Vale of Neath Railway
When the narrow (standard) gauge Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway (NA&HR) made moves to link to the area, with its Taff Vale Extension line, the Vale of Neath Railway saw that there was potential in connecting up; it laid a third rail to make mixed gauge.
The main line of the VoNR was always busy in GWR days, mineral traffic being intensive and difficult because of steep gradients and inadequate infrastructure.
Even then the canal did not immediately serve the originating point of mineral products, and some short tramways were built to make the connection.
Indeed, coal from Aberdare was hauled uphill by horse power in the Cynon Valley to cross to Glynneath for the canal.
This was a purely local railway, connecting the iron-producing town of Merthyr to Cardiff Docks; it was constructed on the standard gauge; it opened in stages from 1840.
On 21 May 1845 he put his ideas to the provisional directors of the South Wales Railway, although they had not yet secured their own authorising act of Parliament.
It was started the following year, but exceptional difficulties in the tunnelling led to two successive contractors failing, and the company decided to make Aberdare the interim objective, recognising now that Merthyr would not be reached for some time.
In the meantime it had become plain that a colliery at Gadlys was expanding considerably, but access to that required the VoNR line to cross the Aberdare Railway route on the level.
There were stations at Neath, jointly with the South Wales Railway, Aberdulais, Resolven, Glynneath, Hirwaun, Merthyr Road, and Aberdare.
Passenger traffic was immediately buoyant, but at first wharves at Briton Ferry were not ready to receive coal trains; the company had been relying on these.
A short extension to the Bwllfa Colliery (part of the Merthyr Dare group) at the end of the branch was reached by June 1857.
The Cwmaman colliery branch was opened in November 1856[note 1] This was reached by continuing on from Dare Junction and curving round the east side of Rhos-gwawr.
After that time the profit and the dividend declined continuously, due to high costs of infrastructure upgrades, and also to congestion at Swansea docks.
The rise of Aberdare as a source of high-quality coal was an obvious attraction, and the NA&HR started to talk to the Vale of Neath Railway about linking up.
In fact in 1857 the NA&HR obtained Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway (Branches) Act 1857 (20 & 21 Vict.
[4] The VoNR decided on an unsatisfactory compromise; they would convert most of their network to mixed gauge, and they would assist in the promotion of a Swansea and Neath Railway, a mixed-gauge line.
For the second time the VoNR reacted defensively and at its own expense laid the third standard-gauge rail on their system, starting the work early in 1863.
When completed this offered the West Midland Railway a standard-gauge link over the VoNR from Middle Duffryn to Swansea.
The VoNR directors negotiated skilfully, being aware that considerable capital expenditure on their own line would be necessary in the near future, depressing dividend distributions, and playing on GWR fears of LNWR incursion.
These changes were part of a wider initiative by the Great Western Railway in which all main line broad gauge operation in South Wales was converted in May 1872.
The Sirhowy Railway, the property of the LNWR, was used to divert mineral trains for the eastern and southern parts of the GWR away from Pontypool.
On 29 November 1865 a coal train ran over the location of the drawbridge when it was open for shipping, and there was a serious accident; the two men on the footplate perished.
[5] Passenger traffic was switched away from Wind Street in 1873, running over the South Wales Main Line from Neath to Swansea High Street, the GWR's main station, and from that time passenger trains did not run on the VoNR (former S&NR) line between Neath and Swansea.
During the period when VoNR trains were running to Swansea High Street over the SWR main line, they reversed at Neath General station.
There were four signal stations in close succession, and each was required to give "line clear" having ascertained that the drawbridges and other hazards were in the correct position.
The passenger and coal traffic usually ceases about half past 8 o'clock p.m. and is resumed about 4 a.m."[5] There were a number of timber viaducts on the line from the beginning.
The River Neath viaduct at the southern end of the line was 810 feet (250 m) in length; it was replaced in 1875 partly by embankment.
[7]The dominant theme of the Vale of Neath Railway was the transport of large quantities of Aberdare coal to London, and towards Southampton and Liverpool (for bunkering ships).
From 1896 the GWR built more powerful tender engines for the traffic, but the first 4-6-0s were unsuccessful, and it was not until the "Aberdare" 2-6-0s were introduced that the trains had reliably better locomotives.
The Royal Ordnance Factory at Hirwaun was a particular centre of this activity, thirteen trains each way being operated, mostly reversing at Rhigos carriage sidings.
