Aberbargoed(ish)

[JZ]

Came across this picture in the Disused Station group on Facebook.

Just thought it would be a nice subject for a working diorama. The station itself closed in 1962 and was the second station here. The first was about ¼ mile behind the photographer and was closed and this one built when the line was singled in 1935. The Smiths Arms Hotel was probably demolished shortly after this picture was taken, as the Middleton Press book has a picture from the far end of the platform that has a clear view of the Traveller rest across the road. The near gable of the station building appears to be rendered, while the far wall is brick, or maybe the rendering has fallen off.

I have purchased a Fair Price Model terrace to see about converting it to be similar to the pub,

 

This may, or may not take off.

[GMKAT7]

Good morning Jules,

 

I have just noticed that the end wall of the Smiths Arms has a sign for the RAOB above a doorway (just above the Markham bus).

 

Can't have the Buffaloes going into the main bar!

Secret knock and handshakes required?

 

Cheers, Nigel.

[JZ]

1 minute ago, GMKAT7 said:

Good morning Jules,

 

I have just noticed that the end wall of the Smiths Arms has a sign for the RAOB above a doorway (just above the Markham bus).

 

Can't have the Buffaloes going into the main bar!

Secret knock and handshakes required?

 

Cheers, Nigel.

Yes, I wondered if they might have had an upstairs room.

[GMKAT7]

Hello Jules,

 

The Buffaloes branch/lodge I visited in Coventry was based in a building set back from a main road and had its own driveway plus car park.

 

A couple of my friends from school discovered it as an underage drinking establishment. We were all 17 at the time but a former classmate of ours worked behind the bar.

Since he was also 17, and a police cadet to boot, it was in our mutual interest to keep schtum about our age.

 

By the next summer we were all 18 anyway 😂

The building was a 2 storey affair, so I assume the Buffs business went on upstairs.

 

Cheers, Nigel.

[GMKAT7]

Hello Jules,

 

One further thought from me.

 

The photo is very Iain Rice, a platform squeezed into almost no space whatsoever and the juxtaposition of railway, road and buildings - very inspiring!

 

Plus, a bus under a bridge 😆

 

Cheers, Nigel.

[JZ]

Found an aerial picture on Britain From Above, from 1930, that shows the original station and goods yard, but interestingly, the platform at this location is there, as is a building that seem to be the old gable end next to the road.

Green points to the original station. Red is the low, single story building, one end of which is the the right of the bus. Aqua, is that a platform?

[JZ]

Thoughts turning to what could be run. 56XX/66XX 0-6-2T and 57XX and 94XX PT most suitable, maybe a Class 08 in later years for the few coal wagons that remained.

Edited March 7 by JZ

[GMKAT7]

Hello Jules,

 

A fantastic photo thanks and shows the relationship between the station and the landscape.

 

Also a lower, bigger station with a diverging route to the left and what looks like a gasworks in between.

Still areas of greenery amongst all the urban and industrial building.

 

Great inspiration!

 

Cheers, Nigel.

[JZ]

1 hour ago, GMKAT7 said:

Hello Jules,

 

A fantastic photo thanks and shows the relationship between the station and the landscape.

 

Also a lower, bigger station with a diverging route to the left and what looks like a gasworks in between.

Still areas of greenery amongst all the urban and industrial building.

 

Great inspiration!

 

Cheers, Nigel.

A picture between Bargoed Colliery and this station is captioned, "the scenery was breath-taking for it's awfulness".

[Red Devil]

3 hours ago, GMKAT7 said:

Hello Jules,

 

One further thought from me.

 

The photo is very Iain Rice, a platform squeezed into almost no space whatsoever and the juxtaposition of railway, road and buildings - very inspiring!

 

Plus, a bus under a bridge 😆

 

Cheers, Nigel.

.....and a pretty rare bus at that, not many Fodens about.....

There are a few pics of West Mon 1 on sct61 including it coming out from a railway bridge on Bargoed Hill but unfortunately can't seem to link to it.

 

 

[JZ]

27 minutes ago, Red Devil said:

.....and a pretty rare bus at that, not many Fodens about.....

There are a few pics of West Mon 1 on sct61 including it coming out from a railway bridge on Bargoed Hill but unfortunately can't seem to link to it.

 

 

Is this it?

If so, it is the bridge next to the station.

[Cwmtwrch]

7 hours ago, JZ said:

The Smiths Arms Hotel was probably demolished shortly after this picture was taken, as the Middleton Press book has a picture from the far end of the platform that has a clear view of the Traveller rest across the road.

The Smiths Arms was still there in 1959; there was a lane in front of it, visible in the aerial view, which would have allowed a view of at least part of the Traveller's Rest from the far end of the platform.

4 hours ago, GMKAT7 said:

Plus, a bus under a bridge

Which was quite notorious until the route was diverted in 1963. The bus is just starting to turn to its right, to bring it almost parallel to the railway before immediately turning 90 degrees left to go under it. The whole manoever was on a gradient of about 1 in 5 down. The bus, incidentally is going to Bargoed Square [it's coming from Markham], which was a triangle in shape...

2 hours ago, GMKAT7 said:

what looks like a gasworks in between

Certainly a gas holder. The station is Bargoed.

 

The road behind the railway, which the bus has just come down, climbed about 170ft in 950ft, on gradients between 1 in 4.77 and 1 in 7.19.

[GMKAT7]

Good afternoon folks,

 

When I was younger I heard quite a lot about Bargoed, Hengoed and Maesycmmer (probably spelt wrongly - oops).

 

When he was 10 years old my Dad was evacuated from the Isle of Sheppey to South Wales, on the basis that it was likely to be a lot quieter there. I don't think the 'powers-that-be' considered Cardiff and Newport, etc to be bombed to the same degree as Kent. I am pretty sure it was Bargoed he was evacuated to, but he is no longer with us so I can't check.

 

He was there from 1940 until 1943, when the same 'powers-that-be' decided it was a lot quieter so he could go back home. Cue, in June 1944, the V1s and V2s.

 

Whenever we were on holiday and he heard Welsh voices he always made a beeline for the people talking to see where they came from. If he found someone from that area he was lost for hours, talking about the spots he remembered from the mid-1940s and asking how they had changed. I think he had managed to go back to some when he was in the RAF (1951-55) and spent some time at RAF St Athan (he was an engine fitter, so went there for maintenance courses).

 

Cheers, Nigel.

[JZ]

27 minutes ago, Cwmtwrch said:

The Smiths Arms was still there in 1959; there was a lane in front of it, visible in the aerial view, which would have allowed a view of at least part of the Traveller's Rest from the far end of the platform.

 

The photo in question is post closure, so 1963 or later, and shows the whole of the Traveller's Rest. This is a crop from the book, Rhymney & New Tredegar Lines by Mitchell & Smith,

[The Johnster]

5 hours ago, JZ said:

Thoughts turning to what could be run. 56XX/66XX 0-6-2T and 57XX and 94XX PT most suitable, maybe a Class 08 in later years for the few coal wagons that remained.

It was on the Machen-New Tredegar branch, originally the ‘Old Rumney’ tramroad and later part of the Brecon & Merthyr.  It was severed by a landslide at Abertysswg, a spot prone to them, before the war IIRC. This was worked by an E140 B set and motive power in the 50s was usually an Ebbw Jc 94xx, but no doubt 57xx/8750s played their parts as well.  Not so sure about 56xx: certainly on the B&M main line south of Gwaelod y Waun Jc, but less certain of mineral or goods operations on the stub of the ‘Old Rumney.  I rather doubt that 08s would have ventured as far out of Ebbw Jc as this, and the line was closed before the advent of 37s or 14s in the area.  
 

Bigger and more complex, but I’ve often thought that Bargoed (Rhymney Railway) station would make an interesting and surprisingly scenic layout; 3-platforms, junction, small goods yard, viaduct, main road about as wiggly and hilly as they come, and plenty of variety. 

[JZ]

17 hours ago, The Johnster said:

It was on the Machen-New Tredegar branch, originally the ‘Old Rumney’ tramroad and later part of the Brecon & Merthyr.  It was severed by a landslide at Abertysswg, a spot prone to them, before the war IIRC. This was worked by an E140 B set and motive power in the 50s was usually an Ebbw Jc 94xx, but no doubt 57xx/8750s played their parts as well.  Not so sure about 56xx: certainly on the B&M main line south of Gwaelod y Waun Jc, but less certain of mineral or goods operations on the stub of the ‘Old Rumney.  I rather doubt that 08s would have ventured as far out of Ebbw Jc as this, and the line was closed before the advent of 37s or 14s in the area.  

The 94XX had a 'Red' route restriction, so I suppose I could run anything except Kings, but really it would be most likely panniers tanks. I have a 64XX which could be used on passenger services and a 57XX for passenger a freight. If this comes off, I may invest in a 94XX. I also see that Ebbw Jct had a 15XX. Using modellers licence to extend the life of the line could see my 'Teddy Bear' and Class 121 railcar.

But first, I await this from Fair Price Models to see about conversion to something similar to the Smiths Arms Hotel.

[JZ]

Put the original photo through a colourization app and straightened it.

 

[The Johnster]

The entire South Wales network except the TVR Llantrisant-Cowbridge branch was good for red RA, so that’s not an issue for this project, Jules, but as you say panniers are the most likely here.  15xx were allox Ebbw Jc and Pill sheds in Newport but were not used on anything but Dock shunting duties, the job they were designed for; the short wheelbase and long overhang made them unkind to the track (and the crews) on running line jobs of any but the shortest distance, but, hey, Rule 1…

 

94xx are essential for the mid-50s to closure on passenger trains.  64xx certainly appeared at Machen from Pontypridd with auto trains, but AFAIK did not venture up the ‘Old Rumney’.  Another possibility might be the Brecon & Merthyr Stephenson 0-6-2Ts, similar in appearance to the Rhymney R class, but no RTR or currently available kit is available TTBOMK; the last went in about 1954. 
 

I have several Fair Price buildings and am v. happy with them as scratch aids, no connection satisfied customer.  The Smiths looks as if it was a lively Saturday night; they can be a rough lot, the Buffs…

[LBRJ]

Most interesting.

My paternal grandparents were married at Aberbargoed, though they did not live there (her family did at the time).

They may even have got off the train at that station at some point !

[LBRJ]

https://gelligaerhistoricalsociety.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/NEwsletter67-January2023.pdf

 

on page 7 of the PDF linked above is a Francis Frith picture of the whole area.

[JZ]

19 minutes ago, LBRJ said:

https://gelligaerhistoricalsociety.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/NEwsletter67-January2023.pdf

 

on page 7 of the PDF linked above is a Francis Frith picture of the whole area.

So I need four pubs if I model this.

[Enterprisingwestern]

1 hour ago, JZ said:

So I need four pubs if I model this.

 

Also the associated field trip and consumption for true accuracy!

 

Mike

[JZ]

Found a number of pictures in the Bargoed & Aberbargoed FB group.

All are uncredited.

General view, probably 1940s

The old station is still in situ, but the line singles and goods yard lifted.

Undated postcard view. The new atation yet to be built, but the low building that can be seen in some aerial shot has lost it's roof, between gas holder and cottage. It's gable wall remained until after the line closed.

 

 View of Aberbargoed Hill. The cars look to be 1930's, but maybe some who knows their Foden buses can date it. From this you can start to get some idea of the tortuous nature of the turn to get under the railway.

Some of the windows of the Smiths Arms are already boarded up.

 

Probably very early 1960s, 7787 was withdrawn in 1961. These give some idea of passenger numbers. Bargoed station is only a few hundred yards away on the other side of the valley and serving pretty much the same places and probably a more regular service.

 

Only the station master to be seen in this shot.

 

Two post closure views. The track has already been lifted. Line ran along the righthand edge.

 

Line in the bottom left on this one. You can see the proximity of Bargoed station.

 

The Greyhound Inn that once sat below the line.

 

Buses threading their way through the difficult turn up through the bridge.

 

 

 

This one give an idea of how steep the hill was.

 

Closure notice.

 

 

[JZ]

An interesting footnote. Glyndwr Michael, the 'Man who never was' was from Aberbargoed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Martin_(Royal_Marines_officer)

[JZ]

11 minutes ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

Also the associated field trip and consumption for true accuracy!

 

Mike

Sadly all gone. Smiths and Greyhound demolished and the Traveller's and Quarryman's are private houses.