Dolygaer railway station

Dolygaer
Dolygaer
General information
Location	Pontsticill Reservoir, Powys; Wales
Coordinates	51°49′15″N 3°22′07″W / 51.8209°N 3.3685°W
Grid reference	SO056145
Operated by	Brecon Mountain Railway
Platforms	1
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Brecon and Merthyr Tydfil Junction Railway
Pre-grouping	Brecon and Merthyr Tydfil Junction Railway
Post-grouping	Great Western Railway
Key dates
19 March 1863	Opened
31 December 1962	Closed to passengers
4 May 1964	Closed for goods

Dolygaer railway station (alternatively, Dol-y-gaer railway station) was a station serving the hamlet of Dol-y-gaer and the area adjacent to Pen-twyn Reservoir (now incorporated into the Pontsticill Reservoir) in Powys, Wales.

Brecon Mountain Railway

Legend

					Torpantau
					Dolygaer
					Road bridge
					Bridge over Nant Callan
					Dolygaer loop
					Road bridge
					Road bridge
					Pontsticill
					Pontsticill railway museum
					Pontsticill sheds
					Pant depot and engineering works
					Pant

History

The station was opened on 19 March 1863 when the Brecon and Merthyr Tydfil Junction Railway commenced operations between Brecon Free Street and Pant.^[1] In 1866 the service through the station was 3 trains in each direction on weekdays only.^[2]

The line through Dolygaer station was single track, without passing facilities, and there was one platform with a single storey building. The station was staffed until 1932.^[3]^[4]

The line and station was closed to passengers on 31 December 1962 and to goods on 4 May 1964.^[5]

Dolygaer became a temporary terminus on the Brecon Mountain Railway (BMR) when the re-opened line was extended in 1995 to a new site south of the original station, with permanent way subsequently extended (by 2000) through the original station site also. This arrangement ceased in 2014 when the BMR further extended passenger services to Torpantau.

Current use

The site of the station is today operated as the Plas Dolygaer Scout centre, with accommodation for Scout groups of up to 40 people.^[6] The centre incorporates the station platform, although this is now out of use.

The line through the station site was re-opened in 1995 by the Brecon Mountain Railway, a 1 ft 11+3⁄4 in (603 mm) tourist railway. A short platform has been constructed to narrow-gauge dimensions immediately beside the Plas Dolygaer Scout centre (on the original standard gauge dimension platform level), but the platform is unused, and the station remains closed to railway operations.

A short distance to the south of Dolygaer station, on the opposite side of the Nant Callan river, the railway company has installed the Dolygaer passing loop.^[7]^[8]

Related attractions

The station has an adjacent cave, the Dolygaer Station Cave, or Ogof Dolygear,^[9] popular with cavers.

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Torpantau Line and station closed		Brecon and Merthyr Tydfil Junction Railway Northern section		Pontsticill Line and station closed

References

^ Quick 2022, pp. 163 & 532.
^ "Brecon and Merthyr Railway:Brecon and Merthyr Section". Brecon Reporter and South Wales General Advertiser. 28 July 1866. p. 1. Retrieved 19 September 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Dolygaer". alangeorge.co.uk. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
^ "Dol-y-gaer Station on OS Six-inch map Brecknockshire XL.SW (includes: Llanddeti; Llanfeugan.)". National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
^ Page 1979, p. 140.
^ "Plas Dolygaer: Where the adventure begins". Mid Glamorgan Area Scout Council. Archived from the original on 19 November 2008. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
^ Bridge 2010, map 32J.
^ "History". The Brecon Mountain Railway. The Brecon Mountain Railway. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
^ "Dolygaer Station Cave". Cambrian Caving Council. Retrieved 7 March 2017.

Bibliography

Bridge, Mike, ed. (2010). Railway Track Diagrams: Western (5th ed.). Trackmaps. ISBN 978-0-9549866-6-7.
Page, James (1979). Forgotten Railways South Wales. David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-7734-5.
Quick, Michael (2022) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (PDF). version 5.04. Railway & Canal Historical Society. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 November 2022.