Practice & Performance
In Practice & Performance this month, John Heaton FCILT turns his attention to steam workings over the difficult sections of the former Cambrian main line and connecting routes.
THE very mention of steam locomotives in mid Wales conjures images of antique-appearance 4-4-0 ‘Dukedogs’ hauling short trains along the Dovey estuary, or ‘Manors’ clinging to the cliffs above Llangelynin with the Pwllheli portion of the ‘Cambrian Coast Express’.
The only remaining railway lifeline from the formerly industrial West Midlands to the attractions of the mid Welsh seaside now cleaves through the Cambrian Mountain and then has a peak to climb at Talerddig before reaching the riparian run into Aberystwyth.
Before reaching the university town, trains often divided at Machynlleth, and in fact still do, with a portion heading north for Barmouth and beyond. Modern travellers from London are used to this routing but their ancestors and cousins from the conurbations of Manchester and Leeds had an alternative way to reach the northern section of the Cambrian coastline until the mid-1960s without need for the current substantial Shrewsbury deviation.
To the north of the current rail artery there was another main line giving access to the Barmouth area but it is now sometimes disregarded. This was the route from Ruabon via Dolgelley, which passengers travelling from Northern cities would reach from Chester via Wrexham General. Some might dispute this route’s main line claims but I rest my case solely on the fact it occurs in the Ian Allan Main Line Gradient Profiles and its eminent 1947 Railway Magazine predecessor.
Interest
Both routes were of particular interest to Railway Performance Society (RPS) steam specialist Michael Rowe, partly from his travels during the 1950s and partly from his Welsh nationality. He has generously allowed me to draw freely on his research.
The spellings I have used in the article are those of by R A Cooke in his seminal work Atlas of the Great Western Railway 1947.
This decision means some names are not those in use at the date on which they are mentioned and many are incorrect in modern usage. For instance, even by 1958 Dolgelley had been altered by the local authority to Dolgellau, but 1947 is relatively central to the subject matter used. Similar licence has been taken by using the 24hr clock.
The Cambrian Railway was formed in July 1864 after the amalgamation of the Llandiloes & Newtown opened 1859, the Oswestry & Newtown of 1861, the Newtown & Machynlleth (1863) and the nascent Oswestry, Ellesmere & Whitchurch. It is evident Newtown was an important location in the 1860s. In fact the Railway Mania of the 1840s seems to have been 20 years reaching mid Wales, as the Cambrian continued to expand by absorbing the Aberystwyth & Welsh Coast Railway in 1865 which had opened to the town of its title in 1864 and would reach Pwllheli in 1867.
It was 1869 before the Cambrian completed the Dolgelley to Barmouth link and only after the Great Western, frustrated by the Cambrian’s dilatory dealings, had threatened to complete the connection itself. The Great Western was making advances into natural Cambrian territory via the Vale of Llangollen (opened 1863), Llangollen & Corwen (1865) and Bala & Dolgelley (1868).
The other chief protagonist in the area followed the Shrewsbury & Welshpool Act of
1856 which opened to its western destination in 1862 and was operated by the London & North Western (L&NWR), becoming jointly owned by the company in partnership with the Great Western.
Open competition was a recipe for duplication and ultimately rationalisation. In reaction to the Beeching Plan, local authorities put up a fight for the Shrewsbury-Aberystwyth and Machynlleth-Pwllheli lines but sacrificed Ruabon-Barmouth Jct (which had been renamed Morfa Mawddach in 1960). Both routes traced similar terrain.
Drama
The more northerly route left Ruabon against a short 1-in-75 climb to Acrefair that led to a sharp drop at similar grades into the Dee valley and Llangollen where the double line section finished. Two miles at 1-in-80 up through Berwyn was followed by a shallow but continual rise at no worse than a brief 1-in-150 to Llanuwchllyn. Drama was to follow however, with three miles uphill at mainly 1-in-63/64 then a 700ft 12-mile descent to Penmaenpool with gradients as steep as 1-in-50, a special challenge to eastbound trains.
The Cambrian main line through Welshpool started from an altitude of 347ft at Whitchurch, varying with a minimum of 233ft and a maximum of 414ft over the 52-mile stretch to Moat Lane with two pronounced humps, one at 1-in-80 between Ellesmere and Whittington and the other a 1-in-103 rise to Oswestry and 1-in 80 down towards Llynclys. Track was dual between Oswestry and Llanymynech before the Shrewsbury line joined at Buttington Jct.
Next came the famous climb to Talerddig, less challenging westbound whereas eastbound trains are faced with 13 miles of hard work, including a final three miles at 1-in-52/56 from Llanbrynmair. From Machynlleth to Aberystwyth the topography is estuarine but even so there are a couple of short 1-in-75 sections to negotiate.
If there was justification for the network of lines that crossed these sparsely populated areas it was the agricultural traffic to the rapidly expanding Victorian industrial cities. For instance, Mr Rowe explains that before the railways, Cardigan Bay cattle had to be herded to London by drovers. The eventual corollary was opening the scenery of mid Wales to tourism but locally generated passenger traffic was always meagre.
“Drama was to follow however, with three miles uphill at mainly 1-in-63/64 then a 700ft 12-mile descent to Penmaenpool with gradients as steep as 1-in-50...”
Even by 1885 there were just four Down and three Up services between Ruabon and Dolgelley, with Barmouth served by connections. Barmouth was reached at 18.10 from a 10.00 (8hr 10min) Paddington departure with a corresponding arrival after leaving Manchester at 13.02 (5hr 8min). Passengers on the 10.00 from Euston and 12.00 from Manchester reached Aberystwyth at 19.25 (9hr 25min and 7hr 25min) but did not reach Barmouth until 21.47 (11hr 47min). There were five Down trains and six Up ones between Machynlleth and Welshpool, all of which served Pwllheli, Aberystwyth, Shrewsbury and Whitchurch by either through coaches or connections.
Outbreak
By the outbreak of the First World War Barmouth was within 6hr 20min of Paddington (Manchester 4hr 20min) via Ruabon. Aberystwyth was by then also reached from Paddington in 6hr 10min and Barmouth in
6hr 42min via Machynlleth. Of particular note were the two trains from Paddington conveying through coaches to the Cambrian via Ruabon where they departed at 13.15 and 15.05.
With through coaches also from Birkenhead to Pwllheli, the trains called at Corwen and Llangollen, then by request from Llandrillo to Dolgelley, reached in 97min and 93min. They then called at all stations to Barmouth.
The 1958 timetable still reflected the postwar era of summer Saturday holiday trains with four limited stop expresses shown in the August timetable, the crack 13.13 carrying through coaches from Paddington to Pwllheli and detaching a restaurant car at Barmouth, 135min from Ruabon, after a single stop at Barmouth Jct.
There was a similar pattern on the Welshpool line with the Cambrian Coast Express departing Paddington at 10.10 then Shrewsbury at 13.23 with five stops to Aberystwyth arriving 17.10, having detached through coaches for Pwllheli which reached Barmouth at 17.53.
The Cambrian had been merged with the Great Western in 1922, prior to the full Grouping, similarly to the Lancashire and Yorkshire/L&NWR arrangement. Euston’s influence on the Cambrian was severed by the administrative alliance with Paddington but ‘The Wessie’ was not entirely vanquished as it reappeared in the guise of the London Midland Region when it was given the Cambrian section of the Western from January 1963. Michael Rowe comments this was “in much the same way and with a similar remit to the Western taking over the Southern lines west of Salisbury”.
Mr Rowe’s notes then turn to the locomotives in use. Table 1 shows the characteristics of the principal classes in use on both the featured routes. The RuabonDolgelley route was ‘uncoloured’ for route availability purposes until 1927 when it was reclassified ‘blue’. ‘Uncoloured’ corresponded with a 14ton maximum axle weight and meant it could not be used by any loco with a specific colour code. Before 1927 locomotives of 3201 and 3301 2-4-0 classes plus the Great Western’s ubiquitous Dean Goods Class 0-6-0s were employed but the change of route availability increased axle weights to 17.6tons, permitting the use of Class 43xx 2-6-0s. In practice this was normally limited to the 15.05 from Ruabon with its Paddington through coaches as far as Barmouth where a lighter Dean Goods or Duke 4-4-0 would take over. ‘Manor’ 4-6-0s were introduced in 1938, one being noted at Barmouth in the summer of 1939.
Gradient
Possibly the single most interesting collection in the RPS electronic archive is the collection of senior railway operations manager G J Aston, who travelled extensively throughout Britain. In 1932 he used the summer Saturday Birkenhead-Pwllheli train, a mere 94 miles by road but 119 by rail (and nowadays some 176) leaving Chester at 12.52. His small Dean Goods loco No. 2462 was by then 37 years old but it worked through to Barmouth, over the gradients described earlier in the article, with nine coaches – probably a holiday gross load of 270 tons. The loco had been fitted with a superheated boiler since 1926. See Table 2. Five years later John Wrottesley journeyed over the route midweek. On the first run he had a Collett 0-6-0 of which 120 were built between 1930 and 1944. Although they were intended to replace elderly Dean Goods they were heavier and classed as yellow route availability so could not work north from Barmouth. The
recorder’s average of 24mph from the restart at Llanuwchllyn to Garneddwen summit suggests a speed in the upper 20s on the 1-in-63 gradient whereas Mr Aston’s trip showed an 18.6mph average after passing Flag Station at 39mph so walking, perhaps jogging, pace at the summit might be surmised. However, the plucky Dean Goods was hauling nine times its own weight if the tender is included in the load figure. See Table 2.
In the Up direction Mr Wrottesley had a 25xx Dean Goods with five bogies grossing 160 tons tackling the stiff climb from Dolgelley at speeds in the low 20s, a determined effort indeed. Mr Rowe quotes maximum unassisted loads in later years as being just 168 tons for Class 22xx and 23xx 0-6-0s and only 252 tons for a Manor or a Class 43xx 2-6-0.
Unfortunately the RPS archive remains unusually silent on pre-Second World War runs west of Welshpool but Table 3 shows two runs recorded by G J Aston from Welshpool to Shrewsbury, one with a Duke 4-4-0 and another with a Dean Goods.
“Before 1927 locomotives of 3201 and 3301 2-4-0 classes plus the Great Western’s ubiquitous Dean Goods Class 0-6-0s were employed...”
Like the Ruabon-Barmouth route the Aberystwyth-Welshpool section was originally ‘uncoloured’ for route availability but in this case it was not upgraded until 1943.
The savage climb to Talerddig was hard with a Cambrian 4-4-0 but more so after their comparatively early withdrawal, especially with the loss of the larger Class 94s, two of which were allocated to Aberystwyth and Oswestry primarily to work the London and Manchester trains. Until the upgrade the route depended on the Dukes and Dean Goods plus the rebuilt 9000 Class crossbred ‘Dukedogs’. The old Cambrian Class 61s were permitted to take five coaches over the bank and the 94s six, although they were seen unassisted with seven on occasions. Dukes, on the other hand were limited to five. Shades of the HSTs being replaced by less capable IETs when in diesel mode? It was 1943 before the Manors were permitted to work into Aberystwyth and 1950 before the 43xx 2-6-0s appeared.
Rough
Gerald Aston returned to mid Wales immediately after nationalisation and two of those logs are shown in Table 4. The run with No. 6321 was noted as being ‘short of steam and very rough’. The holiday train was presumably full as 5½min overtime was incurred at Borth ‘loading luggage’ and time was lost running to Machynlleth where the train departed 6min late. With 10 bogies probably grossing at least 300 tons the 2-6-0 stopped at Llanbrynmair for a ‘blow up’ before tackling Talerddig, to good effect as the loco attained 21mph on the 1-in-52, close to an unsustainable 1050 equivalent draw bar horsepower (edbhp), and took the summit at 15mph.
The second of these runs was performed by Class 43xx No. 5300 with 11 coaches, 324 tons tare, on the 09.30 Aberystwyth-Paddington. The heavy load earned the right to assistance in the form of a Dukedog 4-4-0. These locos had Bulldog frames, Duke cabs and new boilers so even the conflated name did not do full justice to their mongrel nature. After a delay of 7½min at Cemmes Road waiting for a late down train, the two locomotives attacked Talerddig in the opposite fashion to No. 6321.
The 1-in-52 was reached doing 24mph, speed falling to 13½mph in the next mile before rallying to 20mph at MP 62 with a combined edbhp of about 1450.
On a down run in September 1949 Mr Aston had No. 7802 Bradley Manor on a 224 ton tare load gaining 2min on the 17min schedule to Talerddig averaging 38.8mph on gradients themselves averaging 1-in-153. Michael Rowe estimates the edbhp at around 700 plus or minus c. 25.
John Wrottesley continued to visit mid Wales regularly in the late 1950s and early 1960s, recording some interesting locomotive combinations on heavy trains loading up to the 14 vehicles, 450 tons tare such as that handled by Nos. 7823 Hook Norton Manor and 6371 on August 18, 1956. A year later he experienced No. 6378 and Dukedog No. 9013 on 12 bogies equalling 400 tons tare but by August 1961 the motive power position had changed so much that Standard Class 4
No. 75020 and Class 3 2-6-2T No 82033 were produced.
On lighter loads of nine and 10 coaches the train engine was assisted to Talerddig by a Moat Lane 4MT Class 45xx 2-6-2T banker, but on each occasion the combined edbhp of around 725 indicated neither loco was being extended. However, in August 1957 No.7309 was given Standard Class 3MT No. 78003 resulting in around 1050edbhp combined. In comparison No 7823 on 273 tons tare was completely unassisted in August 1962 and managed approximately 675edbhp.
Returning to the Ruabon-Barmouth route, the opening of Butlin’s holiday camp at Pwllheli in 1949 boosted summer Saturday business but the ordinary stopping trains rarely conveyed more than half the eight coach holiday loads given to a Class 43xx or, in later years, Standard Class 4.
The Beeching Plan conducted a traffic survey for week ending April 23, 1961 and it was obvious the route made a significant loss.
Critics will say that summer Saturdays should have been included but perhaps by then the accountants knew the retention of resources for a heavy seasonal peak was unremunerative. That is to say, as much as any railway accountant has ever mastered the joint nature of system costs.
Table 5 contains two runs from the early 1960s over the steeply graded climb from Dolgelley, the first with No. 75009 with eight coaches. Michael Rowe believes this is the 14.35 from Barmouth in August 1963, a conclusion partly derived by the Standard Class 4’s reallocation from Templecombe to Machynlleth and subsequently in March 1963 to Wrexham Croes Newydd.
Severed
Although Mr Moore’s log could be described as sketchy, it shows the 51min schedule from Dolgelley to Bala Jct was covered in 47min 7sec. Indicated speeds of 30mph on the 1-in-91 before Bontnewydd and perhaps 22mph before Wnion represent the maximum that could be expected. The second run represents a sad occasion chronicled by Hugh Gould as London Midland 2MT No 46521 ambled its two coach load into Bala Jct on January 16, 1965, 26min late; the last day of public service. Flood damage the previous year had led to the route being severed and trains being replaced by buses between Bala Jct and Llangollen.
In happier days the 07.20 Pwhelli to Paddington would run the 54 miles from Barmouth to Ruabon inside the 126min schedule, which included an 8min booked water stop at Corwen, using a variety of motive power combinations. For instance on August 27, 1960 two Class 2251 0-6-0s Nos. 2222 and 2214 timed by F Manners left Barmouth 6min behind time and arrived at Ruabon just 1min in arrears hauling nine vehicles of say 300 tons tare, despite spending nearly 17min at Corwen where the train had to draw up so both locomotives could have their thirst slaked. The late Keith Farr referred to the discovery of this log in his P&P 0-6-0 article in RM January 2020, but this article provides the opportunity to print more details. See Table 6.
After running the 9.45miles from Dolgelley to pass the milepost 35 summit at the top of 1-in-58 in 24min 1sec they were due some refreshment, their firemen also. Mr Rowe reckons this was another performance approaching maximum output with an edbhp of approximately 1170 over the last three miles of the climb for which Mr Manners supplied times for all quarter mileposts. Trains were sometimes banked out of Dolgelley but it was more common to take a pilot engine through to Ruabon, partly for operating convenience but also for the 1-in-75 gradient after Llangollen up to Acrefair.
Finally, let us take a nostalgic look back at the halcyon days of steam railways which many remember with a degree of wistfulness that perhaps masked painful economic reality. Table 7 shows a classic run through from Shrewsbury to Machynlleth with the Cambrian Coast Express headed by No. 7812 Erlestoke Manor on eight coaches, plus a van from Newtown, timed by Michael Rowe himself.
The 12 Manors allocated to the area in 1961 were gradually replaced by Standard Class 4 4-6-0s but the remnants of the Great Western class were still in charge of the line’s crack express in the summer of 1965. No. 7812 made no inroads on the 12min arrears leaving Shrewsbury but lost no further time to Aberystwyth The average edbhp over the 7.9miles from passing Caerswys to passing Talerddig amounted to the 675-725 range Michael had come to expect from these capable locos in the hands of their mainly experienced and fundamentally, no matter what region it said on the official stationery, Great Western crews.
Returning from what was a short Easter break Michael was treated to a double helping of Manors with Nos 7828 Odney Manor and 7827 Lydham Manor hauling his eight coach ‘Cambrian Coast Express’ into Shrewsbury 6½min early. The full log is shown in Table 8. The following year, Paul Ritchie had a run with Standard Class 4 4-6-0 No. 75013, with a similar load, on the 08.50 from Barmouth. It seemed the closure of the Dolgelley route had caused congestion via Welshpool as departure was 21½min late. The determined crew had cut this by 10min before a frustrating signal stop on the outskirts of Shrewsbury. Uphill to Westbury the loco had achieved at least 1200 edbhp. Downhill, an adventurous 69mph was clocked.
When tested with Blidworth coal at 30mph and a firing rate of 3000 lb/hr a Standard Class 4 4-6-0 reached 1060 drawbar horse power (not ‘equivalent’) whereas No. 75013 on that August day in the ‘December’ twilight of steam, produced 1020. Mr Ritchie said the exhaust was ‘absolutely shattering’. Admirable as the Manors were, their figure under the same conditions was 900dbhp.
On arrival at Shrewsbury with his Up Cambrian Coast Express on April 24, 1965 Michael Rowe cast a melancholy glance at the retiring Manors as he reflected it might be his last sight of the class. Little did he think that 48 years later, at an autumn gala day at the West Somerset Railway where he is a volunteer, he would travel behind not only these two locos, his ‘Down’ Manor No. 7812 but also the bonus of No. 7822 Foxcote Manor.