Hereford, Hay and Brecon Railway

There was then a long-running dispute over whether the Midland inherited rights of access previously granted to the HH&BR.

As a rural line it failed to achieve commercial success and in 1962 the passenger service was withdrawn, followed by total closure in 1964.

Down to the end of the eighteenth century, the district around Hay-on-Wye (then simply referred to as Hay) relied for transport of goods, on the River Wye itself.

It was a plateway tramroad, to be worked by horses, and having L-section plates as the track on which plain wagon wheels could run; the gauge was 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) John Hodgkinson designed the route: in fact he proposed two alternatives, one of 26 miles without a tunnel, which would cost £50,375, and one of 24 miles with a tunnel, which would cost £52,744.

In August 1854 the Leominster, Hay and Brecon Railway was promoted, but it proved impossible to raise money for the scheme and it was dropped.

[5] The end-on junction with the Mid-Wales Railway was 29 chains north of Three Cocks Junction station; the reason for this is that it was originally intended by the Mid-Wales to build a north curve, making a triangle at Three Cocks; the boundary between the two companies would have been at the north-east apex of the triangle.

[5] This was obviously unsatisfactory and on 3 July 1860 the company was authorised by the Hereford, Hay and Brecon Railway (Deviation) Act 1860 (23 & 24 Vict.

However the Inspecting Officer of the Board of Trade declined to sanction the use of the contractor's connection for passengers, condemning it as "dangerous and almost impossible to work".

A junction could be formed that did not directly cross the GWR (former NA&HR) line, but ran to the back (west side) of Barton station without making conflicting moves.

An agreement was finalised on 24 August 1864, although many details were to be agreed later; nevertheless the first HH&BR train ran into Barton station on 1 October 1864.

The agreement stipulated that the facilities granted to the HH&BR might be transferred to the Brecon and Merthyr Railway if required.

While these matters were in Parliament, the GWR, the London and North Western Railway (also interested in the Hereford Loop) and the HH&BR agreed that the LNWR and the GWR would construct a south curve, the Brecon Curve, near Barrs Court Junction, enabling through running from the Barton direction to Barrs Court without reversal.

In 1865 the HH&BR decided to proceed with the amalgamation with the Brecon and Merthyr Railway, and this took effect from 25 August 1865, authorised by an act of Parliament[which?]

With Savin's financial collapse, the Brecon and Merthyr worked the line during the amalgamated period and up to 30 September 1868.

The reasons are not definitively apparent, but the B&MR's extreme financial difficulty, no doubt known to the larger companies, must have played a part.

[note 3] By then the financial slump in the country had resulted in the combined company having been unable to meet debenture interest, so that the HH&BR resumed its independent existence in the hands of a receiver.

passed on 26 August 1869 authorised the Widemarsh Loop (again), an extension of the station at Moorfields, which looked as if it was going to be permanent, and some financial reconstruction,[2] and running powers to Brecon.

However these powers did not extend to the Midland Railway, and for the time being the GWR continued to block access to that company's trains.

The HH&BR refused the claim, and the matter went to Bristol Assizes in August 1870, where at length the GWR was granted the sum of £1,255.

The Midland continued to clash in court battles with the GWR over the claimed right to run their trains into Barton, and eventually they won.

[5] The Midland Railway Company took a full lease of the line by an Act of 30 July 1874 and finally absorbed the HH&BR in 1876.

[6] Finally the Brecon Curve was opened from 2 January 1893, and HH&BR (Midland) trains started to use Barrs Court.

[2][4] Purely local passenger and goods business in a rural area was susceptible to road competition, and indeed income had always been weak.