Conwil was a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

near the village of

Cynwyl Elfed Cynwyl Elfed (; sometimes Conwyl and formerly anglicised as Conwil Elvet or Conwil in Elvet) is a village and community in the county of Carmarthenshire, Wales. The community includes the villages of Cynwyl Elfed, Blaenycoed and Cwmduad. It is s ...

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as ...

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 ...

, serving the hamlet and the rural locale. It was once a thriving railway station, transporting both passenger traffic and locally produced goods, including wool, livestock, milk and timber.

History

The Teifi Valley Railway was originally operated by the

Carmarthen and Cardigan Railway The Carmarthen and Cardigan Railway was a broad gauge railway line in Wales that was intended to connect Carmarthen on the South Wales Railway with Cardigan. In fact, it was unable to raise the necessary capital and was loss-making from the time ...

between

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, RP: ; cy, Caerfyrddin , "Merlin's fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, ...

and

. In 1864, the line was extended to Pencader and

Llandysul Llandysul is a small town and community in the county of Ceredigion, Wales. As a community it consists of the townships of Capel Dewi, Horeb, Pontsian, Pren-gwyn, Tregroes, Rhydowen and the village of Llandysul itself. Llandysul lies in sout ...

. The line was purchased by 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 ...

(GWR). Although passenger services ceased in 1965, goods services continued until 1973 because of the

milk train Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...

services to the

Co-operative Group Co-operative Group Limited, trading as Co-op, is a British consumer cooperative, consumer co-operative with a group of retail businesses including food retail, wholesale, e-pharmacy, insurance and legal services, and funeral care. The Co-op ...

creamery A creamery is a place where milk and cream are processed and where butter and cheese is produced. Cream is separated from whole milk; pasteurization is done to the skimmed milk and cream separately. Whole milk for sale has had some cream re ...

Newcastle Emlyn Newcastle Emlyn ( cy, Castellnewydd Emlyn) is a town on the River Teifi, straddling the counties of Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire in West Wales. It is also a community entirely within Carmarthenshire, bordered by those of Llangeler and Cenarth ...

. As of 2012 the station and platforms still survive.

The Gwili Railway or Rheilffordd Ager y Gwili

A group of railway enthusiasts bought eight miles of the old trackbed. In neighbouring Bronwydd, a 1 mile long section of the line was reopened in spring 1978 for tourists and named the

Gwili Railway The Gwili Railway (Welsh: ''Rheilffordd Gwili'') is a Welsh heritage railway, that operates a preserved standard gauge railway line from the site of Abergwili Junction (near Carmarthen) in southwest Wales along a section of the former Carmarth ...

. The Gwili Railway aims to eventually restore the railway as far north as Llanpumsaint. Plans were underway in 2012 to extend the line southwards to the site of Abergwili Junction. Seven derelict bridges crossing the Gwili lie between Conwyl itself and Llanpumpsaint; the cost of restoring them is a major factor delaying the reopening of the line up to Llanpumpsaint.http://users.aol.com/WalesRails/gwil.htm Wales Rails: Gwili Railway)

Notes

References

* * Holden, John S. Holden (2007). ''The Manchester & Milford Railway''. The Oakwood Press. {{ISBN, 0-85361-658-2.

External links

The Gwili Railway
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1860 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1965 Disused railway stations in Carmarthenshire Former Great Western Railway stations Beeching closures in Wales 1860 establishments in Wales 1978 disestablishments in Wales