Groeslon
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 ...
served the village of
Groeslon
Groeslon (; Welsh: ''Y Groeslon'', "the crossroads") is a small village in the community of Llandwrog in the Welsh traditional county of Caernarfonshire. Groeslon is administered by Gwynedd Council.
The population was 880 at the 2011 census
N ...
,
Gwynedd
Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...
, Wales. It operated first as part of the
Nantlle Tramway and afterwards as a railway under the auspices of several different companies. The station and line closed on 7 December 1964 as recommended in the
Beeching Report Beeching is an English surname. Either a derivative of the old English ''bece'', ''bæce'' "stream", hence "dweller by the stream" or of the old English ''bece'' "beech-tree" hence "dweller by the beech tree".''Oxford Dictionary of English Surnames' ...
.
History
A halt was located at the same site for the horse drawn
Nantlle Tramway, which was originally used purely for transportation of goods from the quarries in the
Nantlle Valley
The Nantlle Valley ( cy, Dyffryn Nantlle, ) is an area in Gwynedd, North Wales, characterised by its numerous small settlements.
The area is also historically important geologically, and featured in one of the most contentious disputes of the ...
to the harbour at
Caernarfon
Caernarfon (; ) is a royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales, with a population of 9,852 (with Caeathro). It lies along the A487 road, on the eastern shore of the Menai Strait, opposite the Isle of Anglesey. The city of Bangor is ...
. Passenger services were introduced on 11 August 1856, which ran until 12 June 1865.From the outset timetables appeared regularly in the "Carnarvon & Denbigh Herald" and in
Bradshaw from October 1856.
Example timetable in ''Bradshaw''
/ref> The Carnarvonshire Railway
The Carnarvonshire Railway was a railway connecting Caernarvon railway station (terminus of the Bangor and Caernarvon Railway line from Bangor) with Afon Wen.
History
The Carnarvonshire Railway was absorbed into the LNWR in 1869. At the gro ...
took over services from the Nantlle Tramway a month later, but in most cases relocated the track. One of the exceptions was at Groeslon where the existing layout was maintained.[ Initially the station was served by trains running between ]Afon Wen
Afon Wen is a small hamlet on the Llŷn peninsula in the Welsh principal area of Gwynedd.
Location
It is located at the mouth of the Afon Wen river, half a mile from the village of Chwilog and midway between Pwllheli and Cricieth.
History ...
and Caernarvon railway station
Caernarvon railway station was a station on the former Bangor and Carnarvon Railway between Caernarfon, Gwynedd and Menai Suspension Bridge near Bangor. The station was closed to all traffic in January 1972. The station has since been demoli ...
s; as there was no passing loop, all trains had to go through the station although not all stopped there. The London and North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom.
In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...
took over all services of the Caernarfon Railway in 1870, including those passing through Groeslon. Services were expanded in 1871 with the start of passenger services on the Caernarvon Town line, and by 1895 some 12 trains were arriving at Groeslon per day.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 ...
and additional platform were added in 1911. On 1 January 1923, services were taken over by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway
The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...
. Further modifications to the layout took place in 1947, the loop and platforms were extended to accommodate longer trains.[ The report by ]Richard Beeching
Richard Beeching, Baron Beeching (21 April 1913 – 23 March 1985), commonly known as Dr Beeching, was a physicist and engineer who for a short but very notable time was chairman of British Railways. He became a household name in Britain in the e ...
recommended the closure of the line through Groeslon. In the resultant Beeching cuts
The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised British Rail, railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Develop ...
, Groeslon stopped receiving goods via railway on 4 May 1964, and closed completely on 7 December 1964.
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
Further material
*
*
*
External links
The station site on a navigable OS Map, via ''National Library of Scotland''
The station and line, via ''Rail Map Online''
The line CNV with mileages, via ''Railway Codes''
Images of the station, via ''Yahoo''
The station and line, via ''LNWR Society''
By DMU from Pwllheli to Amlwch, via ''Huntley Archives''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Groeslon Railway Station
Beeching closures in Wales
Disused railway stations in Gwynedd
Llandwrog
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1867
Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1964
Former London and North Western Railway stations