Cambrian Railways

Cambrian Railways owned of track over a large area of mid-Wales. The system was an amalgamation of a number of railways that were incorporated in 1864, 1865 and 1904. The Cambrian connected with two of the larger railways to give connections to the North West of England, via the London and North Western Railway; and with the Great Western Railway for connections between London and North Wales. The Cambrian Railways were absorbed by the Great Western Railway on 1 January 1922 as a result of the Railways Act 1921. The name is continued today in the route known as the Cambrian Line.

The Cambrian Railways system

Constituent railways

The earliest section of the Cambrian was the section from Three Cocks to Talyllyn Junction. This had been opened in 1816 as part of the Hay Railway, a tram-road worked by horses connecting the town of Hay with the Brecknock and Abergavenny Canal at Brecon. The western section was sold to the Brecon and Merthyr Railway; the eastern section became part of the Mid-Wales Railway (see below).

In the following list the dates are: date of incorporation; opening date

• Oswestry and Newtown Railway : 6 June 1855; 1860–61
• Llanidloes and Newtown Railway : 4 August 1853; 1859. Until 1861 this section of the line was isolated
• Newtown and Machynlleth Railway : 27 July 1857; 1863
• Oswestry, Ellesmere and Whitchurch Railway : 1 August 1861; 1863–64
• Aberystwyth and Welsh Coast Railway : 26 July 1861; 1863–69
• Mid-Wales Railway : 1 August 1859; 1......
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