Notes: Port Dinorwic 2nd station was on the Menai Bridge – Afon Wen line which opened in stages between 1852 and 1871. The section of line on which the station stood was opened by the Bangor & Carnarvon Railway (B&CR) which was incorporated on 20 May 1851 to build a line from the Chester & Holyhead Railway (C&HR) at Menai Bridge to Caernarfon. The single-track railway opened to Carnarvon – the spelling adopted by the railway company - for passenger services on 1 July 1852; goods services followed on 10 August 1852. In 1867 the B&CR was absorbed into the C&HR. In 1872 the section of line between Carnarvon and Menai Bridge was doubled.
On the down platform a brick waiting shelter, also in yellow brick, was provided. A subway towards the north end of the station connected the platforms.
At the south end of the up platform there was a Saxby & Farmer signal box which controlled both the line through the station and the goods yard, a little further south, to the west of the line.
At the time of opening train services were worked by the London & North Western Railway (LNWR) on behalf of the C&HR. By 1879 the C&HR had been formally absorbed into the LNWR although it had effectively been part of that company’s network for many years.
In December 1895 Port Dinorwic had eight northbound and seven southbound departures on weekdays as shown on the table below. On Sundays there were two trains to Bangor and one to Afon Wen.
Up Trains (Bangor direction) December 1895 |
Destination |
Down Trains (Afon wen direction) December 1895 |
Destination |
7.33am |
Bangor |
9.29am |
Afon Wen |
8.39am |
Bangor |
12.24pm |
Afon Wen |
10.15am |
Manchester Exchange |
2.37pm |
Afon Wen |
12.43pm |
Bangor |
4.28pm |
Afon Wen |
3.13pm |
Bangor |
5.19pm |
Carnarvon |
3.58pm |
Bangor |
7.37pm |
Afon Wen |
6.43pm |
Bangor |
9.18pm |
Carnarvon |
8.24pm |
Bangor |
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In July 1922 there were eleven northbound departures and nine southbound Monday to Friday with extra workings on Saturdays as shown in the table below; no Sunday service was shown.
Up Trains (Bangor direction) July 1922 |
Destination |
Down Trains (Afon wen direction) July 1922 |
Destination |
6.52am |
Bangor |
7.15am |
Afon Wen |
7.15am Saturdays Only |
Bangor |
8.55am |
Afon Wen |
8.14am |
Bangor |
11.31am |
Afon Wen |
10.20am |
Bangor |
12.27pm |
Afon Wen |
11.55am |
Bangor |
1.24pm |
Carnarvon |
12.35pm |
Bangor |
2.45pm |
Afon Wen |
2.30pm |
Bangor |
3.40pm |
Nanttle |
3.19pm |
Liverpool Lime Street |
5.49pm |
Carnarvon |
3.45pm |
Bangor |
10.52pm |
Carnarvon |
4.40pm |
Bangor |
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6.51pm |
Bangor |
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8.21pm |
Bangor |
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10.29pm SO |
Bangor |
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On 1 January 1923 Port Dinorwic became part of the London Midland & Scottish Railway (LMS). The LMS summer timetable for 1932 showed nine northbound and six southbound departures Monday to Friday with additional services on weekdays as seen in the table below. On Sundays there were no trains from Caernarvon to Afon Wen, and passengers were advised to use Crosville buses. There were no Sunday trains.
Up Trains (Bangor direction) Summer 1932 |
Destination |
Down Trains (Afon wen direction) Summer 1932 |
Destination |
6.38am Saturdays Only |
Bangor |
6.56am |
Afon Wen |
6.53am Saturdays Excepted |
Llandudno |
9.12am |
Afon Wen |
8.08am |
Bangor |
9.26am |
Afon Wen |
8.54am |
Liverpool Lime Street |
1.30pm Saturdays Only |
Caernarvon |
10.18am |
Bangor |
2.10pm Saturdays Excepted |
Caernarvon |
12.16pm Saturdays Excepted |
London Euston |
6.07pm |
Caernarvon |
12.27pm Saturdays Only |
Bangor |
9.10pm Saturdays Excepted |
Caernarvon |
3.44pm |
Bangor |
9.45pm Saturdays Only |
Nanttle |
1.25pm |
Bangor (To Manchester on Saturdays) |
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7.58pm |
Rhyl |
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8.14pm |
Bangor |
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On the 1 January 1948 Port Dinorwic became part of the British Railways (London Midland Region). The summer 1948 timetable showed ten northbound departures and seven southbound on Monday to Friday with an extra southbound Saturday working, as seen in the table below.
Up Trains (Bangor direction) Summer 1948 |
Destination |
Down Trains (Afon wen direction) Summer 1948 |
Destination |
6.52am |
Llandudno |
5.55am |
Afon Wen |
7.22am |
Llandudno |
9.12am |
Afon Wen |
7.41am |
Bangor |
11.37am |
Caernarvon |
9.10am Saturdays Excepted |
Bangor |
1.50pm |
Caernarvon |
9.19am Saturdays Only |
Bangor |
2.53pm Saturdays Excepted |
Afon Wen |
10.27am Saturdays Excepted |
Llandudno |
3.22pm Saturdays Only |
Afon Wen |
10.37am Saturdays Only |
Llandudno Junction |
4.16pm Saturdays Excepted |
Afon Wen |
11.47am Saturdays Only |
Liverpool Lime Street |
4.46pm Saturdays Only |
Afon Wen |
11.57am Saturdays Excepted |
Bangor |
5.40pm Saturdays Excepted |
Afon Wen |
1.02pm |
Bangor |
5.45pm Saturdays Only |
Afon Wen |
2.17pm |
Bangor |
8.15pm Saturdays Only |
Afon Wen |
4.58pm Saturdays Excepted |
Bangor |
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5.08pm Saturdays Only |
Bangor |
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6.24pm Saturdays Excepted |
Bangor |
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6.31pm Saturdays Only |
Bangor |
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By the mid-1950s the level of summer services on the line had increased - especially services to the Butlins camp - but must of these trains passed through Port Dinorwic without stopping. The winter timetable for September 1956 – June 1957 showed the station being served by only eight northbound and nine southbound Monday to Friday services with an extra southbound on Saturdays as shown in the table below.
Up Trains (Bangor direction) September 1956 - June 1957 |
Destination |
Down Trains (Afon wen direction)September 1956 - June 1957 |
Destination |
6.57am |
Llandudno |
5.40am |
Pwllheli |
7.34am |
Manchester Exchange |
9.12am |
Afon Wen |
9.05am |
Bangor |
9.44am |
Caernarvon |
10.07am |
Llandudno Junction |
11.42am |
Pwllheli |
11.52am |
Bangor |
12.39pm |
Pwllheli |
3.12pm |
Bangor |
3.04pm |
Pwllheli |
4.54pm |
Llandudno Junction |
4.14pm |
Afon Wen |
6.31pm |
Bangor |
5.49pm |
Pwllheli |
9.40pm |
Llandudno Junction |
7.19pm |
Afon Wen |
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9.12pm Saturdays Only |
Caernarvon |
In 1957 DMUs were introduced onto some of the services on the line but steam still dominated. Although Port Dinorwic was a large village, and the station was conveniently placed to serve it, the A487 road between Bangor and Caernarfon ran through the village, parallel to the railway, and buses could effectively compete with trains. Owing to low usage British Railways closed Port Dinorwic on 12 September 1960. (The neighbouring Griffiths Crossing station, two miles south-west of Port Dinorwic, was equally close to the A487 and lost its passenger service as early as 1937.) The goods yard closed on 4 May 1964 followed by the original Saxby & Farmer signal box on 24 June 1965.
Passenger services continued to pass through the station site (after December 1964 only between Caernarvon and Bangor) until 4 January 1970. The line was singled in 1966, and goods services ceased on 4 August 1969.
On 23 May 1970 a fire on the Britannia Bridge isolated Holyhead from the railway network. At that time Holyhead was an important freightliner depot, and Caernarvon was pressed into use for freightliner services, receiving its first trains on 15 June 1970. From that date until 5 February 1972 freightliner trains passed through Port Dinorwic. The line then closed |
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completely and was lifted shortly afterwards.
For some time after closure the station building was occupied by a firm called Penningtons, but it was later developed as residential units.
Tickets from Michael Stewart route map drawn by Alan Young
Sources:
To see the other
stations on the Menai Bridge - Afonwen line click on the station
name: Menai Bridge, Treborth, Port Dinorwic (1st), Griffiths Crossing, Caernarvon, Carnarvon Pant, Dinas, Llanwnda, Groeslon, Penygroes, Pant Glass, Brynkir, Ynys, Llangybi, Chwilog & Afon Wen
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