The Llantrisant and Taff Vale Junction Railway (L&TVJR) was a railway company that constructed a standard gauge line in South Wales, connecting Llantrisant and the Taff Vale Railway near Treforest. It ran through thinly populated country, and linked to a number of iron mines, collieries and other mineral sites. It opened in stages in 1863 and 1864. In 1865 through passenger trains from the Cowbridge Railway ran over the line, to Pontypridd, although for some time there were no passenger stations on its own network. At the Llantrisant end, it was reliant on broad gauge railway companies which were not always friendly to it. The company leased its line to the Taff Vale Railway in 1870.
In 1866 it seemed likely that coal from the Ogmore Valley would be conveyed on a new line across the area, and powers were obtained to build the line, but the opportunity passed and when the line was finally built, in 1886, but its potential traffic had almost vanished.
The Treferig Railway opened its line in 1883 branching off the to serve mineral sites in Nant Mychydd. Also short of money, it leased its line to the Taff Vale Railway in 1884.
In 1952 the passenger traffic on the line was discontinued, and as the mineral activity in the area declined, so did the use of the line. It closed completely in 1987.
Before the railway The iron industries of Dowlais and Merthyr needed transport systems to take their products to market, and to bring raw materials to them. At first the raw materials were found locally, and brought in on the backs of animals, and later by primitive mineral tramroads. The conveyance of their output away mostly involved getting it to Cardiff for coastal shipping, and at first this was done by animal power too.
The Glamorganshire Canal was opened in stages between 1792 and 1794, and its authorising act of Parliament, the Glamorganshire Canal Act 1790 (30 Geo. 3. c. 82), included a general permission to build tramroads as feeders from mines within four miles of the canal: the so-called "four-mile clause",The canal's authorising act of Parliament included clauses permitting the construction of tramroads from pits with four miles of the canal, to connect to the canal itself. No further legislation was required and landowners were not permitted to obstruct the construction over their land, provided compensation was paid. which did much to foster mineral working in the area.
There was workable coal south of Treforest and by 1810 a tramroad had been made from the canal at Pont Maesmawr to Maesbach. From Pont Maesmawr it ran east, immediately crossing the River Taff by a floating bridge, that is, a ferry, at the ford just below Upper Boat. The pit had mixed fortunes but by 1842 it had enlarged considerably, employing 157 persons.
Taff Vale Railway
In time the canal became overwhelmed by the volume of traffic, and encouraged by the successful opening of railways with more advanced technology than the horse tramways of previous years, the Taff Vale Railway was promoted. It was authorised by Parliament in 1836 and it opened between Merthyr and Cardiff docks in 1841. The line passed close to the Maesmawr workings but did not make a connection.
Powell's tramroad Thomas Powell had extensive colliery interests in Monmouthshire and Glamorganshire, and he needed to get a transport link to pits he owned at Llantwit Fardre. Failing to generate interest elsewhere, he determined to build a railway himself to the Glamorganshire Canal at Maesmawr from Llantwit Fardre. This was known as the Dihewyd Railway or the Llantwit Fardre Railway. It was completed by 28 December 1843 and a connection to the Taff Vale Railway was opened on 25 April 1844, when a train of Powell's coal was taken to Cardiff. His line climbed out of Maesmawr on a 297-yard self-acting incline at a gradient of 1 in 6.6. The line was later extended to Ystradbarwig colliery.
Broad gauge railways A trunk railway came to the area when the South Wales Railway opened between Chepstow and Swansea on 18 June 1850; it was a broad gauge line allied to the Great Western Railway. A Llantrisant station was opened on the line, although it was located nearly two miles from the town. The town of Cowbridge, which had been on the route of a mail coach for many years, felt the disadvantage of being by-passed keenly, and there was much discussion of how a branch line railway might be built; these talks were not fruitful for some years, however.
On the north side of the South Wales Railway route matters were more successful, for the Ely Valley Railway was incorporated by the Ely Valley Railway Act 1857 (20 & 21 Vict. c. xli). This railway was primarily intended to reach the mineral districts close to Llantrisant, with branches to Glanmychydd (or Castellau), and Gellyrhaidd, near Hendreforgan. In 1858 further authority was obtained to build a branch to Mwyndy and Broviskin (Brofiscin). These were broad gauge lines, allied to the South Wales Railway, but this proved to be a considerable disadvantage, frustrating easy access to Cardiff Docks and the ironworks of Merthyr and Dowlais.
The Ely Tidal Harbour and Railway had been incorporated in 1856, and the following year it changed its name to the Penarth Harbour Dock and Railway, on getting authority to construct a dock at Penarth. It was constructing a railway from the Taff Vale Railway at Radyr;The passenger station was not opened until 1883. the intention was to provide an alternative to Cardiff Docks and the railways approaching them, which were exceedingly congested. The railway part of this was complete on 18 July 1859, although the dock construction took considerably longer. In January 1859 the Penarth company, seeing a commercial opportunity, approached the Ely Valley Railway proposing a physical connection between their lines, enabling Ely Valley production to be shipped at Penarth. Under this scheme, the Ely Valley Railway Company would convert its gauge to narrow (standard) gauge.
The Ely Valley Railway Company found favour in the proposals; the cheapest way to make the physical connection would be over the South Wales Railway main line between Llantrisant and a point immediately west of Cardiff station, joining the Penarth line there. The talks seemed to be progressing well, but were abandoned by the Ely Valley company abruptly, and shortly afterwards the Great Western Railway (not the South Wales Railway) leased the Ely Valley line, in order to secure access to its locomotive coal colliery at Gyfeillon. Daniel Gooch wrote:
The lease was effective from 1 January 1861. On 2 August 1860 the Ely Valley Railway had opened its main line from Llantrisant to Penrhiwfer.
The Llantrisant and Taff Vale Junction Railway
The issue of conveyance of the iron ore of the district to market remained unresolved, and on 12 September 1860, a Merthyr solicitor named W. Simons approached the Taff Vale Railway (TVR) board. He said that he had acquired the Llantwit Vardre tramroad for £9,000, and was prepared to make that the core of a new railway from Llantrisant to the Taff Vale line. He wanted a premium for his trouble, and to be appointed solicitor to the scheme. The general superintendent, George Fisher, was instructed to investigate the matter; he found that the idea was plausible, although not all of the Llantwit Vardre line was required, and a new junction with the north of the tramroad junction would need to be made, avoiding the steep incline. The cost of the line would be £30,000.
If a new company, the Llantrissant and Taff Vale Junction Railway,This was the spelling at the time. were authorised, the would contribute £10,000 to the share issue. Mwyndy to Merthyr would be 19 miles, one-third of the route via Neath currently in use,Broad gauge traffic reached Merthyr over the South Wales Railway to Neath and then the Vale of Neath Railway. and easy access to Penarth Docks would be available. In fact Simons' title to the Llantwit Vardre Tramroad turned out to be defective, but the scheme went ahead anyway. The capital requirement was increased to £40,000 now that acquisition of some of the land was more difficult. One third of the sum would be subscribed by the ; and Simons was invited to sever his connection with the .
In November 1860 plans were deposited for the parliamentary bill. The main line would run from a junction somewhat to the north of the Llantwit Vardre connection to the near Treforest, with a line closely paralleling the tramroad connection alongside the incline also available as an alternative. The main line ran to a junction with the Ely Valley Railway near Cross Inn; the junction was to become Maesaraul Junction. There were also a Mine Works Branch to the Bute iron ore mine, and the Llantrisant Common Branch to pits there.
Powell was still the apparent owner of the Llantwit Vardre Railway, and although he opposed the bill in Parliament, afterwards he offered to sell the line to the , and this was agreed. In committee, the Mine Works Branch was removed from the powers, and use of the Ely Valley Railway's Mwyndy branch was inserted, with running powers for the and of course mixed gauge installed. At this stage there were no running powers into Llantrisant station: these were added through negotiation concerning the Cowbridge Railway, on the south side of the South Wales Main Line, by agreement dated 9 January 1864.
The Llantrissant and Taff Vale Junction Railway was incorporated by the (24 & 25 Vict. c. li) of 7 June 1861; it was to acquire the Llantwit Vardre Railway; capital was set at £40,000, and the company could arrange for the Taff Vale Railway to work its line.
Opening On 17 September 1863 the line was opened between Llantrisant Junction (near Treforest) and the Llantwit collieries.From Chapman; Barrie says all the original lines opened December 1863. By 29 January 1864 the line was extended to a new colliery to the west of Llantwit, and on to Llantwit Dynevor Colliery and Cross Inn, just short of Maesaraul Junction. The provision of mixed gauge on the Mwyndy branch was much delayed by the , only being ready on 5 December 1864, from which date the majority of the iron ore traffic was able to take the new route.
Cowbridge Railway
The residents of Cowbridge had long yearned for a railway connection, and on 29 July 1862 the Cowbridge Railway was authorised. The Taff Vale Railway was to contribute £10,000 to the subscription list. The Cowbridge Railway was to cross the South Wales Railway main line and come north as far as Maesaraul junction, joining the Llantrisant and Taff Vale Junction Railway there. However it became obvious that the Cowbridge company was going to have serious trouble securing the capital it needed, and a compromise was reached. It would build its line between Cowbridge and Llantrisant only, and the Great Western Railway would mix the gauge on the section of the Ely Valley line between Llantrisant and Maesaraul Junction. This would enable the Cowbridge narrow (standard) gauge trains to run through to Pontypridd over the and the Taff Vale Railway.
The approval of the Board of Trade inspecting officer was required to open the line for passenger traffic, and there were a succession of shortcomings in the arrangements at Maesaraul and on the Cowbridge Railway. Nevertheless, by 16 January 1865 a Taff Vale engine was run through from Pontypridd to Cowbridge and a revenue-earning mineral train ran through on 30 January 1865. The Llantrisant and Taff Vale Junction Railway was passed for passenger traffic on 29 August 1865.
There was now a through passenger service between Cowbridge and Pontypridd, but there was no station on the line, causing criticism. Succumbing to the pressure, the Company opened a station at Llantwit Fardre, ready by January 1867. Cross Inn station followed on 6 September 1869, this being intended to be the station for Llantrisant. (The South Wales Railway station was some distance away.)