Incline Top railway station
Incline Top railway station, later Top of the Incline was a short-lived early railway station on the Taff Vale Railway in South Wales, located at Penlocks, Treharris.
Top of the Incline | |
---|---|
General information | |
Location | Treharris, Rhondda Cynon Taf Wales |
Coordinates | 51.650885°N 3.3181774°W |
Grid reference | ST089955 |
Platforms | 2? |
Other information | |
Status | Disused |
History | |
Original company | Taff Vale Railway |
Key dates | |
1846 | Opens as Incline Top |
May 1849 | Renamed Top of the Incline |
1 January 1858 | Closed |
The station was on the original section of the line between Abercynon and Quakers Yard, which was to the left of the present-day line. The eponymous Incline was a steep gradient of 1 in 22, and trains required a stationary winding engine (installed by Brunel) to surmount it. The station was accessible only by a steep flight of steps leading to the bottom of a deep cutting in the incline. The station's life was brief and it closed after 12 years. The original line was eventually abandoned completely and replaced in 1864.[1]
After the station closed, it was left to decay until being largely destroyed by a violent cyclone on 27 October 1913, a storm, which caused considerable damage across the district,[2] including destroying the spire of St. Mary's Church, Glyntaff.[3] The site of the station is now overgrown with trees and is not easily noticeable.
Preceding station | Disused railways | Following station | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Abercynon Line & station open |
Taff Vale Railway | Quakers Yard Line & station open |
References
- Hutton, John (2006). The Taff Vale Railway Volume I. Kettering: Silver Link. p. 72. ISBN 9781857942491.
- Hutton, John (1988). The Taff Vale Railway Miscellany. Sparkford: Oxford Publishing Company. ISBN 0860934144.
- Powell, R (2005). Treforest, Glyntaff & Rhydyfelin. Stroud: Tempus. p. 95. ISBN 0752435078.