Notes: Felin Hen station (‘Halt’ from 1939) was situated on the London & North Western Railway (LNWR) Bethesda branch. The single-track branch was a 4-mile 26-chain line that linked the village of Bethesda to the Chester and Holyhead main line 52ch east of Bangor at Bethesda Junction. Between Bethesda Junction and Bethesda the line climbed by over 300ft which meant that there were steep gradients. The branch was authorised in 1880, engineered by Edward Walter Nealor Wood, C.E., and opened to passengers on 1 July 1884. Goods services were introduced on 1 September 1885. The branch closely followed the route of the Penrhyn Railway, a narrow gauge line that linked quarries in the Bethesda area to the coast. The Penrhyn Railway was owned by Lord Penrhyn and dated back to 1800. Originally horse-worked, steam operation was introduced in1877/8. The Bethesda branch crossed the Penryhn Railway three times (twice under and once over) and was built primarily to move slate from the quarries in the area.

By July 1922 the service operated by the push-and-pull trains had improved, there being eight departures and eight arrivals on Monday-to-Friday as shown in the table below.

On 1 January 1923 Felin Hen became part of the London Midland & Scottish Railway (LMS). The LMS summer timetable for 1932 showed Felin Hen as having sixteen trains in each direction on Monday-to- Friday with nineteen on Saturdays. There were even nine trains on Sundays. Reflecting its light use Felin Hen station was demoted to a halt in 1939. During the Second World War the Bethesda service was cut back dramatically, and when the war ended it was not restored to its former frequency.

The Bethesda branch became part of British Railways (London Midland Region) on 1 January 1948. The summer timetable for 1948 showed eight trains in each direction on Mondays-to-Fridays as shown in the table below.

Because of the poor service and the strong competition from local buses by 1950 the Bethesda branch had become unprofitable. Typically by this time the trains on the branch consisted of only one coach. Being in a remote location Felin Hen Halt was used by only a handful of people. British Railways proposed withdrawal of passenger services in 1951, but despite strong local opposition the last train ran on 1 December 1951. Felin Hen Halt and the other stations on the line formally closed to passengers on 3 December 1951.

Goods services continued to run up to Bethesda after closure to passengers, but as the years went by they became more sporadic. On 20 October 1963 the Stephenson Locomotive Society ‘Caernarvonshire Rail Tour’ passed through Felin Hen Halt on its way to and from Bethesda. It was the very last train ever to travel along the branch. After it had departed the line was

The site of the station was demolished after closure, but the station house survived and became a private residence.

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

Sources:

• Bradshaws Rail Times December 1895 - Middlewood Press 2011
• Bradshaws Rail Times July 1922 - Guild Publishing 1986
  
• British Railways (London Midland Region) Timetable Summer 1948
• From Chester to Holyhead: The Branch Lines – B Rear - OPC 2003
• LMS Time Table July 18th to September 11th 1932
• Railway Passenger Stations in Great Britain a Chronology - M Quick - Railway and Canal Historical Society 2009

To see the other stations on the Bethesda branch click on the station name: Bethesda and Tregarth

See also:

Bangor, Tregarth Tunnel and Bethesda Branch Features