Authors: John Hodge
Publisher: Pen and Sword Books
ISBN: 9781399031387
Price: RRP £25.00 (but available at a lower price)
Publication Date: 18th April 2024
Number of pages: 184
Format: Hardcover
How Obtained: Purchased
The Vale of Neath line was misleadingly titled! Running in the actual Vale for only a part of its route, it was in fact one of three strategically important east/west lines linking Swansea with Pontypool.
Originally called the Taff Vale Extension of the Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway, the eastern part of the line was built independently from the Vale of Neath Railway itself . This section from Pontypool Road Junction in the east to Mountain Ash in the west is the subject of Railways and Industry on the Vale of Neath (Taff Vale Extension) by John Hodge. Pen and Sword published the book in April 2024 as part of their South Wales Valleys series. Sadly, during the production of the book, John Hodge passed away and it was completed by his friend and fellow South Wales railway historian Stuart Davies.
Following the familiar structure of previous Pen and Sword volumes by John Hodge, the book opens with an Introductory chapter followed by an overall history and description by Davies. The main part of the book contains an analysis of stations, halts, collieries and other industries on the line, travelling west from Pontypool Road Junction.
The Vale of Neath (Taff Vale Extension)..ambition and extraordinary engineering
The Taff Vale Extension (TVE) was an ambitious undertaking which was opened in stages between 1855 and 1857. Originally part of a plan by the London and North Western Railway to access the mineral wealth of the valleys, the line was stolen from under their noses to become part of the Great Western. The bare facts of the line are astonishing.
Cutting right across the middle of the South Wales valleys, there were around twelve major junctions with other railways while the impressive engineering included significant tunnels and viaducts, not least the legendary ‘iron giant’ which crossed the Ebbw and Kendon valleys at Crumlin. With so many connections servicing busy valley lines it was inevitable that the TVE quickly became heavily congested. Nevertheless, along with the rest of the rail network the line succumbed to the post war development of road transport and was closed in 1964.
Packed with superb photos – but beware the typos!
As with other volumes by the sadly departed John Hodge, this book is packed with photographs. They are all monochrome and largely from the post 1948 British Rail era, though there are some from the GWR grouping era after 1923. Clearly the TVE had a complex genesis and history, where inter-company politics and skullduggery played a part. Stuart Davies handles these historical aspects very well in a readable background section.
Sadly, some of the poor proofreading also evident in earlier Hodge books make an unwelcome reappearance. For example, there appears to be confusion between westbound and eastbound in some of the location analysis. Another instance involves mention of a diagram which does not exist.
In Summary
Packed with photographs, many involving iconic South Wales railway locations, this is a very enjoyable book about an early strategic route of vital importance. Its best to double check the photo captions, however, as major typos can be misleading.
The Good
- An excellent array of photographs from a number of image collections
- Every featured site is well illustrated with photographs, maps and diagrams.
- A high quality feel to the book with hardback covers
The Not So Good
- Background historical and locomotive information is contained in Volume 1, entailing extra expense
- Mistakes and typos in the photograph annotations, some of which are misleading
Outline Contents
- Introduction
- History and Description
- Location Analyses: Pontypool Road to Treharris
About the Authors – John Hodge (and Stuart Davies)
John Hodge was a former railway manager in South Wales during the 1960s, who since retirement in 1992 has produced many articles and books on South Wales railways.
Stuart Davies is a native of the Ogmore Valley and spent much of his formative years observing the operations at Tondu depot and its associated railway environs. This inspired him to pursue a railway career based initially in South Wales, then Carlisle, Bristol, East Anglia and the West Midlands, finally becoming a Senior Operations Executive.
(From Pen and Sword Books)
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