Carmarthenshire Railways.
This section covers a group of railways centred between the rivers Loughor and Gwendraeth in south east Carmarthenshire. They include the first Welsh railway to receive parliamentary authority (The Carmarthenshire Railway) and one that, against all odds, still carries both passengers and coal, The Llanelly Railway. The prime purpose of all the lines was to carry coal to the coast for export and some companies built their own dock. The arrival of the local railways helped the expansion of coal mining in the Mynydd Mawr district and Amman and Gwendraeth Valleys. The trade was well established when the main line of the South Wales Railway arrived in 1852.
The WRRC Line Superintendent can give help to researchers directing to useful sources and archives for the local lines.
WRRC Line Superintendent
- Contact details for the line superintendent are available in the Members Section >>
WRRC Information Resource files
- For the Burry Port & Gwendraeth Valley Railway.
- For the Gwendraeth Valley Railway.
- For the Llanelly Railway & Dock Co.
- For the Llanelly & Mynydd Mawr Railway.
Locomotive And Rolling Stock totals for selected dates between 1904 and 1921.
- For the Llanelly & Mynydd Mawr Railway.
Selected Reading
- A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain Vol 12 South Wales. D.S.M. Barrie, David & Charles, 2nd edition 1994. ISBN 0946537-69-0
- The Llanelly & Mynydd Mawr Railway. - 1st Edition - 1992 by M.R.C. Price - Oakwood Press ISBN 0-85361-423-7
- The Llanelly Railway & Dock Company, The Heart of Wales Pioneer. Michael Denman, The Wider View, 2012.
- Railway Around Llanelli. Michael Denman, The Wider View, ISBN 0-9535848-1
- Nevill’s Dock & Railway Company. Michael Denman, The Wider View.
- Gwendraeth Valleys Railway: Kidwelly to Mynydd-y-Garreg. M.R.C. Price, Oakwood Press, ISBN-10: 0853615055
- Burry Port and Gwendreath Valley Railway and Its Antecedent Canals Vol 1: The Canals. Raymond E. Bowen, Oakwood Press, ISBN-10: 0853615772
- Burry Port and Gwendraeth Valley Railway and Its Antecedent Canals Vol 2: The Railway and the Dock. Robert W. Miller, Oakwood Press, ISBN-10: 085361685X
- South Wales Branch Lines. H. Morgan, Ian Allan Ltd, 1984. ISBN 0711013217
- The Railway Magazine November 1953