When did the Taff Vale Junction Railway get made?
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In time the Canal became overwhelmed by the volume of traffic, and encouraged by the successful opening of railways with more advanced technology than the horse tramways of previous years, the Taff Vale Railway was promoted. It was authorised by Parliament in 1836 and it opened between Merthyr and Cardiff docks in 1841. The line passed close to the Maesmawr workings but did not make a connection.
Llantrisant and Taff Vale Junction Railway
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The Barry Railway went on to promote a direct Cardiff, Penarth and Barry Junction Railway, which would run direct and also have a roundabout line following the coast. The Taff Vale opposed this and promoted its own alternative lines. Parliament decided on a compromise, in which the Barry Railway could build the direct line from a junction with the Taff Vale and Cogan, and the Taff Vale would build the coastal route, from Penarth Town, joining the Barry Railway at Biglis Junction, near Cadoxton. The Taff Vale scheme was authorised by the Cardiff, Penarth and Barry Junction Railway Act of 6 August 1885. The line was ready and opened on 1 December 1887, but the junction connection at Biglis was not made at first; for the sake of diplomacy it had to wait until the Cogan connection of the Barry line was ready, and they both opened on 20 December 1888. Taff Vale passenger trains ran through to Biglis Junction station of the Barry Railway from August 1889. (The station was renamed Cadoxton on 1 June 1890). The Cardiff, Penarth and Barry Junction Railway became vested in the Taff Vale Railway by Act of 26 August 1889.
Taff Vale Railway
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The Taff Vale set about obtaining Parliamentary authorisation in 1885 to acquire the Bute Docks, but this was refused by the Lords Committee when the Taff Vale would not agree to running powers requested by the Barry Railway northward from the Trehafod and Treforest connections. The Taff Vale also supported a nominally independent Cardiff, Penarth and Barry Junction Railway which would be a spoiler to the Barry company's development plans at Barry itself, but this was refused, the Barry being granted a corresponding railway from Barry to a junction at Cogan with the Taff Vale's Penarth lines, by Act of 31 July 1885. The Taff Vale was granted a circuitous coastal route from Penarth to Cadoxton.
Barry Railway Company
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The Taff Vale Railway saw this as a threat and promoted the nominally independent "Llantrisant and Taff Vale Junction Railway", which obtained its Act of incorporation on 7 June 1861. It was to build from the Taff Vale main line near Treforest to make a junction with the Ely Valley Railway at Maesaraul, near Llantrisant. The line opened in December 1863 for freight traffic. A passenger service was operated from Pontypridd to Llantrisant from 21 January 1875.
The nominally independent Cowbridge Railway was authorised on 29 July 1862, to build from the Great Western Railway (former South Wales Railway) station at Llantrisant to Cowbridge. This was another Taff Vale dependency as it failed to generate the necessary subscriptions to build the line itself. The line opened in February 1865. The GWR line was broad gauge, and the branch to Cowbridge was accessed from the Llantrisant and Taff Vale Junction Railway. Trains from Pontypridd ran over the final section of the Ely Valley Railway and across the South Wales Main Line to the Cowbridge Railway terminus, where they had to reverse to continue.
Taff Vale Railway
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The Bute Docks Company was created on 1 June 1887 when the Bute Docks properties were vested in the new company. In 1897 it succeeded in getting authorisation to build a railway, which became the Cardiff Railway, to build from Heath on the Rhymney Railway to Treforest on the Taff Vale Railway, and a southward line from Heath to the docks at Roath. It took until 1911 to construct he line from Heath as far as a point close to the Taff Vale line at Treforest, but the Taff Vale succeeded in fending off the incursion. In fact the connection was never made, and the Cardiff Railway never achieved its potential.
Taff Vale Railway
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The Llantrisant and Taff Vale Junction Railway was a railway company that constructed a standard gauge line in South Wales, connecting Llantrisant and the Taff Vale Railway near Treforest. It ran through thinly populated country, and linked to a number of iron mines, collieries and other mineral sites. It opened in stages in 1863 and 1864. In 1865 through passenger trains from the Cowbridge Railway ran over the line, to Pontypridd, although for some time there were no passenger stations on its own network. At the Llantrisant end, it was reliant on broad gauge railway companies which were not always friendly to it. The company leased its line to the Taff Vale Railway in 1870.
Llantrisant and Taff Vale Junction Railway
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On 30 January 1902 the Board was informed that the construction to Tongwynlais was substantially completed, and at this time the company put details of its proposed junction with the Taff Vale Railway at Treforest to that company for approval.
The terrain at the point chosen by the Cardiff Railway for its junction with the Taff Vale was extremely awkward. The Taff Vale Railway run down the west bank of the River Taff and was closely hemmed in by the hills to the west. Immediately to the east was the River Taff and the Glamorganshire Canal, and then the Pontypridd, Caerphilly and Newport Railway, and then more hills.
Cardiff Railway
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The residents of Cowbridge had long yearned for a railway connection, and on 29 July 1862 the Cowbridge Railway was authorised. The Taff Vale Railway was to contribute £10,000 to the subscription list. The Cowbridge Railway was to cross the South Wales Railway main line and come north as far as Maesaraul junction, joining the Llantrisant and Taff Vale Junction Railway there. However it became obvious that the Cowbridge company was going to have serious trouble securing the capital it needed, and a compromise was reached. It would build its line between Cowbridge and Llantrisant only, and the Great Western Railway would mix the gauge on the section of the Ely Valley line between Llantrisant and Maesaraul Junction. This would enable the Cowbridge narrow (standard) gauge trains to run through to Pontypridd over the L&TVJR and the Taff Vale Railway.
Llantrisant and Taff Vale Junction Railway
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These were that the Taff Vale Railway would agree running powers (except for passenger trains) between Cogan and Walnut Tree Junction over the Penarth and Radyr lines. At Walnut Tree the Rhymney Railway had a junction with the Taff Vale Railway, in fact giving access to the Rhymney's original main line there. Moreover, running powers would be granted for all classes of train from Cogan to Penarth Curve South Junction, where connection was made with the Great Western Railway main line. From this point the GWR had its Riverside Branch, opened in 1884, running down the east side of the River Taff into an important industrial area; both the Barry and the Taff Vale were given running powers over this line, which was to be made suitable by the GWR for passenger operation.
Barry Railway Company
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Thomas Powell had extensive colliery interests in Monmouthshire and Glamorganshire, and he needed to get a transport link to pits he owned at Llantwit Fardre. Failing to generate interest elsewhere, he determined to build a railway himself to the Glamorganshire Canal at Maesmawr from Llantwit Fardre. This was known as the Dihewyd Railway or the Llantwit Fardre Railway. It was completed by 28 December 1843 and a connection to the Taff Vale Railway was opened on 25 April 1844, when a train of Powell's coal was taken to Cardiff. His line climbed out of Maesmawr on a 297-yard self-acting incline at a gradient of 1 in 6.6. The line was later extended to Ystradbarwig colliery.
Llantrisant and Taff Vale Junction Railway