Wrexham and Ellesmere Railway
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The Wrexham and Ellesmere Railway was a railway line that ran from Wrexham in North Wales, to Ellesmere in Shropshire, England. It was a constituent part of the Cambrian Railways.
Background: Cambrian Railways=
Proposed to be formed from the amalgamation of a series of local regional railway companies,[1] as a result the new company called Cambrian Railways (CR) proposed to base its headquarters in Oswestry. On completion, the station would complete the mainline for the London and North Western Railway, from Whitchurch on the Crewe and Shrewsbury Railway, to Welshpool in Mid-Wales.[2]
The first connection to Oswestry was made from the south by the Oswestry and Newtown Railway, which operated its first train on 1 May 1860.[1] After a legal tussle between the two competing companies, LNWR and Great Western Railway, Parliament authorised building the CR/LNWR sponsored Oswestry, Ellesmere and Whitchurch Railway to Whitchurch in August 1861, driven by the need to regenerate Ellesmere. However, the proposed route was heavily fought over by land owners, with the eventual tracks running via Fenn's Moss, requiring additional civil engineering, support and drainage to overcome the local bog conditions. On the 25 July 1864 the CR was formally created, allowing the first CR train to the run from Whitchurch into Oswestry two days later on 27 July 1864.[1] A year later the coast lines joined the CR too. On grouping in 1923, Cambrian Railways became part of the Great Western Railway.
History
The LNWR wished to make further connections with the CR, and hence proposed an extension of the existing joint Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway (WMCQ) from Wrexham Central to meet the new CR line at Ellesmere.
The WMCQ had opened between Wrexham General and Buckley (old station) on 1 May 1866.[3] A southern extension to a station better situated for the centre of Wrexham was authorised on 18 August 1882;[4] work did not begin until January 1887, and it was opened on 1 November the same year.[5] Wrexham Central was a large station, with a marshalling yard and goods depot accompanying it. The station clock was provided and maintained free of charge by a local watchmaker named Pierce.[5]
Built jointly by the WMCQ and the CR, the Wrexham and Ellesmere Railway was built as a branchline, opened on 2 November 1895. It was operated totally by the CR.[5]
Closure
Having been a constituent part of the GWR, in 1963 the former CR lines were to be passed to London Midland Region of British Railways. It was hence decided as part of the Beeching cuts to close the old CR mainline to Shrewsbury, but as a pre-cursor to transfer the decision was made to close the W&ER on 10 September 1962.[6]
Present
In light of the closure of the W&ER, Wrexham Central almost closed as well, apart from the fact that the town was undergoing substantial growth. Kept open but substantially rebuilt, today most of its former site and workings have been rebuilt under a Tesco supermarket.
While Ellesmere still stands, now coverted to offices, the rest of the W&ER has been removed, the land repatriated to its original farms.
References
- Dow, George (1965). Great Central, Volume Three: Fay Sets the Pace, 1900-1922. Shepperton: Ian Allan. p. 49. ISBN 0 7110 0263 0.
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Notes
- ^ a b c "Oswestry". disused-stations.org.uk. Retrieved 2012-02-05.
- ^ "Oswestry Railway". BBC Shropshire. Retrieved 2012-02-05.
- ^ Dow, George (1965). Great Central, Volume Three: Fay Sets the Pace, 1900-1922. Shepperton: Ian Allan. p. 49. ISBN 0 7110 0263 0.
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- ^ a b c Dow 1965, p. 65 harvnb error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFDow1965 (help)
- ^ Kidner, R.W. (1992) [1954]. The Cambrian Railways. The Oakwood Library of Railway History (2nd ed.). Headington: Oakwood Press. p. 178. ISBN 0 85361 439 3. OL55.
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External links
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