Llandderfel railway station in

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, was a station 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 ...

. It closed to passengers ahead of the scheduled closure date of Monday 18 January 1965 because of flooding by the River Dee which breached the line near

Llandderfel Llandderfel is a village and a sparsely populated community in Gwynedd, Wales, near Bala, formerly served by the Llandderfel railway station. The community also includes the settlements of Glan-yr-afon, Llanfor, Cefnddwysarn and Frongoch. T ...

on 14 December 1964. This section of the line was never re-opened. The station had a signal box and was a passing place on the single line. Today, no trace of the station buildings exist; however, the flight of steps that leads from the road overbridge down to where the platforms once were are still in situ, along with a small section of overgrown "up" platform a few yards up from the steps. The steps take you beneath the B4401 where the arch of the railway bridge is still accessible. The old line is walkable but overgrown. According to the

Official Handbook of Stations The ''Official Handbook of Stations'' was a large book (, 494 pages) listing all the passenger and goods stations, as well as private sidings, on the railways of Great Britain and Ireland. It was published in 1956 by the British Transport Commiss ...

the following classes of traffic were being handled at this station in 1956: G, P, F, L, H & C but there was no crane.1956, ''

'', British Transport Commission

Pale Hall

Llandderfel was the next station down the line from Llandrillo but was more notable since it was situated adjacent to Pale Hall, the one time home of Sir Henry Robertson, Chairman of the original railway companies which built the line. Pale Hall had a telephone link with the signal box. On 27 August 1889 the station was visited by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

who arrived in the

Royal Train A royal train is a set of railway carriages dedicated for the use of the monarch or other members of a royal family. Most monarchies with a railway system employ a set of royal carriages. Australia The various government railway operators of A ...

and was entertained at Pale Hall.

Crogen Hall Halt

There was at one time a small unmanned halt between Llandrillo and Llandderfel which did not feature in the public timetables. This was Crogen Hall Halt, a private station built for the benefit of residents of the nearby Crogen Hall which at one time was occupied by Brigadier Skaife. The halt was on the other side of the River Dee from Crogen Hall so access was via a ferry. The Halt was probably opened in the 1920s but closed again a decade later. The platform is still extant under vegetation.

Llandderfel Tunnel

Midway between Llandderfel and Bala Junction the line passed through a rocky outcrop which resulted in the construction of a 76yd long Llandderfel Tunnel, which still exists today, but now disused.

Neighbouring stations

References

External links