The Rhymney Railway: Volume 1, The Main Line from Cardiff – Retro Review

At its height in 1908 the Rhymney Railway carried a staggering 9 million tons of coal. On a system amounting to a total of just 62 miles with a further 22 miles jointly owned. Significantly, the Rhymney’s main line is largely still in use today.

This book is Volume 1 of John Hutton’s two part portrait of the railway, dealing with the main line from Cardiff to Rhymney. It was published in 2004 by Silver Link Books in their Nostalgia Collection Series. The book is now out of print but second hand copies are readily available at reasonable prices.

From Rhymney to Cardiff…..starting at the top!

Following a very readable account of the history of the Rhymney, Hutton presents a portrait of the main line moving north from Cardiff to Rhymney. A short chapter presents photographs and brief comments of a selection of staff from senior officers right down to junior workers. Three major civil engineering works including viaducts and the Caerphilly Tunnel receive particular focus. The core of the book, however, is an extensive route profile travelling north from Cardiff Parade Station up to Rhymney.

Three sections feature locomotives, rolling stock and the prestigious Caerphilly Locomotive Works. A final chapter gathers together an ad hoc collection of subjects including signalling and accidents. The book is generously illustrated by maps and photographs, some of which date back to the nineteenth century.

Cutting edge locomotives and a superb maintenance works

As evidenced in the Locomotive section of Hutton’s book, the Rhymney was a pioneer of 0-6-2 tank locomotives This design eventually came to dominate South Wales valleys motive power. This was largely due to the foresight of the legendary Cornelius Lundie who was appointed Traffic Superintendent in 1862 and Locomotive Engineer in 1884. Moreover, Lundie was responsible for turning Caerphilly Locomotive Works into a premier maintenance and repair facility. Incredibly, as the author points out, in 1901 all bar three of the company’s original locomotives were still in service!

Rather than a definitive history of the railway, Hutton present an image based portrait of the line at various times in its existence. In this the book succeeds very well, presenting a range of photos from the 1890s to the 1980s. The pictures are closely integrated with a series of maps from a range of sources including the Ordnance Survey starting from the 1870s.

In Summary

A wide range of photographs dating back to the 19^th Century provide an enchanting glimpse of a line at the heart of South Wales valleys railway history. Maps ably support the photographs on route chapters which allows the reader to easily place the images in geographical context. Highly recommended.

Outline Contents

• History of the Rhymney Railway
• The main line, Cardiff to Rhymney
  
  Cardiff
  Caerphilly
  Ystrad Mynach
  Bargoed
  Rhymney
  
• Railwaymen
• Tunnels, bridges and viaducts
  
  Caerphilly Tunnel
  Bargoed Viaduct
  Quakers Yard viaducts
  
• Caerphilly Locomotive Works
• Rhymney Railway locomotives
• Rolling-stock
• Miscellanea
  Signals
  Notice
  Accidents

Related reviews

The Rhymney Railway by R.W. Kidner
Caerphilly Works by Eric R. Mountford