The Brecon Mountain Railway (

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

: ''Rheilffordd Mynydd Brycheiniog'') is a

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

tourist railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...

on the south side of the

Brecon Beacons The Brecon Beacons ( cy, Bannau Brycheiniog, ) are a mountain range in South Wales. In a narrow sense, the name refers to the range of Old Red Sandstone peaks which lie to the south of Brecon. Sometimes referred to as "the central Beacons" ...

. It climbs northwards from

Pant Pant may refer to: Clothing * Pants or trousers, an article of outer clothing worn on the lower half of the body * Underpants, an item of underwear Places * Pant, Denbighshire, Wales; a township of Llysfaen *Pant, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales *Pan ...

along the full length of the

Pontsticill Reservoir Pontsticill Reservoir () or Taf Fechan Reservoir is a large reservoir on the Taf Fechan lying partly in the county of Powys and partly within the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil in south Wales. It lies within the Brecon Beacons National Park an ...

(also called 'Taf Fechan' reservoir by

Welsh Water Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

) and continues past the adjoining

Pentwyn Reservoir Pontsticill Reservoir () or Taf Fechan Reservoir is a large reservoir on the Taf Fechan lying partly in the county of Powys and partly within the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil in south Wales. It lies within the Brecon Beacons National Park an ...

Torpantau railway station Torpantau railway station is a station in the Welsh county of Brecknockshire (now in Powys), and the northern terminus of the narrow gauge Brecon Mountain Railway. It had previously been a station on the standard gauge line from Merthyr to ...

. The railway's starting point at Pant is located north of the town centre of

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil (; cy, Merthyr Tudful ) is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after T ...

, Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, South-East Wales.

Route description

The line runs along part of the trackbed of the northern section of the former

Brecon and Merthyr Railway The Brecon and Merthyr Tydfil Junction Railway (B&MR) was a railway company in Wales. It was originally intended to link the towns in its name. Finding its access to Merthyr difficult at first, it acquired the Rumney Railway, an old plateway, an ...

from

to a new station at

Torpantau Torpantau railway station is a station in the Welsh county of Brecknockshire (now in Powys), and the northern terminus of the narrow gauge Brecon Mountain Railway. It had previously been a station on the standard gauge line from Merthyr to ...

, via

Pontsticill Pontsticill is a village within the county borough of Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales. It lies within the valley of the Taf Fechan on the southern edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park. The village lies within the community of Vaynor in an area th ...

and Dolygaer, a total of about . This takes the BMR just short of the southern entrance to the 667 yd (610 m) long Torpantau tunnel, the highest railway tunnel in Great Britain, which carried the original line through the hills along the side of Glyn Collwn to

Brecon Brecon (; cy, Aberhonddu; ), archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. In 1841, it had a population of 5,701. The population in 2001 was 7,901, increasing to 8,250 at the 2011 census. Historically it was the c ...

or to Moat Lane or Hereford via junctions at Talyllyn and Three Cocks. One of the benefits of the line, and a condition of the planning permission, is that tourists can access and experience part of the

Brecon Beacons National Park The Brecon Beacons National Park ( cy, Parc Cenedlaethol Bannau Brycheiniog) is one of three national parks in Wales, and is centred on the Brecon Beacons range of hills in southern Wales. It includes the Black Mountain ( cy, Y Mynydd Du) i ...

without driving their cars through it. Car parking for railway passengers is only available at Pant Station, outside the Brecon Beacons National Park. The Brecon Mountain Railway is a member of the

Great Little Trains of Wales The Great Little Trains of Wales ( Welsh: ''Trenau Bach Arbennig Cymru'') is the name of a joint marketing scheme formed in 1970 to promote some of the narrow gauge railways of Wales and encourage visitors to Wales. As well as marketing the railw ...

History

The Brecon Mountain Railway was founded in the mid-1970s, by Tony Hills (1937–2015). Hills was a long time railway enthusiast who by 1970, had established a base at

Gilfach Ddu Gilfach Ddu (also known as the Dinorwic Slate Quarry Workshops) are a series of well preserved Grade I listed industrial buildings built to serve the Dinorwic slate quarry near Llanberis in Caernarfonshire, North Wales. The workshops are a comp ...

on the

Llanberis Lake Railway The Llanberis Lake Railway ( cy, Rheilffordd Llyn Padarn) is a narrow gauge heritage railway that runs for along the northern shore of Llyn Padarn in north Wales in the Snowdonia National Park. The starting point is the village of Llanberis a ...

where he stored the locomotives he purchased. In 1977, he purchased five miles of trackbed of the abandoned Brecon & Merthyr Railway at Pant and moved his collection there. Construction of the BMR started in 1978, with the grant of a

Light Railway Order The Light Railways Act 1896 (59 & 60 Vict. c.48) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. History Before the Act each new railway line built in the country required a specific Act of Parliament to be ob ...

in 1980. Track was laid between Pant and Pontsticill in 1979–80. At Pontsticill the station house was renovated, the old waiting room was converted into a small workshop and a storage shed was built. Seven bridges were repaired or replaced. The railway opened to passengers in June 1980 using the engine ''Sybil'' and one carriage. Between 1982 and 1996, a large station and workshop were built at Pant. These provide passenger facilities including toilets, cafe, shop and booking office as well as the extensive workshop used to build and maintain the railway locomotives, carriages and wagons. A extension from Pontsticill to Dol-y-Gaer opened in 1995. The railway was further extended to Torpantau, just short of the southern entrance of the Torpantau Tunnel, with passenger services commencing 1 April 2014. By 2016, the original waiting room building at Pontsticill, which had served as a workshop for a period, was converted into a steam museum housing various stationary steam engines and three of the smaller locomotives. All of the stationary units were connected up to a steam distribution header and boiler, which in 2017 was still awaiting commissioning.

Stations

– southern terminus of the BMR. *

– at the southern end of the Pontsticill reservoir. * Dolygaer – station closed, but passing loop in use. *

– current northern terminus of the BMR.

Locomotives

Full list of locomotives at the site:UK Locos – Preserved, Private, Hired & Industrial Locos
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References

External links