Mid Wales Railway

This is a reprint of 2003 edition of the same title. The book commences with a gloriously, mainly empty of railways, map of Wales in 1854 ‘waiting to be filled in’. The Mid-Wales line was from Talyllyn Junction in the north to Penpontbren Junction in the south, with a few miles run jointly with another company. The railway was born in a short period of Welsh railway mania. The ten chapters follow the usual pattern, starting with origins and construction, ending with Nationalisation and then closure. Initially independent, the Mid-Wales was amalgamated with the Cambrian Railway in 1904 after 16 years of the latter company working the line. There was little money available from either company for investment, and WWI didn’t help, and the Great Western absorbed them in the post-war Grouping. Besides chapters on the line’s history from early days to closure, there is the usual The Route Described and a chapter on locomotives and carriages. The book is well illustrated with maps, diagrams and many photographs.