Notes: Chwilog was situated on the Menai Bridge – Afon Wen line which opened in stages between 1852 and 1871. On 29 July 1862 the Carnarvonshire Railway (CR) was authorised to build a line between Caernarfon and Afon Wen and by October 1866 it was mostly complete and was inspected, but its opening was not approved until 2 September 1867 by which time all work was finished.

South of the level crossing was a further siding where cattle were loaded; cattle pens, feeding facilities, a cattle run, and weighing facility were provided in this area.

At first passenger services ran between Carnarfon Pant and Afon Wen with some trains continuing beyond Afon Wen onto the Cambrian Railway was not opened throughout until 10 October 1867. There were five up and five down trains Monday-to-Saturday and one in each direction on Sundays. From January 1871, with the completion of the Carnarvon Town line, trains were

By December 1895 Chwilog had five up and five down trains on weekdays with an extra train in each direction on Mondays. There was also one train in each direction on Sundays. By July 1922 there were eleven up and nine down trains Monday-to-Saturday as seen in the table below. There were no Sunday trains.

On 1 January 1923 Chwilog became part of the London Midland & Scottish Railway (LMS). By 1928 they were running thirteen up and nine down trains. The service was nine up and eight down in the summer of 1932.

With the outbreak of the Second World War an emergency timetable was introduced from 11 September 1939, and Chwilog had only three trains in each direction on Monday-to-Saturday. The service was improved from 1 January 1940 when six trains ran in each direction on Monday-to-Saturday. From September 1943 a Monday-to-Saturday milk train

On 1 January 1948 Chwilog became part of the British Railways London Midland Region. The summer 1948 timetable showed eight up and eight down trains Monday-to-Friday as seen in the table below. There was nine up working on Saturdays.

In 1939 Billy Butlin built a holiday camp at Penychain on the former Cambrian line to the west of Afon Wen. Due to the war it did not open for holidaymakers until the summer season of 1947 although it was used during the war by the Royal Navy. The opening of the holiday camp brought a lot of extra traffic in the form of holiday specials to the Menai Bridge – Afon Wen line during the summer months and the specials were much longer than routine service trains. At many of the stations, including Chwilog, platforms were lengthened.

By May 1949 the milk traffic had been lost to road transport. Scheduled passenger services had improved by the mid 1950s. The summer timetable for 1955 showed ten up and eight down trains Monday-to-Friday as seen in the table below. On Saturdays there were eleven up and eight down trains that called at Chwilog, and other workings to and from Penychain

DMUs were introduced onto many services from 1958. The line remained busy in the summer months into the 1960s but during the winter period it was very quiet. The Reshaping of British Railways report of 1963 (The ‘Beeching’ Report) recommended that the line between Caernarfon and Afon Wen be closed completely. This was despite the still very heavy holiday traffic in the summer. Interestingly in 1964 steam-hauled trains were used on most services with DMUs being sent elsewhere. Despite the fact that yard had been busy for many years handling goods for the local Farmers’ association, which actually owned the goods shed, it closed on 4 May 1964. Passenger services continued for another seven months until the line closed completely on 7 December 1964.

The line through Chwilog was not lifted immediately and track was still in situ in 1968. The station buildings survived in a derelict condition until the early 1980s. In May 2012 the platforms could still be seen within a play area.

Timetable from Chris Totty, tickets from Michael Stewart route map drawn by Alan Young

Sources:

• Bangor to Portmadoc including the Llanberis lines – V Mitchell & K Smith – Middlewood Press 2010
• Bradshaws Rail Times December 1895 - Middlewood Press 2011
• Bradshaws Rail Times July 1922 - Guild Publishing 1986
  
• British Railways (London Midland Region) Timetable Summer 1948
• British Railways (London Midland Region) Timetable Winter 1956/7
• British Railways (London Midland Region) Timetable Summer 1962
• From Chester to Holyhead: The Branch Lines – B Rear - OPC 2003
• LMS Branch Lines in North Wales vol.1 Bangor Afonwen, Lanberis and Nantle - W G Rear - Wild Swan Publications Ltd 1986
• LMS Time Table Summer 1932
• Railway Passenger Stations in Great Britain a Chronology - M Quick - Railway and Canal Historical Society 2009

To see the other stations on the Menai Bridge - Afonwen line click on the station name: Menai Bridge, Treborth, Port Dinorwic (1st), Port Dinorwic (2nd), Griffiths Crossing, Caernarvon, Carnarvon Pant, Dinas, Llanwnda, Groeslon, Penygroes, Pant Glas, Brynkir, Ynys, Llangybi & Afon Wen