The Ruabon Brook Tramway was a

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 peop ...

branch railway line linking the

Ruabon Ruabon ( cy, Rhiwabon ) is a village and 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 St Mabon, the original church ...

coalfield to the

Shropshire Union Canal The Shropshire Union Canal, nicknamed the "Shroppie", is a navigable canal in England. The Llangollen and Montgomery canals are the modern names of branches of the Shropshire Union (SU) system and lie partially in Wales. The canal lies in ...

Froncysyllte Froncysyllte (; ), colloquially known as Fron, is a village in Wrexham County Borough, Wales and stands on the banks of the River Dee and the Llangollen Canal. It is situated on the main A5 road which runs from London to Holyhead. It is in the ...

, with a private extension into the

Monsanto The Monsanto Company () was an American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation founded in 1901 and headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Monsanto's best known product is Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, developed in th ...

works at

Cefn Mawr Cefn Mawr () is a village in the community of Cefn within Wrexham County Borough, Wales. Its name translates as "big ridge".Mills, D. ''A Dictionary of British Place Names'', OUP, p.104 The population in 2001 was 6,669, increasing to 7,051 in ...

which reconnected to the main line at

Trevor Trevor (Trefor (disambiguation), Trefor in the Welsh language) is a common given name or surname of Welsh language, Welsh origin. It is an habitational name, deriving from the Welsh ''tre(f)'', meaning "homestead", or "settlement" and ''fawr'', ...

. The area was rich in coal, clay and minerals. The tramway was opened on 26 Nov 1805 between Pontcysyllte and

Acrefair () is a village in the county borough of Wrexham, North East Wales, in the community of Cefn. It was formerly part of the ancient parish of Ruabon, and is located between Wrexham and Llangollen. It is close to the villages of Trevor, Cefn Maw ...

. The line was extended in 1808 from Acrefair to the

Plas Madoc Plas Madoc ( cy, Plas Madog) is a housing estate and former electoral ward near Acrefair, in the Cefn community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. It is located seven miles to the south-west of Wrexham, and contains The Land adventure playgro ...

Colliery in Plasbennion and then into "The Delph" which climbed towards Penycae; after 1808 the line advanced via the industrial area around

Wynn Hall Wynn Hall is a 17th-century house in the old hamlet (place), hamlet of Bodylltyn in Ruabon, Wrexham (county borough), Wrexham, Wales standing at the junction of the Penycae Road and Plas Bennion Road. It was built in about 1649 by William Wynn (Eng ...

and Copperas towards its summit at Pant, with

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, overpass ...

s on Plas Bennion and Penycae roads. From 1860 the line was converted from a tramway to a railway, frequently referred to as the Pontcysyllte Branch, with an extension to

Rhosllannerchrugog RhosllanerchrugogDavies, Jenkins and Baines (eds) ''The Welsh Academy Encyclopedia of Wales'', 2008, p.752 (also spelled Rhosllannerchrugog, or simply Rhos) is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. It lies within the histor ...

opening on 30 Jan 1867; it continued as the Rhos Branch via Legacy and

Rhostyllen Rhostyllen () is a village in Wrexham County Borough, Wales, south-west of the city of Wrexham. At the time of the 2001 census, area Wrexham 014A, which includes Rhostyllen itself, had a population of 1,383 in 599 households.

and eventually joined the main line slightly South of

Croes Newydd Croes Newydd was a large steam locomotive shed, marshalling yard and junction in Wrexham, in Wales. History The Wrexham and Minera Railway was opened on 22 May 1862, with little ceremony except a note from the Traffic Manager of the Great Wes ...

junction. Although the line was intended for goods services, the section between Wynn Hall and Rhosllannerchrugog had a

railmotor Railmotor is a term used in the United Kingdom and elsewhere for a railway lightweight railcar, usually consisting of a railway carriage with a steam traction unit, or a diesel or petrol engine, integrated into it. Steam railcars Overview In th ...

service for passengers between 1905 and 1915, with connections to Wrexham and beyond. The section between Pontcysyllte and Pant closed in 1953 and was torn up (as far as the bridge over the Afon Eitha brook) in the late 1950s, that from Pant towards Wrexham closed in 1963. Monsanto's private track remained in use until 1968, when the remains of 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 ...

closed to goods.

Bibliography

*''Forgotten Railways - North and Mid Wales'', Rex Christianson 1976, *''A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain - Volume 11: North and Mid Wales'', Peter E Baughan 1980, {{coord , 52.97318, N, 3.08614, W, region:GB, display=title Railway lines in Wales Industrial railways in Wales Great Western Railway constituents Closed railway lines in Wales Standard gauge railways in Wales Horse-drawn railways Railway lines opened in 1805 1805 establishments in Wales