Manchester and Milford Railway

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Remnants of the line at the former Llangurig train station

The Manchester and Milford Railway was a British railway company based in Cardiganshire and Carmarthenshire in Wales .

history

The Manchester and Milford Railway was established on July 23, 1860. Equity was £ 550,000 in £ 10 stocks.

The company planned a continuous rail link between Manchester and Milford Haven . A new 84 km long railway line between Llanidloes and Pencader was to be built. On the Manchester – Llanidloes and Pencader – Milford Haven routes, the trains were to receive route usage rights.

During the exploration and staking out of the routes in 1861 in the area of ​​Llanidloes there were differences with the Mid-Wales Railway over the location of the routes of the two companies. Eventually they agreed with the Llanidloes and Newtown Railway on a common station in Llanidloes.

Construction was under the direction of HH Fulton and began at both ends of the line. The Llanidloes to Llangurig section, completed in 1863 , never officially went into service as the cost of sharing the Llanidloes and Newtown Railway to reach the shared Llanidloes station far exceeded the revenue. Nevertheless, the company was forced to pay the pro rata costs at Llanidloes station.

In the further course it was planned to lead the route via Pant Mawr , a tunnel to Pontarfynach , via Ysbyty Ystwyth and on to Tregaron . However, this plan to overcome the Cambrian Mountains was too complex, so that later a route through the valley of the Nant Troedyregair was considered, but never carried out.

At the other end of the line, the sections from Pencader to Lampeter and on September 1 to Strata Florida were opened on January 1, 1866 . The section from Strada Florida to Aberystwyth , licensed in 1865, began operating on August 12, 1867.

The bankruptcy of the financing bank Overend, Gurney and Company also had an impact on society. The building contractor David Davies felt compelled to finance the prefabricated construction himself.

Because of the low volume of transport and the unpaid share of the costs for the Llanidloes train station, the company ran into financial problems and had to appoint an administrator on July 23, 1875. The Great Western Railway leased the line on July 1, 1906, and the company was finally taken over on June 2, 1911.

literature

  • Christopher Awdry: Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies . Stephens, Wellingborough 1990, ISBN 1-85260-049-7 .
  • John S. Holden: Manchester and Milford Railway . Oakwood Press, 1979, ISBN 0-85361-244-7 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Times. May 23, 1864, p. 7