Llangollen Railway Station 1888.
A LITTLE known fact concerning the 54 mile-long railway which once ran between Ruabon and Barmouth, is that it was constructed by no fewer than five different railway companies, four of which amazingly, owned no locomotives or rolling stock of their own with which to operate the railway. Various proposals dating from as early as 1847 were proposed for a railway through the Dee valley, but it was not until 1st August 1859 that Royal Assent was given to the plans for the five mile long Vale of Llangollen Railway to be built to connect the town of Llangollen with the Great Western Railway – owned Shrewsbury to Chester main line at Ruabon.
Construction work commenced shortly afterwards, and under the supervision of well known railway builders Henry Robertson and Thomas Brassey, a single line railway with provision for double track, if required at a later date was built, along with a station at Llangollen and intermediate stations at Acrefair and Trevor. The line was subsequently opened to freight traffic on 1st December 1861 and to passengers on 2nd June 1862. Whilst the Vale of Llangollen Railway was under construction, plans were also drawn up for an extension beyond Llangollen and, on 6th August 1860, the Llangollen and Corwen Railway Co; the second of the five companies involved in the building of the line and whose board of directors included among others both Henry Robertson and Thomas Brassey, was incorporated.
Source: Tom Farrell Collection; CQ Magazine.
