Taff Vale Railway

Taff Vale Railway (and related lines)

The Taff Vale Railway (TVR) was an important railway line in Glamorganshire built primarily to serve the expanding exploitation of the South Wales Coalfield in the 19th Century. The Company's headquarters and workshops were in Butetown, in the heart of Cardiff Docks. The TVR mainline was 24 miles long, but there were no fewer than 23 branchlines taking the total length of the network to 124 miles 42 chains.

Taff Vale Map

Important Dates

10th February	1804	Richard Trevithick drives world's first steam locomotive along the Penydarren Tramroad in the Taff Valley
	1835	Ironmaster Anthony Hill asks IK Brunel to estimate cost of building a railway from Merthyr Tydfil to Cardiff
21st June	1836	Royal Assent given to the Taff Vale Railway Company Act (TVR)
	1836	Construction starts
	1840	Cardiff Dock Station opened, later Bute Road, later Cardiff Bay
8th October	1840	Newbridge (=Pontypridd) Pentyrch, Llandaff, Cardiff Queen Street stations opened
9th October	1840	Formal opening Cardiff to Navigation House (later Abercynon) for freight and passengers
23rd April	1841	Formal opening Abercynon to Merthyr Tydfil (Plymouth Street) for freight and passengers
	1841	Branch lines from Pontypridd - Dinas (Rhondda) and Pontypridd - Llancaiach opened; latter using horse power
	1845	West Yard (works) opened
	1846	Formal opening of the Aberdare Railway from Abercynon to Aberdare.
	1847	Treforest station opened
	1847	The Aberdare Railway was leased to the TVR.
	1849	Rhondda branch extended into Rhondda Fach: Porth to Ynyshir
	1850	600,000 tons carried to Cardiff
13th July	1853	Board agreed to replacing handwritten tickets with Edmundsen card
	1854	1 million tons annually of coal raised in Aberdare valley
	1854	Aerw Branch opened
	1856	Rhondda branch lines extended to Ferndale, Maerdy and Treherbert
	1857	Main line doubled throughout
	1857	First TVR built loco - Venus
	1858	Quaker's Yard Station opened
	1858	There had been 8 locomotive superintendents since 1840.
4th July	1859	Penarth Tidal opened
	1861	Ystrad station opened
	1862	2 million tons annually of coal raised in Aberdare valley
July	1862	Penarth Harbour Dock and Railway leased to TVR for 999 years
7th January	1863	Passenger services to Treherbert begin
	1863	Pwllyrhebog line opened
	1863	Llancaiach line doubled
	1865	Cowbridge Railway (Llantrisant to Aberthaw) opened
10th June	1865	Penarth Dock opened
	1866	Dare Valley line opened
	1866	Radyr storage sidings and shed developed
	1867	Main incline, Abercynon, replaced by easier gradient
	1869	George Fisher becomes Locomotive Superintendent
	1872	North curve directly linked Rhondda to Merthyr at Pontypridd
	1873	Rhymney Railway delivers 229,650 Tons of coal to Radyr in year
	1873	Tom Hurry Riches became locomotive superintendent succeeding G Fisher

T_Hurry_Riches_1907-1908

	1876	Passenger trains started to Ferndale
19th October	1878	First Hopkinstown Accident
	1878	Blaencwm/Blaenrhondda line leased to TVR
20th February	1878	Penarth Town to Cardiff service started
	1882	Share dividend 17.5%
1st June	1883	Merthyr Vale and Radyr stations opened
	1883	Rhonnda coal production surpasses that of Aberdare Valley
	1883	Coal and coke shipments from Cardiff of 9 Million tons (all railways)
	1884	Cathays shed opened
	1886	Pentrebach station opened
	1887	Roath Branch to Cardiff Docks opened for freight only; Roath Dock opened
1st December	1887	Passenger service Penarth to Lavernock opened, Cardiff, Penarth & Barry Junction Railway (CPBJ)
3rd December	1888	First passenger train Penarth to Cadoxton blocked by Barry Railway (BR)
1st July	1889	CPBJ, Cowbridge Railway, Dare Valley, Llantrisant and Taff Vale, and Rhondda Valley. Treferig and Hirwaun Jct (Blaencwm/Blaenrhondda) lines amalgamated with TVR
8th July	1889	TVR temporary station at Biglis Junction
	1889	Clydach extension privately built
	1889	Passenger services to Maerdy begin
	1889	3 million tons annually of coal raised in Aberdare valley
	1889	Barry Railway at Trehafod junction with TVR opened
1st January	1890	Aberdare Junction and Ynysbwl passenger service starts
3rd May	1891	George Fisher died; was variously Superintendent, Engineer, General Manager, Director
	1891	Newbridge station renamed Pontypridd
	1891	General Manager Ammon Beasley
22nd May	1890	TVR passenger trains run through to Cadoxton BR
	1890	Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway links to TVR at Treherbert via Rhondda Tunnel
14th August	1893	Barry trains run through to Riverside GWR
	1893	Introduced free, non-contributory pensions for all servants retiring after 25 years or more service.
	1894	4 million tons annually of coal raised in Aberdare valley
1st January	1895	Cowbridge and Aberthaw Railway Co amalgamated
	1896	Clydach extension taken over
27th October	1896	Board agrees Aberdare Junction to become Abercynon, also earlier known as Navigation House
	1900	2 week strike by Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants
1st June	1900	Nelson to Pontypridd passenger service started
	1901	Taff Vale Judgement
1st July	1902	Aberdare Railway amalgamated
18th September	1902	Pontypridd North track inspected; new box 135 levers

Taff Vale railmotor

26th December	1903	Rail motors started on Penarth to Cardiff
	1903	Last locomotive built at West Yard was No.1 rail motor power unit.
	1903	TVR Act of Parliament for Electric Traction
10th July	1904	Pontypridd to Nelson rail motor started.
17th October	1904	Ynysbwl rail motor introduced
	1910	John Cameron becomes locomotive superintendent
23rd January	1911	Second Hopkinstown Accident
4th September	1911	T Hurry Riches died
27th June	1912	Royal visit to TVR Pontypridd, Rhondda and Dowlais
2nd November	1912	Ninian Park Station opened
7th November	1915	Pontypridd station new structures inspected
	1917	Ammon Beasley retired
	1922	J. Cameron cease to be locomotive superintendent TVR
1st January	1922	TVR became part of Great Western Railway (GWR)
	1926	West Yard closes
February	1929	Penarth Dock shed closed
December	1930	Ystrad renamed Ystrad (Rhondda)
10th September	1932	Last Pontypridd to Nelson regular passenger train
6th July	1936	Penarth Dock temporarily closed
July	1940	Penarth Dock temporarily re-opened
	1947	Penarth Dock closed to commercial traffic
	1948	GWR became part of British Railways (Western Region)
1st July	1957	Pwllyrhebog Branch closed
26th November	1957	Llantrisant to Cowbridge passenger closed
26th July	1952	Last Pontypridd to Ynysbwl regular passenger train
31st March	1952	Pontypridd to Llantrisant passenger closed
21st September	1953	Regular interval services introduced (proposed by Rev T Phillips)
September	1959	Pontypridd to Llantrisant freight closed
January	1958	DMU introduced
	1961	Cathays shed closed to steam.
14th March	1964	Last Aberdare branch passenger train
16th March	1964	Cardiff Riverside and Clarence Road shut
	1964	Ferndale Branch Closed to passengers
November	1964	Abercynon steam shed closed, and Cathays shed shut.
6th April	1965	Llandough sidings taken out of use
1st November	1965	Llantrisant to Cowbridge freight closed
21st March	1966	Grangetown and Cogan Junction up and down relief taken out of use
	1966	Blaenrhonnda branches shut
6th May	1968	Penarth to Cadoxton closed
	1968	Roath Branch Closed to freight
November	1969	Penarth Cement works and therefore railway closed from Penarth
6th January	1972	Treherbert to Cwmparc singled
	1977	Aerw branch shut
	1986	Ferndale Branch closed to freight
	1986	Ynyswen station opened
21st December	1986	Ystrad (Rhondda) station renamed Ton Pentre
	1987	Cardiff Queen Street station rebuilt
2nd October	1988	(Re-)introduction of regular passenger trains between Pontypridd and Aberdare

TVR No.19 TVR No.40 TVR I class TVR iron mink

TVR Carriage Restoration

The diary of a restoration project to return TVR No.73 to regular passenger use at the Swindon and Cricklade Railway

WRRC Line Superintendent

Contact details for the line superintendent are available in the Members Section >>

WRRC Information Resource files

For the Taff Vale Railway.
For the Llantrisant & Taff Vale jct Railway.

Locomotive And Rolling Stock totals for selected dates between 1904 and 1921.

For the Taff Vale 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 Taff Vale Railway. - 1950 by Barrie, D. S. M., Oakwood Press.
Taff Vale Miscellany. - 1988 by Hutton, John, Oxford Publishing Company. ISBN 0860932414
South Wales Branch Lines. H. Morgan, Ian Allan Ltd, 1984. ISBN 0711016017
Taff Vale Railway Volume 1 :The main line from Cardiff to Merthyr, and Bute West & East Docks, Cardiff. - 2006 by Hutton, John, Silver Link Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1857942493
Taff Vale Railway Volume 2 :Rhondda Fawr, Rhondda Fach, Roath and Aberdare branches. - 2006 by Hutton, John, Silver Link Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1857942507
Taff Vale Railway Volume 3 :Branches to Penarth and Cadoxton, Ynysybwl, Llancaiach, Llantrisant, Cowbridge and Aberthaw. - 2006 by Hutton, John, Silver Link Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1857942575
The Cowbridge Railway. - 1984 by Chapman, Colin, Oxford Publishing Co. ISBN 0860932842
The Llantrisant Branches of the Taff Vale Railway. - 1996 by Chapman, Colin, Oakwood Press. ISBN 0853614814
The Nelson & Ynysybwl Branches of the Taff Vale Railway. - 1997 by Chapman, Colin, Oakwood Press. ISBN 0853615728
The Aberdare Railway. by Mountford, Eric R. & Kidner, R. W., Oakwood Press. ISBN 0853614741
The Taff Vale Lines to Penarth. - 1993 by Mountford, Eric R. & Spinks, N., Oakwood Press. ISBN 0853614407
Hopkinstown 1911. - 2005 by Carpenter, David J., Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0752432508
The "Servents" of Steam. - 1991 by Rhondda Borough Council.
Great Inclinations. - 1991 by Three Valleys Research Group, Merthyr Tydfil. ISBN 0853614741
Six Railways to Merthyr, Hodge, John. WRRC, 2014. ISBN 978-09527267-7-7.
Locomotives of the GWR, Volume 10 Absorbed Companies 1922-1947. RCTS
A Register of G. W. R. Absorbed Coaching Stock, 1922-1923. Eric Mountford, Oakwood Press, Dorset, 1978

Railway Magazine, March 1907. Cardiff: The City, Its Railways and Commerce.
Railway Magazine, July 1904. The Export Coal Traffic Of The Taff Vale Railway.
Railway Magazine, October 1904. Passenger Steam Car For The Taff Vale Railway.
Railway Magazine, September 1906. A Visit To Penarth Dock.
Railway Magazine, June 1902. Illustrated Interview – T H Riches, Locomotive, Carriage & Wagon Superintendent, TVR.
Railway Magazine, September 1938 p219. Six Railways In 30 Miles. D.S. Barrie.
Railway Magazine, December 1938 p489. Six Railways In 30 Miles. D.S. Barrie.
Railway Archive, 25(2009) 61-69. Visits To Cardiff Cathays Shed, Taff Vale Railway In 1902-1903 by Neil Parkhouse and Bill Aves.
Railway Archive, 26(2010) 40. Visits To Cardiff Cathays Shed, Taff Vale Railway In 1902-1903 by Neil Parkhouse and Bill Aves.

Notes prepared by Basil Stephens, et al.