The Story behind the model
It is 1936. Situated on the west coast of Wales is the fictitious small port of Porth Tywyn. It is the county town of the equally fictitious and very small county of Glyndwr. To the north is the county of Cardigan and to the south is the county of Pembroke. Glyndwr is little more than fifteen miles from east to west, and ten miles from north to south. Never mind how Glyndwr came to exist, nor how such a small county continues to survive: you’re reading this in English and the only reasons ever given are entirely in Welsh.
Glyndwr is a very rural county, almost entirely Welsh speaking, with little industry apart from the odd small woollen mill. The railway age had entirely passed it by until around 1905, when local landowners had decided that some form of railway was needed to connect to a new branch of the standard gauge railway, which was then being proposed to Porth Tywyn from Cardigan. Their idea was that a railway would act as a general carrier from the coast along the valley of the Afon Islwyn to Mynydd Islwyn, a very small town some fifteen miles to the east on the borders of Glyndwr with Carmarthenshire.
Since three quarters of the population of Glyndwr lived in the valley of the Islwyn, the railway’s route was easy to pick, but surveying revealed that the costs of a standard gauge line would be prohibitive. So, a gauge similar to that of the Talyllyn and Corris railways to the north was selected. The necessary legal formalities were undertaken and, in 1905/1906, the line was built almost entirely upon land donated for the purpose by landowners. It was known as the Rheilffordd Glyndwr (The Glyndwr Railway).
Regular passenger services were established and the railway carried a considerable amount of general goods. However, against the expectations of the line’s promoters, it was never very profitable and, for most years, just about broke even. By1936, the railway is in a state of some decline as road traffic begins to eat into its trade. The outbreak of war will see it in real difficulties – but that is still some three or four years into the future.
The summer of 1936, as in all summers, has seen a rise in passenger traffic as holiday makers travel along the line to take in the scenery, and to visit some famous waterfalls near the terminus at Mynydd Islwyn. Goods trains run in each direction twice a day and cater for the needs of the communities along the line.
The model is of the station imagined to serve the village of Cwmfelinfach (Valley of the Little Mill). It is situated just outside the village in a confined site cut into the side of a hill, which necessitates sizeable retaining walls. A short branch line was built to connect with Ynysddu, just under a mile away. This somewhat larger village was the more obvious choice of route up the valley, but it proved too difficult for the “main line” to reach it without extensive and expensive earthworks. So, the railway decided to by-pass it in favour of Cwmfelinfach, and to link it to Cwmfelinfach with a branch line. The branch line is served entirely by a battery driven railcar which connects with steam hauled passenger trains along the main route.
The layout is owned by Hugh Williams, who is a member of Stafford Railway Circle, and can be contacted via cwmfelinfach@staffordrailwaycircle.org.uk.
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Sutton Coldfield - 25 and 26 April 2009
