LLANDUDNO JUNCTION – 6G
We return to former LNWR territory with a look at Llandudno Junction.
The story of Llandudno Junction shed, coded 7A under the LMS and 6G under British Railways, begins with the St George’s Harbour Company, which built a two-road depot in 1858. This littleknown company was formed by an Act of Parliament in 1857 to build not only a harbour and associated pier at Llandudno, but also a railway to join the existing Chester-Holyhead route. With just £20 capital in shares, it leased the shed to the much larger LNWR in 1862 which then absorbed the smaller operation on July 28 1873. Seven years later – after the extension of the Conwy Valley route to Blaenau – the LNWR demolished and rebuilt the original shed as a single-ended, northlight-roofed building capable of housing 12 engines. Sited south of the former depot, it included a turntable, basic coal stage and water facilities.
Under Francis Webb, the LNWR increased and improved its existing sheds, and Llandudno Junction was no different, being rebuilt and completed in April 1899 with double the capacity, a new open end, an increase in length to 320ft and an adjacent carriage shed. Previously a sub-shed of Bangor, Llandudno Junction was now wholly independent and eventually expanded to include four sub-sheds of its own – Blaenau Ffestiniog, Denbigh, Rhyl and Corwen.
Given Llandudno’s place as a Victorian holiday resort, the shed was busy from the start, with a large amount of the North Wales holiday excursion traffic passing through there as well as providing motive power for the ManchesterLlandudno
‘club’ trains. To this extent, large numbers of engines were stored there in Glan Conwy sidings over the winter for reactivation in the summer. It is recorded that, in January 1934, there were 18 engines stored in readiness.
As traffic grew, so did its allocation, and in 1912 48 were engines allocated there, this increasing to 78 by the time of the Grouping, although by 1937 this had fallen to 43 engines, dropping again to 35 in 1948. As might be expected, the shed was home to a wide variety of LNWR passenger types over its existence, including ‘Precursors’, ‘George Vs’ and even the venerable Webb 0-6-0 ‘Cauliflowers’. In later years there was an influx of LMS engines, with 13 ‘Black Fives’ being allocated there in December 1937 primarily for holiday traffic. Interestingly, unlike many other ex-LNWR sheds, Llandudno Junction was quick to lose that company’s engines in later years, and by 1954 they had virtually gone. In their place was a variety of ex-Midland Railway engines with just seven of LMS design and five of the new ‘Standard Five’ 4-6-0s.
Also in keeping with ex-LNWR sheds, Llandudno Junction suffered from roof decay, with a new, flat and austere structure being added in 1957. Over the years, various other modernisations took place, including the installation of a 70ft turntable, but dieselisation in the form of DMUs had already started in 1956. A decade later, on October 3 1966, the shed closed its doors and a road and retail park has since been built over where it stood. Unusually, this road has been named ‘Fford 6G Road’ – a fitting tribute to an important depot.