Abergavenny Brecon Road railway station

The first section of the Merthyr, Tredegar and Abergavenny Railway from Abergavenny to Brynmawr was opened on 29 September 1862.[2] The line was leased and operated by the London and North Western Railway (L&NWR) which acquired the smaller railway company on 30 June 1866.[3][4] The L&NWR was itself amalgamated into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) in the 1923 Grouping.[5]

Abergavenny (Brecon Road) opened on 1 October 1862.[6][7] After the ceremonial first train as far as Govilon on 29 September, public services commenced on the first day of the L&NWR's lease of the line.[8]

The station was situated on a steep descent from Govilon, with the line carried on an embankment rising to the hillside south-west of Abergavenny and reaching a gradient of 1 in 34.[9][10] It was located north-west of the centre of Abergavenny which had a population of c. 9000 during the line's lifetime.[11] Two platforms were provided,[12] with an additional excursion platform on the Up line to the west of the road bridge carrying the line over the Brecon Road.[13] At the east end of the Down platform was a loading dock.[14]

Brecon Road was the location of locomotive sheds, a goods shed and yard, as well as the shed for the District Engineer's coach and engine.[15] The yard had two operational parts: the coal yard, also known as the lower yard,[16] where there were railway barracks used as sleeping accommodation for train crews,[15] and the upper yard with storage and stabling sidings.[17]

Stables, a weighing machine and a pumphouse stood opposite the gasworks on the Down side of the line.[15] The pump, which drew its supply from the River Usk, was powered by steam until c. 1928 from which time electricity was used.[15] A private house was provided near the station as offices for the District Traffic Superintendent until more spacious facilities were built at Brecon in 1867.[15] The building was extended in 1890 as traffic increased.[15] Two signal boxes, No. 1 and No. 2, controlled respectively the upper yard and lower yards as well as engines coming on and off shed.[15][17] No. 1 was in operation from February 1900 and July 1964 when use of the upper yard ceased.[17] No. 2 box, which was adjacent to the stone three-arched bridge carrying Union Road over the line, marked the point from which the line was truncated westwards in 1958.[18] A private siding served the gasworks from c. 1870 to July 1960,[19] while another siding was provided for the Union Workhouse from 1872 to 1951.[18]

Once it began working the Merthyr line in 1862, the L&NWR found the facilities for servicing locomotives at Abergavenny Junction unsatisfactory and set about providing proper arrangements at Brecon Road station.[20] The site chosen was 300 yards (270 m) from the gasworks on the Up side of the line.[15] By the end of 1867 works were underway on two buildings adjacent to one another: one of eight roads (182 ft × 105 ft (55 m × 32 m)) and one of four roads (165 ft × 80 ft (50 m × 24 m)).[20] In the south-west corner of the site was a 42 feet (13 m) turntable which by 1899 was later relocated nearer the road bridge crossing the neck of the yard and extended to handle ROD 2-8-0s.[15][20] The turntable lasted until 1953.[21] The shed buildings were extended by Webb in 1896 who enclosed the vacant area to the rear of the four-road building to extend the roads to 290 feet (88 m) in length.[20] Brecon Road shed was used by the Great Western Railway, notably for banking engines working from Abergavenny Monmouth Road to Llanvihangel.[20]

Designated L&NWR shed no. 31 under the charge of a District Locomotive Superintendent, the allocation was around 40 locomotives.[20] In 1919, 37 L&NWR Coal Tanks were allocated here and were frequently used on light passenger trains[22] and, in 1947, nine L&NWR 380 Class designed for the hill-climbing required by the route were allocated.[23] Little modernisation was carried out by the LMS which coded the shed 4D in 1935 and it became part of British Railways on nationalisation in a practically unchanged state.[24] Recoded 86K by the Western Region in 1950,[21] as use declined, the roofing from all but two of the shorter roads was removed.[24] At this time, 16 L&NWR 0-8-0s were allocated here, although this was to change when the withdrawal of freight facilities between Abergavenny and Merthyr left the shed as little more than a stabling point.[24] This took official effect from 22 November 1954 and final closure of the shed came on 4 January 1958.[24][21]

Decline in local industry and the costs of working the line between Abergavenny and Merthyr led to the cessation of passenger services on 4 January 1958.[25][9] The last public service over the line was an SLS railtour on 5 January 1958 hauled by LNWR 0-8-0 49121 and L&NWR Coal Tank No. 58926.[25][26] Official closure came on 6 January.[6][7][27] The line between Brecon Road goods yard and Abergavenny Junction remained open for goods traffic until 4 April 1971,[28][27] the last section of the Abergavenny and Merthyr line to close.[29]

• Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0049-7. OCLC 19514063. CN 8983.
• Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
• Clinker, C. R. (1988) [1978]. Clinker's Register of Closed Passenger Stations and Goods Depots in England, Scotland and Wales 1830–1980 (2nd ed.). Bristol: Avon-Anglia Publications & Services. ISBN 978-0-905466-91-0. OCLC 655703233.

• Conolly, W. Philip (2004) [1958]. British Railways Pre-Grouping Atlas and Gazetteer. Hersham, Surrey: Ian Allan. ISBN 978-0-7110-0320-0.
• Edge, David (September 2002). Abergavenny to Merthyr including the Ebbw Vale Branch. Country Railway Routes. Midhurst: Middleton Press. ISBN 1-901706-915.
• Hall, Mike (2009). Lost Railways of South Wales. Newbury: Countryside Books. ISBN 978-1-84674-172-2.
• Hawkins, Chris; Reeve, George (1981). LMS Engine Sheds: The L&NWR. Vol. 1. Upper Bucklebury: Wild Swan Publications. ISBN 0-90686-702-9.
• Page, James (1988) [1979]. South Wales. Forgotten Railways. Vol. 8. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-946537-44-5.
• Page, James (1989). Rails in the Valleys. London: Guild Publishing. ISBN 978-0-71538-979-9.
• Quick, Michael (2009) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (4th ed.). Oxford: Railway & Canal Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-901461-57-5. OCLC 612226077.
• Reed, M.C. (1996). The London & North Western Railway. Penryn: Atlantic Transport. ISBN 0-906899-66-4.
• Tasker, W.W. (1986). The Merthyr, Tredegar & Abergavenny Railway and branches. Poole: Oxford Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-86093-339-7.