With an original name of Thomastown, it was mainly built by William James Thomas,[2] a co-owner of the Bedwas Navigation Colliery Company,[3] (also of mines in Aberdare in the Cynon Valley).

It was named after the brook that ran nearby and coloured red with rust from the old drift mine that was situated at Glyn Gwyn - now redeveloped as Addison Way leading up to Graig-Y-Rhacca.

In January 2021, despite local opposition to the plans, permission was granted by Caerphilly Country Borough Council to demolish the now derelict building and replace it with flats.

Nature has since engulfed the two platforms of the old station, and most of what remains of the former trackbed between Trethomas and Machen has been updated by Sustrans as a cyclepath/walkway which joins Route 4 of the National Cycle Network at Graig-Y-Rhacca.

Today notable residents include Jeff Whitefoot (Bedwas, Cardiff and Wales Lions rugby player), Councillor Elizabeth Aldworth who became the Lady Mayor of Caerphilly County Borough Council in 2006 and local legend Rachel Ball.

Since 1979, a representative sample of adult males born between 1918 and 1938, living in Caerphilly and the surrounding villages of Abertridwr, Bedwas, Machen, Senghenydd and Trethomas, have participated in the study.