Wye Valley Railway - History

History

The line was inaugurated by an Act of Parliament in 1866, although construction was delayed until 1874 because of national economic circumstances. These events were caused by the collapse of the well known firm Overend and Gurney in 1866 due to many railway companies taking out loans and not paying them back. The business was in a debt of 11 million pounds when it collapsed (equivalent to £828 million in 2003).

The southern part of the line, between Chepstow and Tintern, was particularly complex in engineering terms, requiring a long tunnel of 1188 yards at Tidenham, a stretch along a steep hillside above the River Wye, and a second short tunnel and bridge at Tintern. Evangelical services were organised during the construction of the line at Woodcroft and Tidenham, partly in an attempt to combat drunkenness among the labourers building the railway. North of Tintern the line followed the valley bottom, with a bridge over the river at Penallt. Outside Monmouth, the line used an existing viaduct across the river which had been built in 1861 by engineer Joseph Firbank to carry the Coleford, Monmouth, Usk and Pontypool Railway. On 18 November 1875, during the construction of the line, a landslide occurred near Redbrook, the event was reported in one of the columns in the next days Times, this event led to serious doubts about the railway's future.

The railway was opened on 1 November 1876, from Wye Valley Junction near Chepstow, on the main line between Gloucester and Newport, to Monmouth Troy which was then one of Monmouth's two stations. Here passengers could change for Pontypool (along the Coleford, Monmouth, Usk and Pontypool Railway), Ross-on-Wye (along the Ross and Monmouth Railway) and Coleford (along the Coleford Railway). Trains stopped at the intervening stations on the line, Tidenham, Tintern, Bigsweir (later renamed St Briavels), and Redbrook as well as Chepstow, Tutshill Halt for Beachley and Monmouth Troy which were constructed by different companies. Tintern Station was the largest station after Monmouth Troy Station; it had an island platform in the centre of the station.

The line was intended to serve both tourist traffic and freight, such as those visiting Tintern Abbey, and also the limestone quarries, paper mills and metal works in the Wye Valley. Although constructed by the Wye Valley Railway Company, the line was operated from the outset by the Great Western Railway. It was not financially successful, and in 1905 the Wye Valley Railway Company was bought by the GWR. The Wye Valley Railway had been bankrupt more than once during its short life as an independent company and GWR's purchase of the line may well have been inevitable. The GWR added several halts along the line, at Netherhope Halt (1932), Brockweir Halt (1929), Llandogo (1927), Whitebrook Halt (1927), Penallt Halt (1931), and Wyesham (1931). Penallt Halt and Redbrook Station became the closest stations on the line with only a viaduct over the River Wye separating them.

In the inter-war period, there were about five trains in each direction each day, and popular excursion trains were also run to Tintern, particularly to see the harvest moon through the abbey windows. Redbrook Station became nationally noted for its floral displays. However, after a long decline in revenue associated with the growth of motor traffic, the line closed to passengers in 1959, four years before the national Beeching cuts. The last ever passenger train was a special service run by the Stephenson Locomotive Society. It was hauled by two GWR Pannier Tanks, class 6400. They were numbers 6439 and 6412 (see Today's Remnants). The train ran all the way along the branch from Chepstow to Monmouth, from there it ran along the Ross and Monmouth Railway (which was also closed at the same time), to Ross-on-Wye. The special service was the only known train to make the route in one single journey. The railway closed to general goods traffic between Monmouth and Tintern Quarry on 6th January 1964. Several railtours ran by enthusiasts were held through Tidenham tunnel in the 1970s, one of the last of these in 1978, the Tintern Totter was hauled by a Class 20: D8098. The engine has survived into preservation and is owned by the Type One Locomotive Company. The section to Tintern Quarry closed in 1981, there were three special services to the site of Tidenham Station in the 1980s, then the rest of the line was abandoned when Tidenham Quarry closed in the 1990s.