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 ...
at
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