Ruabon railway branch lines

Short branches were extended into the area west of Ruabon and for some time formed a dense local network.

The mineral deposits, chiefly coal, iron and limestone, in the area immediately west of Ruabon led to an important, but localised, industry there in the eighteenth century.

As the volume of production increased, the inadequacy of road transport facilities became more significant, and this led to the construction of the Ellesmere Canal; it opened to Trevor on 26 November 1805, crossing the River Dee by the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct.

[3] It ran from the canal at Pontcysyllte to Acrefair village, serving Plas Kynaston quarries, colliery and iron works, and brickworks, on the way.

A little after the Grouping of 1923 (following the Railways Act 1921, when lime traffic was growing—a contractor was charging 4s od to handle each wagon each way between the Works and the Junction.

[7] At first simply a short single track branch line, it was later extended to reach Barmouth, and became an important secondary through route.

Worked at this later period with traffic to and from Delph Brickworks, about two miles from the Shrewsbury and Chester line as part of the GWR, it was formally acquired by them from the LNWR in about 1896.

[note 2] In 1896 the GWR purchased the Pontcysyllte line; this was to forestall a feared incursion by the Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway.

A quarter-mile section between the station and Trefynant brickworks had been constructed by the owners, J. C. Edwards, and the GWR worked over it by agreement, for goods traffic only.

[13][14] The Great Western Railway made several efforts to operate worthwhile passenger services, but buses and the Wrexham-Rhos electric street tramway developed as stiff competition.

[16] Retrenchment in World War I resulted in the railmotor halts closing, on 22 March 1915,[14] as well as severance of the Ponkey to Legacy connection, on 18 January 1917.

Later a short siding was laid at the Legacy end to provide access from the Rhos branch to a substation of the North Wales Power Company.