JZ

Snake drive - Eric Clapton

One railway that always interested me was the Neath & Brecon. Back in a previous life, I was a keen caver, most of which was done in the Swansea Valley. I was a member of South Wales Caving Club and our base was, still is, at Penwyllt, close to Craig -y-nos station. When I joined the, the line was still open, but rarely used, for traffic from the quarry. It could be a rather bleak place when the weather came down. Caving in those days usually involved a lot of drinking afterwards and the main pubs we used were the Ancient Briton, in Abercraf and The Prices Arms, in Colbren. Now the Price's was next to Colbren Jct and in the summer, we would often walk down the line to get there. In the winter, there would usually be someone willing to take their Land rover along the track. One rather drunken evening, someone had the bright idea to purchase an old car, put rail wheels on it and use that. A few weeks later, a clapped out Vauxhall Viva turned up, but we never did get hold of the rail wheels and the car slowly rusted away. I did build an N scale model of the station, the first layout built solely by myself.

I've ordered all three.

General view seem to come out OK, but as soon as a loco is involved, it goes a bit skew whiff. The app is called colorize.

I'll give Simon a shout.

I will make U cry - Nelly Furtado

Let's see how the building s go first. I haven't.

Free app on my phone.

The picture with the Anglia overtaking reminds me of my Uncle attempting Porlock Hill in his. We made it. Eventually. I wonder if the photo's were on the same trip, with the photographer beating the bus up the hill?

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

An interesting footnote. Glyndwr Michael, the 'Man who never was' was from Aberbargoed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Martin_(Royal_Marines_officer)

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.

So I need four pubs if I model this.

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

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.

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,

Is this it? If so, it is the bridge next to the station.

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

I have found pictures of Leylands on the route, so maybe that is what to get. And the West Mon transfers are available on ebay.

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.

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?

That confirms the colour of the Foden bus. Now to find a model. Edit: The bus on the right, is the bus in the picture of Aberbargoed.

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

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.