A BRIEF HISTORY OF BARRY'S RAILWAY

THE first rails to be laid in Barry were put down by the Barry Dock & Railway Company which opened in 1889, later becoming simply the Barry Railway.

The company was first incorporated in 1884, and was born as a result of the Rhondda colliery owners' frustration over high charges at Cardiff Docks, and the increasing costs of transporting coal charged by the Taff Vale Railway, which held the monopoly.

The new railway was built primarily to transport coal from the South Wales coalfields, and it wasn't long before extensions to both Barry Island and Barry Pier (with its scheduled steamer services) were constructed, giving the Barry Railway a total route mileage of 68 miles.

However, it was Barry Docks that provided the main focus of business, which with the construction of a second dock basin, became a principle port for the shipment of South Wales' 'black gold'. In fact, by 191 Oit had actually overtaken Cardiff Docks as the chief export point for the region's coal. By 1913 it was the largest coal-exporting dock in the world.

The other railway serving Barry was the Vale of Glamorgan Railway's line that connected it with Bridgend. An Act of Parliament of 1889 was supported by the Barry Railway, which went on to equip and operate it on the VoGR's behalf.

In 1922 the Barry Railway Co was absorbed by the GWR, and with it came 148 locomotives, primarily six- or eight-coupled mineral engines, along with other four-coupled types for passenger work.

It is said that not a single Barry Railway loco was scrapped during the company's existence. Many of the Barry Railway classes were later replaced by the GWR's 0-6-2Ts and 2-8-0Ts, but a handful clung on until Nationalisation.

The GWR undertook several improvements at Barry Docks, and built two new platforms at Barry Island to accommodate the increasing excursion traffic.

British Railways sent its first redundant locomotives to Woodham Bros' Barry Scrapyard in 1959, although it would not earn its claim to fame for several more years.

In 1962 the docks were transferred to the newly formed British Transport Docks Board, the same year that the first passenger services were withdrawn. Line closures continued throughout the next decade, with the Barry Island to Barry Pier section finally closing in 1976.

Barry would go on to write itself a new chapter in the great railway history book thanks to Dai Woodham, and in spite of seeing many changes over the years, one of the Barry Dock basins is still active under the Associated British Ports banner.