After Glan y Llyn, the old Cardiff Railway proceeded toward Taffs Well, where the Taff Vale Railway and the Barry Railway were already exercising a strong grip on this natural bottleneck in the valley. The Cardiff Railway threaded itself across the side of the valley, crossing the Glamorgan Canal past Glan Y Llyn, and then broadly paralleling the canel route under the Walnut Tree Viaduct. The modern day route of this is dominated by the A470 dual carriageway, from just outside the Caerphilly junction and down into the village of Tongwynlais.
Tongwynlais is technically part of Cardiff, although the constructions of the A470 and the M4 effectively cut it off from the big suburbs of Cardiff, and over the years it has retained that small rural village feel as a result. The popular tourist attraction of Castell Coch is located in Tongwynlais.
Back when the Cardiff Railway was still in operation, the approach to Tongwynlais was notable for the Tongwynlais Tunnel, just after the Walnut Tree Viaduct, and down the hill from Castell Coch. The tunnel ran for 180 yards.








The track then ran on the outskirts of the village to Tongwynlais Station itself, which was located just south of the village. That station itself opened in March of 1911, and operated for twenty years, finally closing in July of 1931.

With the opening of the Nantgarw colliery over the 1940’s, this section of track sprung back to life, but just for freight, and the station itself wasn’t reopened. After sporadic use, the re-opened section was finally closed for good in 1952, when a newer link to the colliery was established at Taffs Well.
In spite of it’s abandonment, the station buildings had stood since 1931, until the construction and expansion of the A470 duel carriageway completely wiped them off the map in the mid 1960’s.
I couldn’t find any pictures of the station in it’s prime, but there are a few that exist from the 50’s showing the gradual take-over of nature happening to the old building.


But like so much of the old Cardiff Railway, the A470 swept it away. As near as I can make out, the modern day location of the station would have be right under a set of speed limit overhead barriers hanging just by the Taffs Well/Tongwynlais exit…

So that covers all of the now-gone stations and halts of the old Cardiff Railway. Rhydyfelin, Upper Boat, Nantgarw, Glan Y Llyn and Tongwynlais are all gone, but all have left a hint of their former existence. The next stop on the line is Coryton, a station that still functions today, and is now the terminus of the modern-day line. We’ll cover that, and the abandoned trackbed leading up to it, here. Thanks for reading!
Many thanks to John Bulpin, Geoff Atkins and Urban75 for their photography. Some other resources used for this blog:
Excellent set of articles, thanx for sharing. You can see what’s left of the Cardiff Railway at my Flickr site:- https://www.flickr.com/photos/daffy-dub/sets/72157634792067521
LikeLike
Thanks for the credits. Just one small point … my view from the viaduct was taken in June 1969, not 1967 as stated. Most interesting, though.
LikeLike
Sorry Geoff – you had told me before, but I forgot to update it, my bad! The photos are fantastic, wish I could have seen it with my own eyes.
LikeLike
Just did a piece on the CRC, formerly the Bute Dock Railway co
LikeLike
Would you be able to let me know who I should contact regarding the photograph of Tongwynlais Railway Station in the 1940’s / 50 please?
LikeLike
I don’t know, I’m afraid – I found the image from http://www.urban75.org/railway/cardiff-railway1.html?hcb=1 but it is uncredited
LikeLike