Barry Railway Land Acquisition

[s.w.johnson]

Here is a question for the Barry fans in the Circle. As a resident of Wenvoe, every now and then I walk the dogs down to the remnants of the railway. One thing that stands out as you look over the bridge is the huge width of land that the railway had. So the question is, did the Barry buy enough land to enable it to have four tracks if required?

[Rhobat Bryn]

If you're looking south from the station, there were four tracks but only two of which belonged to the main line. On the west side of the station was the goods yard and the line to the west of the main line looks to have been used as a headshunt for the goods yard. The line to the east ran parallel to the main line almost as far as the tunnel before branching off eastwards to serve Alps Quarry. However the main line south of the reservoir as far as Coldbrook Lane was two track only.

[s.w.johnson]

The area I am looking at is north of the station. There is an overbridge which crosses the cutting leading to the tunnel. The railway fence is a long way back from the cutting edge. It could be they bought land thinking the cutting slopes would not be so steep. If this is true, they should have done their site exploration better, as the area is known to be rocky - there are plenty of quarries in the area, some of which definitely precede the railway.

[Rhobat Bryn]

As I stated in my previous entry, the line to the quarry ran parallel to the main line on the east side almost as far as the tunnel before making a 90 degree turn to the east towards Alps Quarry. However the line continued north just beyond the tunnel and cut across above the tunnel for a short distance in a north westerly direction. This short spur connected with the branch to Alps Quarry forming a triangular junction.

[TheObserver]

As I stated in my previous entry, the line to the quarry ran parallel to the main line on the east side almost as far as the tunnel before making a 90 degree turn to the east towards Alps Quarry. However the line continued north just beyond the tunnel and cut across above the tunnel for a short distance in a north westerly direction. This short spur connected with the branch to Alps Quarry forming a triangular junction.

Hello All,

I found the 1898 revision of the Ordnance Survey 6 inch map series for the area to be of great help in visualising the area being described.
OS 6 inch 1898 revision, Wenvoe Railway Station and Alps Quarry: http://maps.nls.uk/view/102183909 halfway down the left hand edge.
OS 6 inch 1898 revision, Tunnel portal and Alps Quarry head shunt: http://maps.nls.uk/view/102183879 halfway down the right hand edge.

[wokmad]

Regrettably the NLS hasn’t yet got far into Wales with its scanning of the 25in OS. However, one can get a good idea of what it will look like if you go www.old-maps.co.uk. Enter Wenvoe, or wherever, in the top search box, and after a modern map comes, select your old OS of choice from the left hand list and hit enlarge view. You can then move the map around to the location you want and then enlarge it using the roller on your mouse. You can only go so far, beyond which you will have to register and pay, but it is usually far enough to make out the detail you want.

Alternatively, and if you live near enough, the British Library Map Room has micro-fiche scans of every Old Series OS from which one can obtain A4 size prints for a modest sum.

Robin Simmonds