Bala Junction railway station

Bala Junction

Bala Junction station in 1962
Location
Place Bala
Area Gwynedd
Coordinates 52°54′23″N 3°34′53″W / 52.90640°N 3.58150°W / 52.90640; -3.58150Coordinates: 52°54′23″N 3°34′53″W / 52.90640°N 3.58150°W / 52.90640; -3.58150
Grid reference SH 937 355
Operations
Pre-grouping Great Western Railway
Platforms 3[1][2][3]
History
1 November 1882 Opened[4]
18 January 1965[5][6] Closed to passengers
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain
A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z
UK Railways portal

Bala Junction railway station in Gwynedd, Wales, was formerly a station on the Ruabon to Barmouth line.[7] It closed to passengers on Monday 18 January 1965. Bala Junction was unusual in that it was inaccessible by road and merely served as an interchange station; it was located about ¾ mile to the south-east of the town of Bala.

The station was at the junction with the Blaenau Ffestiniog branch. It was built as a crossing point for trains on the Bala Ffestiniog and Ruabon Barmouth lines, and featured three platforms with a small waiting room and signalbox on a central island platform. There was also a cast-iron GWR water tank.[8]

History

Opened by the Great Western Railway, it remained in that company through the Grouping of 1923. The station passed to the Western Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948. Passenger services to Bala and on the Ruabon-Barmouth line ceased in January 1965; the service beyond Bala to Blaenau Festiniog having been withdrawn in 1960.

During its operational life, Bala Junction served as an interchange station for the branch line train to Blaenau Festiniog, usually operated by small tank locomotives such as the 6400 Class 0-6-0PT and 5800 Class 0-4-2T tank locomotives. These trains did not run beyond Bala Junction, instead returning north to the GWR station at Blaenau Festiniog. There were no goods facilities here either; all goods trains stopped to shunt detached wagons for the branch line train.

As a junction station, Bala Junction was equipped with standard GWR lower quadrant semaphore signals to control train movements between the Bala Ffestiniog and Ruabon-Barmouth lines. These were used particularly when the branch line train was shunting in preparation for its return to Blaenau Festiniog as there were no turning facilities here. To run around, the branch line engine had to cross from Platform 3 (the Bala Ffestiniog platform) onto the main line and run back along Platform 2, used by eastbound trains running to Ruabon.

As of 2014, the only remnants at Bala Junction are the trackbeds of the Bala Ffestiniog and Ruabon-Barmouth lines and the platform faces. The site is close to a nearby dam; part of the access road for this uses the formation of the Bala Ffestiniog line, passing close to the remains of a short bridge that carried the line into Bala Junction itself.

Neighbouring stations

Preceding station Disused railways Following station
Llandderfel
Line and station closed		   Great Western Railway
Ruabon Barmouth Line		   Llangower
Line and station closed
Bala
Line and station closed		   Great Western Railway
Bala Ffestiniog Line		   Terminus

References

  1. ↑ Southern 1995, pp. 1, 19-24 & 101.
  2. ↑ Mitchell & Smith 2010, Map III and Photos 1-3.
  3. ↑ Turner 2003, p. 16.
  4. ↑ Boyd 1988, p. 47.
  5. ↑ Butt 1995, p. 22.
  6. ↑ Quick 2009, p. 70.
  7. ↑ Jowett 2000, Map 45.
  8. ↑ Baughan 1980, p. 88.

Sources

Further material

External links

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