Wye Valley Railway - Route and Stations

Route and Stations

The branch started at Chepstow station on the west side of the River Wye. It followed the route of the South Wales Railway (now Gloucester to Newport Line) over the River Wye on the Chepstow Railway Bridge to Tutshill Halt a small request stop serving the village of Tutshill. The WVR left the main line at the Wye Valley Junction and headed up on an embankment to Tidenham, the first station on the line. It was also the first station on the line to be closed, temporarily to release staff during World War I; it was then re-opened in 1918. Tidenham station remained open until the closure of the line to passenger services in 1959, by which time it had been demoted to a halt.

Just outside the south portal of Tidenham tunnel was Netherhope Halt this was the last halt to be constructed on the line before it was closed to passenger services in 1959. The line then headed into Tidenham tunnel (1190 yards) - the twenty-first longest tunnel on the Great Western Railway at its time. The line ran along the east side of the Wye, passing Tintern Quarry. It then went through the smaller Tintern tunnel, (182 yards) and crossed back to the west bank of the River Wye before coming to Tintern Station.

Tintern was the largest station on the line. This was because the Wye Valley Railway Company hoped to generate much income via the tourists visiting the famous Tintern Abbey. The line came to Brockweir Halt, followed by Llandogo Halt which was the smallest stop on the whole railway. The railway followed the course of the west bank of the River Wye to St Briavels Station which was named Bigsweir station upon opening and renamed St Briavels & Llandogo in 1909 and then simply St Briavels from 1927 in anticipation of the opening of Llandogo Halt.

Journeying along the line the train would come to Whitebrook Halt, then Penallt Halt. Penallt Viaduct carried the railway over the River Wye again and onto the east side of the river before reaching Redbrook on Wye Station. This station won numerous prizes for its flower displays and became renown throughout the valley. Wyesham Halt was the last stop before Monmouth Troy. The section between Wyesham and Monmouth involved crossing the Wye one last time by a large viaduct that was built by the Coleford, Monmouth, Usk and Pontypool Railway in 1857 as part of their plans to expand into the Forest of Dean and to Coleford. Monmouth Troy Station was also constructed by the Coleford, Monmouth, Usk and Pontypool Railway.

Monmouth Troy was on the west bank of the river and consisted of two platforms, a typical GWR footbridge, station building, separate cafe building and a large goods yard. It was here that the Wye Valley Railway met the Ross and Monmouth Railway and Coleford, Monmouth, Usk and Pontypool Railway

All of the original stations on the line, Tidenham, Tintern, St Briavels and Redbrook had some kind of loop for trains to pass each other. Tintern, St Briavels and Redbrook stations were the only stations apart from Monmouth Troy and Chepstow to have facilities for unloading freight trains.