The Kinmel Camp Railway, otherwise known as the ''Kinmel Park Railway'' was a long

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...

railway 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 ...

built to serve Kinmel Camp near

Rhyl Rhyl (; cy, Y Rhyl, ) is a seaside town and community (Wales), community in Denbighshire, Wales. The town lies within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Flintshire (historic), Flintshire, on the north-east coast of Wales at ...

in north

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 ...

History

Kinmel Camp Kinmel Park Training Area is an army training ground in what was once the grounds of Kinmel Hall, near Abergele, in Conwy county borough, Wales. The camp was built in 1915 to train troops during the First World War and was later used to house tro ...

was a training camp opened by the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

in 1915 to train soldiers during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. It was connected to 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 ...

line at Foryd station by the short, steep branchline that formed the Kinmel Camp Railway. The KCR opened in 1915. Between 1916 and 1917 a branch was laid to avoid the steepest gradients at the camp terminus. By 1918 a connection had been added to the

Vale of Clwyd Railway The Vale of Clwyd Railway (VoCR) was a standard-gauge line which connected the towns of Rhyl and Denbigh via St Asaph in North Wales. It opened in 1858, at first without a connection to the main line at Rhyl, but this was provided in 1862. At D ...

's line from

Denbigh Denbigh (; cy, Dinbych; ) is a market town and a community in Denbighshire, Wales. Formerly, the county town, the Welsh name translates to "Little Fortress"; a reference to its historic castle. Denbigh lies near the Clwydian Hills. History ...

. After the end of the First World War, the line continued in use serving a quarry near the site of the camp at St. George. The railway continued in this capacity until it closed in 1964 or February 1965, with the track being lifted two months later.

References

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External links

* {{Historical Welsh railway companies Railway lines opened in 1915 Abergele Railway lines closed in 1964 Wales in World War I