Lampeter, Aberayron and New Quay Light Railway

It connected Aberayron (later spelt Aberaeron) to the former Manchester and Milford Railway line at Lampeter; New Quay was never reached.

It opened in 1911 and was loss-making from the outset; it was worked, and to some extent funded, by the Great Western Railway, and absorbed by that company in 1922.

During the construction phase it became obvious that the company's limited financial resources would not permit the intended north-eastward line to Llanidloes, where it had planned to connect with routes northward.

With debt on interest mounting up, the M&MR leased its line for 999 years to the Great Western Railway in 1905 and sold the company to the GWR in 1911.

[1][page needed] In 1885 a further scheme was put forward, this time for a narrow gauge line from Llandyssil to New Quay; J W Szlumper, engineer to the Pembroke and Tenby Railway, conducted a survey, but this too came to nothing.

[note 1] Although tourism was beginning to be a commercial factor, this was no tourist line, and its primary purpose was to convey lead ore and timber from the hinterland at Devil's Bridge to the coast for onward transport.

This was no idle thinking, for on 13 August 1898 the directors of the Vale of Rheidol obtained a Light Railway Order for the extension.

However raising the capital proved to be impossible, and nothing could be done towards the extension, even though Cardiganshire County Council, anxious to develop the area, had offered an £18,000 grant.

By mid-1904 the means of incorporating New Quay into the line was under consideration; the branch would have diverged near the site of the later Crossways Halt at the modern hamlet of Neuaddlwyd adjacent to the A482 main road.

a station in the middle of the village was planned followed by a short tunnel to emerge between the present-day Llanina Arms pub and garden centre.

This road built has embankments, retaining walls, gentle curves and gradual gradients which are all railway-like in their construction.

This was discussed with the County Council, in the interests of securing a grant from them; the 7+1⁄4 mile New Quay branch added £63,000 to the cost estimates.

[5][page needed] The ruling gradient was 1 in 41 and there was a passing place on the single line at Ystrad (later Felin Fach).

[7][page needed] The profit made by the line was insignificant, and was in fact insufficient to pay the interest due to the GWR and the banks, and the Directors paid with their own money.

[1][page needed] The charges made by the GWR were evidently a running sore; in February 1914 it was reported: The directors state that during the year the negotiations with the Great Western Railway have been continued, and several matters in dispute have been settled.

The Lampeter, Aberayron and New Quay Light Railway was required to be absorbed by the GWR, and as the ordinary shareholders had never received a dividend they did not expect anything from the process.

[1][page needed] In 1951 a new creamery was opened at Green Grove, near Felin Fach, by the Milk Marketing Board.

After closure of the line to passengers in 1951 and later freight in 1963, Green Grove siding continued to be used with the track lifted beyond this to Aberayron.

Several railtours composed of DMUs ran to Green Grove, although by this time the branch was significantly overgrown with vegetation, making traction in parts difficult.

It then descended further into the valley of the River Aeron to enter the only principal station and intermediate passing loop on the line at Felinfach.

Beyond here the line stayed in the base of the valley on generally level ground, passing the milk creamery at Green Grove and continuing to the halt at Ciliau Aeron.

Beyond this bridge was a single platform and station building on the north side of the track that was joined later in the branch's life by three GWR prefabricated concrete storage sheds.

A short distance northwards is the remains of a brick platform for Silian Halt visible adjacent to a former level crossing of the A485 road at Glan Denys.

Access to this yard is unusual in that it uses the still-intact double-track iron railway bridge over the River Aeron which has been paved.

The office building was extended to its rear during 2003, several GWR prefabricated concrete sheds and brick platform loading dock had still been in existence until that time.

Because the line ran in the base of both the River Dulas and the River Aeron valleys, there were very few bridges, but those that do still exist are concrete bridges located east under an unclassified dead-end road from Talsarn Halt, and west from Talsarn Halt - across a small stream (visible from the A482 road) located a quarter-mile east of Felinfach Primary School.