Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway

The Wrexham, Mold and Connah’s Quay Railway at opening

The Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway (WM&CQR) was incorporated in 1862 to build a line from Wrexham to Buckley, continuing to the main line over the Buckley Railway, which it later took over. The Buckley Railway had opened to convey minerals from Buckley where numerous short tramroads existed to a connection with the Chester to Holyhead main line in 1862. The line was steeply graded and sharply curved. WM&CQR plans to extend were thwarted by its inability to raise finance. Short branches to mineral workings around Brymbo were opened.

The WM&CQR was allied with the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (later the Great Central Railway) which provided the finance to cross the River Dee and connect to Chester and its system over the Cheshire Lines Committee tracks.

The WM&CQR was dependent on mineral traffic, and when it declined so did the railway; but the main line from Wrexham to Hawarden Bridge (and on to Bidston) remains open to passenger traffic.

Buckley Railway

Flintshire, on the south bank of the River Dee near Buckley, had considerable deposits of coal, iron and other minerals. As they were close to the surface, they were extracted from an early date. The proximity of the river for transport to market assisted in the prosperity of the workings. Wagonways were built to take the minerals to the river; the earliest were wooden wagonways, and in later years plateways were constructed. The tramroads were mostly short and independent of other nearby lines.

Deposits of good quality clay around Buckley had been dug since about 1750 and the coming of the railway age facilitated the transport of bricks which were in great demand. The owners of the tramroads failed to modernise them and limited the transport opportunities for new works. This prompted the formation of the Buckley Railway to connect claypits and other sites around Buckley to wharves on the River Dee, and have a direct connection to the Chester and Holyhead Railway, which was allied to the London and North Western Railway. The Buckley Railway began, although probably not as an incorporated company, as a 2ft 6in gauge horse tramway. Its authorising Act of Parliament was granted on 14 June 1860. The line was steeply graded and sharply curved.

The line opened on 7 June 1862, and was worked by the WM&CQR from 1863. In 1866 the Buckley Railway secured Parliamentary powers to operate passenger trains, but they were only used for occasional excursion trains to Rhyl..

Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway

Several prospective companies were formed to transport coal, and the battle for authorisation in Parliament was reduced to a GWR-supported scheme, and the Whitchurch, Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway, promoted by Benjamin Piercy. The significance of Whitchurch was a connection to the London and North Western Railway.

After debate in Parliament, the WWM&CQR act was passed, but reduced to the area from Wrexham northwards. It received Royal assent on 7 August 1862, and recognising the reduction in geographical extent, its title was the Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway. It was authorised to purchase the Buckley Railway and run from Wrexham broadly northwards through Caergwrle, crossing the Mold Railway (where south-to-west and north-to-west curves were authorised) to Hope, where it joined the Buckley Railway. The WM&CQR main line was nine miles long, with a ruling gradient of 1 in 70.

The line opened for goods and mineral traffic on 1 January 1866; stations were built at Wrexham, Gwersyllt, Cefn-y-Bedd, Caergwrle, Hope Junction (later renamed Penyffordd), and Buckley. The south-to-west curve at Hope was in the course of construction, even though running powers to Mold had been refused in Parliament. The authorised north-to-west curve there was never completed.

After improvements required by the Board of Trade inspector, including platforms on passing loops, the line opened for passengers on 1 May 1866. Three passenger trains ran each way daily, with a connecting bus from Hope to Mold. Mold was a significant market centre, and the WM&CQR negotiated with the LNWR (owner of the Mold Railway) to erect an exchange station on each line at the point of intersection. The facilities were basic, and there was no access from public roads to the stations. They were known as Hope Exchange, and opened in 1867. The Mold bus service was discontinued. In the second half of the decade, the WM&CQR attempted to obtain Parliamentary powers for extensions, into the Wirral. Some short connections and the line to Whitchurch were approved but the WM&CQR was unable to raise the capital to build it. By Act of Parliament of 5 August 1873 the WM&CQR leased the Buckley Railway, which it had been working almost from the outset.

Extending the network

The Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway in 1890

The WM&CQR directors believed that the commercial success of the line lay in expanding the network particularly across the River Dee to Birkenhead. On 18 August 1882 powers were granted for part of the scheme, the Hawarden Loop, a double track railway to the Dee east of the Buckley Railway, to Shotton and a Deeside wharf. The powers allowed crossing the Dee to a new dock on the north shore. The proposed name change to the North Wales Railways and Docks Company was never put into effect. A short extension eastward from Wrexham station into the centre of the town was also authorised.

The Wrexham extension opened on 1 November 1887; the station was named Wrexham Central and the former terminus renamed Wrexham Exchange. (The GWR station alongside was operated independently. The branch was doubled in 1888.

Hawarden loop

Buckley Junction Station

On 31 March 1890 the "Buckley Loop" or "Hawarden Loop" was opened by the WMCQR. It by-passed the Buckley Railway line on a gentler gradient and gentler curvature. It deviated from the original line near Buckley, and arched to the east, reaching Connah’s Quay along the riverside.

Brymbo branch

Hawarden Bridge and railway station

The four-mile Brymbo branch line opened from a triangular junction near Gwersyllt, to Moss & Pentre in 1882, to Plas Power, where it connected to the Wrexham and Minera line in June 1864, and to Brymbo in 1887. Passenger operation started on 1 August 1889 and halts were opened in 1905 and 1906. A half-mile branch back Brymbo to Vron colliery opened on 8 October 1888.

Dee Crossing

Wrexham Central railway station

Despite friendly relations with the London and North Western Railway, the WM&CQR turned to the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway for help from 1884. The Dee Crossing was authorised, but unaffordable for the WM&CQR, and the MS&LR agreed to build from Hawarden (on the south side of the Dee) into Chester. The Chester and Connah's Quay Railway was authorised on 31 July 1885. It ran from the end of the Hawarden loop to the Cheshire Lines Committee network at Chester. The MS&LR was a participant in the CLC giving the company access from the WM&CQR lines to its own network further east.

Hawarden Bridge was inaugurated on 3 August 1889, and the line from Chester to Connah's Quay over the bridge was opened on 31 March 1890. A Chester to Wrexham passenger service of three trains a day was started, worked by the MS&LR.

Wrexham and Ellesmere Railway

The Wrexham and Ellesmere Railway had been conceived as a possible link in a chain of railways bringing South Wales minerals to the Wirral Peninsula. The plan never took off, but the line was opened in 1895.

Into the Wirral

At one stage a joint GWR and MS&LR railway to Birkenhead had been proposed, but nothing came of that. Instead the MS&LR and the WM&CQR built the line from Hawarden to Bidston, on the Wirral Railway. The line was titled the North Wales and Liverpool Railway. The WM&CQR could hardly afford the outlay for the 14 mile line, but it opened for goods trains on 16 March 1896. Passenger services followed on 18 May 1896, worked by the WM&CQR but using hired MS&LR locomotives.

Brymbo branches

The GWR and WM&CQR, (and its successor the Great Central) fought for traffic at Vron colliery, high in the hills about a mile from Brymbo. The GWR was first there, opening its branch in 1847. The WM&CQR constructing a short branch, opened in 1888, with a single platform passenger station. The WM&CQR and GWR routes crossed at Plas Power.

This was one of the few branches on which the Great Central ran steam railmotors, but they did not provide the traffic hoped for and the service was withdrawn in 1917. The WM & CQ branch closed for good in 1970, but not before several modifications. In 1954 a new connection was put in with the GWR branch at Plas Power and the link to Brymbo Works was re-opened to goods. It closed in 1958, only to enjoy a revival between 1965-70. The connection had allowed the lifting of the section from Plas Power to Brymbo Junction of the WM&CQR.

Receivership

In 1897 the WM&CQR went into receivership, brought about by financial manipulation by the MS&LR. The MS&LR had acquired a controlling interest in the WM&CQR after Piercy's death in 1889, when it acquired his shares. The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway reorganised itself into the Great Central Railway in 1897, and in 1901 it acquired the WM&CQR as well as the Buckley Railway and the North Wales and Liverpool Railway. The acquisition was authorised by Act of 22 July 1904, effective on 1 January 1905.

Grouping and nationalisation

In 1923 the main line railways of Great Britain were "grouped" by Act of Parliament. The Great Central Railway was a constituent of the new London and North Eastern Railway and the WM&CQR lines and the Buckley Railway lines transferred to LNER ownership. The WM&CQR Vron branch became the most westerly branch of the LNER. The pit closed in 1930. In 1948 the railways were nationalised and British Railways became the new owner.

Closures

The WM&CQR network was heavily dependent on mineral workings, and as those declined so inevitably did the success of the railway operation. On 1 March 1917 the GCR passenger service to Brymbo from Gwersyllt was closed. The northern part of the Buckley Railway closed in 1959 and the entirety of the original system in 1965, except for the extremity of the Brymbo branch, which continued until 1970, served from the former GWR line and a new connecting spur. The Bidston line from Wrexham, and the Wrexham Central line, continues in use at present (2019).

Colliery branches operated as follows: From Ffrwyd Junction: Ffrwyd colliery 1866 – 1930; Ffosygo Colliery 1869 – 1912; Brynmally Colliery 1867 – 1935; Westminster Colliery 1884 – 1925.

From Brymbo Junctions: North Curve 1882 – 1966; South Curve 1884 – 1925; Gatewen Colliery 1882 – 1991; Plas Power goods: 1884 – 1956; From Brymbo: Vron Colliery 1888 – 1970.

Locomotives

This is not a complete list:

• No.1 Wheatley, 0-6-0ST, ex-Buckley Railway, built by Hudswell Clarke in 1861
• No.2 Kenyon, 0-6-0ST, ex-Buckley Railway, built by Hudswell Clarke in 1862
• No.3 Chancellor, 0-6-0, ex-St. Helens Railway no.11 Tyne, builder unknown
• No.4 Lord Richard, 0-6-0T, built by Hudswell Clarke in 1863, rebuilt as 0-4-2T in 1889
• No.5 Sir Stephen, 0-6-0T, built by Hudswell Clarke in 1863
• No.6 Queen, ex-London and North Western Railway, built as 0-6-0 by Sharp, Roberts and Company 1846, rebuilt as 0-6-0ST at Crewe 1858, purchased by WM&CQR 1872, rebuilt as 0-8-0ST 1880, rebuilt as 0-6-2ST 1888, rebuilt as 0-8-0ST 1903
• No.7 (later No.3), ex-South Staffordshire Railway, built as 0-6-0 by Robert Stephenson and Company 1851, rebuilt at Crewe as 0-6-0ST, purchased by WM&CQR 1874, rebuilt as 0-6-2 in 1882, rebuilt as 2-6-0T in 1899
• No.7 Duke, 0-4-0ST, built by Hudswell Clarke in 1878
• No.8 Premier, 0-6-0ST, built by Hudswell Clarke in 1880
• No.9 Dee, 0-4-0ST, ex-Thomas Butlin & Co, Wellingborough, built by Hudswell Clarke in 1871, purchased by WM&CQR 1881
• No.10 Emily, ex-Broughton Coal Co., built by Beyer Peacock 1882
• No.11 0-4-0ST, built by Hudswell Clarke in 1885
• No.12 0-6-2T, built by Beyer Peacock 1885
• No.13 0-6-2T, built by Beyer Peacock 1885
• No.14 0-4-0T, ex-Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway, built by Dodds 1854, rebuilt as 0-4-2T 1860, purchased by WM&CQR 1887
• No.15 0-6-2ST, built by Beyer Peacock 1888
• No.16 0-6-2ST, built by Beyer Peacock 1888
• Nos.17-26 0-6-2T, built by Beyer Peacock 1896-98 (actually owned by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, but carried WM&CQR numbers and livery to enable them to exercise running powers over the Wirral Railway.)

Location list

Buckley Railway

Wrexham, Mold & Connah's Quay Railway
Connah's Quay Dock and Goods River Dee Borderlands line Connah's Quay Shotton North Wales Coast Line Mold Railway Mold Hawarden Llong Buckley old and new stations Padeswood and Buckley Castle Cement Penyffordd Sidings Hope Exchange High and low level Mold Railway Coed Talon Llanfynydd Penyffordd Ffrith Hope River Cegidog River Alyn Wrexham and Minera Railway Caergwrle Brymbo WMCQR │ WMR Cefn-y-Bedd The Lodge Halt Cegidog Viaduct over River Cegidog Plas Power WMCQR │ WMR Brynmally Colliery Limit of passenger services on Moss Valley Branch Gwersyllt Station and Colliery Moss Halt Shrewsbury–Chester line Brymbo Steelworks Wheatsheaf Branch New Broughton Road Halt Gwersyllt Hill Halt Moss and Pentre Pentre Broughton Halt Highfield Road Halt Gwersyllt Junction Gatewen Halt Rhosddu Halt Wrexham Exchange Wrexham General now merged with Wrexham General Croes Newydd Wrexham Central new and old stations Shrewsbury–Chester line Wrexham & Ellesmere Rly

Closed from Connah’s Quay to Northop in 1962; from Northop to Buckley Junction closed in 1965; the curve to the Holyhead line at Connah's Quay closed in 1954. The Mountain Colliery branch was opened from 1892 to 1965. The Dumpling Colliery branch was open from 1896 to 1902.

WM&CQR Original line

• Buckley; opened 1 May 1866; closed 31 March 1890; reopened June 1893; closed February 1895.
• Buckley Junction; opened 31 March 1890; renamed Buckley 1974; still open.
• Hope Passenger Exchange; opened 18 November 1867; later Hope Exchange; renamed Hope 1953.
• Hope curve connecting towards Mold closed in 1984. The Mold Railway closed to passengers in 1962 and to goods traffic in 1970. From 1970 to 1984 a tinplate works west of Mold was served from Wrexham over the Hope Curve.
• Hope Junction; opened 1 May 1866; renamed Penyffordd 1877; still open.
• Caergwrle; opened 1 May 1866; renamed Hope Village 1899; renamed Hope 1974; still open.
• Bridge End; opened 1 March 1873; later renemaed Caergwrle; still open.
• Cefn-y-Bedd; opened 1 May 1866; still open.
• Ffrwd Junction.
• Gwersyllt; opened 1 May 1866; sometimes Gwersyllt & Wheatsheaf; still open.
• Brymbo North Junction.
• Brymbo South Junction.
• Rhosddu; opened July 1906; closed 1 March 1917, but workmen's usage until 1923 or later.
• Wrexham Exchange; opened 1 May 1866; amalgamated with adjacent Wrexham General station under that name 1 June 1981; still open.
• Wrexham Central; opened 1 November 1887; still open; the Wrexham and Ellesmere Railway beyond here was open from 1895 to 1962, but a stub as far as Abenbury was retained until 1981 serving a brickworks there.

Hawarden loop

• (Shotton end-on junction with MS&LR)
• Connah's Quay and Shotton; opened 1 October 1891; renamed Shotton High Level 1953; renamed Shotton 23 August 1972.
• Hawarden; opened 31 March 1890; still open.
• Buckley Junction; above.

Brymbo branch

• Brymbo; opened 1 August 1889; closed 1 March 1917.
• Plas Power; opened 1 August 1889; closed 1 March 1917.
• New Broughton Road; opened May 1905; closed 1 March 1917.
• Moss & Pentre; opened 1 August 1905; closed 1 March 1917.
• Highfield Road Halt; opened May 1905; closed 1 March 1917.
• Brymbo West Junction.
• Brymbo North Junction.

Gradients

The Buckley Railway was on a falling gradient towards the River Dee almost all the way; 1 in 40 and 1 in 33 were the dominant gradients. The profile of the post 1890 WM&CQR route shows a climb at 1 in 80 from Gwersyllt to Ffrwyd Juntion, then falling at 1 in 86. After some undeulations there is a climb at 1 in 84 from Caergwrle to a summit at Buckey Junction, then falling continuously at 1 in 53 to Connah’s Quay. The Brymbo branch fell from the terminus toward the main line at 1 in 35, 1 in 44. The colliery branches all fell from the colliery to their respective junctions at gradients as steep as 1 in 27.

External links

• Wrexham to Bidston line