nearby dam; part of the access road for this uses the formation of the Bala Ffestiniog line, passing close to the remains of a short bridge that carried the line into Bala Junction itself.
File:Bala junction 3 rail station 1862718 d26261ee.jpg, BR Standard 4MT 75028 arrives at Bala Junction with the 12.45 Pwllheli-Chester.
File:Bala junction 2 rail station 1862718 d26261ee.jpg, View NE from the station along the Ruabon Barmouth Line.
Neighbouring stations
References
Sources
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Further reading
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External links
The station site on a navigable OS Map, via ''National Library of Scotland''*
ttp://www.RailMapOnline.com/UKIEMap.php?lat=52.90637&lng=-3.58153 The station and line, via ''Rail Map Online''The line LJT2 with mileages, via ''Railway Codes''The line RUA with mileages, via ''Railway Codes''* [https://uk.images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A0WTTKvRqrpXAjkAY05NBQx.;_ylu=X3oDMTBsZ29xY3ZzBHNlYwNzZWFyY2gEc2xrA2J1dHRvbg--;_ylc=X1MDMjExNDcxNzAwNQRfcgMyBGJjawNlZGRhb2QxYTlhaDFmJTI2YiUzRDQlMjZkJTNEYk9tV2U5QnBZRUozWGZJWjVjLnFETWFaeS5rLSUyNnMlM0RpcyUyNmklM0RQeWpNUWUwcXc5OVlaRXoyU3NZZQRmcgNtY2FmZWUEZ3ByaWQDaElZMFBRcV9UMENWdkE1NDVoMDMxQQRtdGVzdGlkA251bGwEbl9zdWdnAzAEb3JpZ2luA3VrLmltYWdlcy5zZWFyY2gueWFob28uY29tBHBvcwMwBHBxc3RyAwRwcXN0cmwDBHFzdHJsAzI5BHF1ZXJ5A2JhbGEganVuY3Rpb24gcmFpbHdheSBzdGF0aW9uBHRfc3RtcAMxNDcxODUxMjMzBHZ0ZXN0aWQDbnVsbA--?gprid=hIY0PQq_T0CVvA545h031A&pvid=3OyB1DcyLjPmtVhoVJVELwlEODYuMQAAAAAQ85he&p=bala+junction+railway+station&fr=mcafee&fr2=sb-top-uk.images.search.yahoo.com&ei=UTF-8&n=60&x=wrt&y=Search Images of the station, via ''Yahoo'']
Driver's view north of Bala to Blaenau, via ''YouTube''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''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bala Junction Railway Station
Disused railway stations in Gwynedd
Beeching closures in Wales
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1882
Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1965
Former Great Western Railway stations
Rail junctions in Wales
Llangywer
Bala, Gwynedd