Llandudno branch line

The Llandudno branch line is a three-mile railway branch to the town from the main line at Llandudno Junction, Wales. It was opened in 1858, and it encouraged the development of the town as a tourist and holiday destination. Due to the popularity of the town, the station facilities at Llandudno station were progressively improved. Deganwy, on the branch line, was for some time a useful port.

For many years, the branch line has been exclusively in use by passenger trains; there is a frequent service with through trains to Manchester Airport and elsewhere. The line is at the northern extremity of the train service between Blaenau Ffestiniog and Llandudno, marketed as the Conwy Valley line.

Origins

The Chester and Holyhead Railway was conceived to carry the Irish mail traffic to Holyhead, from where there was a ferry service. The line opened throughout in 1850.

Llandudno was an important settlement before the conception of the Chester and Holyhead Railway, but it was by-passed by that line, and Llandudno passengers had to use Conway station at first. When plans for the Irish mail traffic were being developed, Ormes Bay, immediately on the east side of Llandudno, was considered as a possible location for a harbour for the ferry.[1]

In fact this development was authorised by the St George's Harbour Act of 20 August 1853. A harbour would be built in Ormes Bay and a railway facing Holyhead would run from it to join the C&HR main line east of the River Conwy. Conway station was to be the junction, but it was realised that the station was too small and the site too cramped. Instead the junction was made facing Chester, and a station was provided at the western extremity of the present-day location. The plan to build a harbour was dropped, Holyhead having established itself by this time.[1][2]

Opening

The Llandudno branch line

The three-mile branch line was opened on 1 October 1858. The London and North Western Railway had absorbed the Chester and Holyhead main line by this time, and the LNWR worked the trains on the Llandudno branch. In the winter of the first few years when traffic was very light, horse traction was adopted.

The Llandudno branch line was leased to the LNWR in 1862, and an intermediate station on the branch was opened at Deganwy in 1866. The Conway Valley Line from Llandudno Junction to Betws-y-Coed opened in 1868.[3] and much of the slate traffic came down by rail, transferring to ships at Deganwy.[1]

The line was vested in the LNWR by Act of 28 July 1873, and the track was doubled and general improvements were made. The layout at Llandudno Junction was altered so as to allow through running to and from the main line.[4]The tourist and leisure traffic continued to increase and additional excursion platforms were installed at Llandudno in 1885.

The wharf at Deganwy was further extended in 1882, as it was taking considerable volumes of slate from the Conway Valley. That line reached Blaenau Ffestiniog in 1887 and huge volumes of slate and timber traffic were handled from 1885. Some of the slate came down from Blaenau Festiniog in narrow gauge wagons, carried on standard gauge runners.[1][5] Although the arrangement worked, it was not a commercial success because most of the slate was destined for southern markets via Portmadoc, and the LNWR route was not competitive.[6]

Llandudno station improvements

At Easter 1892 Llandudno station was further extended, now having five platforms.

Llandudno Junction station on the main line had long been awkward, and extension on the Conway Valley line prompted improvement there too. The entry of the Conway line to the junction was relocated to the east and a new Llandudno Junction station was opened on 1 November 1897, better accommodating Llandudno branch trains in addition.[1][4]

In the summer season, traffic was very busy, and to ease the problem of stabling and servicing passenger stock, the wharf sidings at Deganwy were used for the purpose. Locomotive servicing facilities were provided there.[4]

Train service

In 1895 there were thirteen passenger trains each way on weekdays on the branch. There is no indication in Bradshaw that any of the trains were through to destinations off the branch itself.[7]

By 1910 the index in Bradshaw shows a large number of distant destinations; there were 31 departures from Llandudno, of which eight were "motor trains". Several trains apparently[note 1] run through to Rhyl.[8]

In July 1922 there were 32 departures from Llandudno with some additional non-daily services. A few passed Llandudno Junction without calling.[9]

Later years

Deganwy goods yard closed on 7 September 1964.[10]

After 1978 two of the five platforms were taken out, as were the carriage sidings near Maesddu bridge.

In the summer of 2000 Class 37 locomotives regularly hauled a passenger train from Manchester to Llandudno, returning later. By this time all local trains services were dealt with by multiple unit trains, so a shunter travelled by road from Holyhead to uncouple and recouple the locomotive for the run-round movement.[4]

Present day

The branch continues in use at present (2019) with passenger services from Llandudno to Llandudno Junction. There are 27 departures Monday to Friday. Some journeys continue to Manchester Airport, or Cardiff. Five of the journeys continue to Blaenau Ffestiniog, under a subsidised arrangement, using the marketing branding The Conwy Valley Line.[11][12]

Station list

• Llandudno; opened 1 October 1858; moved to new location 1 July 1903; still open;
• Deganway; opened April 1868; renamed Deganwy 1882; still open;
• Llandudno Junction; opened 1 October 1858; relocated 1 November 1897; still open.[13]

Notes

1. Bradshaw did not show whether journeys were by through train.

References

1. Peter E Baughan, A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: volume 11: North and Mid Wales, David St John Thomas, 1991, Nairn, ISBN 0946537 59 3, pages 27 to 29
2. Donald J Grant, Directory of the Railway Companies of Great Britain, Matador Publishers, Kibworth Beauchamp, 2017, ISBN 9781788037686 pages 482 and 483
3. Baughan, page 118
4. Bill Rear, From Chester to Holyhead: the Branch Lines, Oxford Publishing Company, Hersham, 2003, ISBN 0 86093 569 8, pages 117 to 123
5. Baughan, page 129
6. Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith, Bala to Llandudno, Middleton Press, Midhurst, 2010, ISBN 978 1 906008 87 1, caption to plate XXXII
7. Bradshaw's Rail Times for Great Britain and Ireland: December 1895, reprint, Middleton Press, Midhurst, 2018, ISBN 978 1 908174 11 6
8. Bradshaw's April 1910 Railway Guide, David & Charles, Newton Abbot, 1968, ISBN 0 7153 4246 0
9. Bradshaw's July 1922 Railway Guide, Guild Publishing, 1985
10. Mitchell and Smith, caption to plate 112
11. The Conwy Valley Line on the Gwynedd Council website at https://www.gwynedd.llyw.cymru/en/Residents/Parking-roads-and-travel/Train-timetables.aspx
12. National Rail Electronic Timetable, table 81
13. Michael Quick, Railway Passenger Stations in England, Scotland and Wales: A Chronology, the Railway and Canal Historical Society, Richmond, Surrey, 2002