Notes: Rhos station was opened by the Great Western Railway (GWR) on 1 October 1901. The station was situated at the southern end of the 3¾-mile Rhos Branch which connected to the GWR Shrewsbury – Chester main line at Rhos Junction (near Rhostyllen). The branch made an-end on connection with the Pontcysyllte Branch at Rhos.
 Rhos was a GWR shortening of the Welsh name Rhoslannerchrugog, a township of 9,208 people (1901). The station was located on the western edge of the town at the end of School Street. A railway had first reached Rhoslannerchrugog in January 1867 when the London & North Western Railway (LNWR) extended its Pontcysyllte Branch to the Llwyneinion Brick Works. In 1896 the LNWR sold the Pontcysyllte Branch to the GWR for £51,000.
The Rhos Branch was single track and Rhos station possessed one platform on the east side of the line and the GWR’s standard circa 1900-style building and canopy. A run-round loop was provided, controlled by a signalbox located on the western side of the line. Watering facilities for locomotives in form of an iron elevated water tank were located at the southern end of the platform.
Rhos was provided with goods facilities located at Brook Street, a short distance south of the passenger station. They included a brick single-road goods shed, two sidings, a weighing machine and a 1-ton crane. On the western side of Rhos passenger station a siding led into the Rhoslannerchrugog Brick Works.
 At the time of opening the passenger trains serving Rhos would have run to and from Wrexham General.
On 1 May 1905 the GWR introduced a rail-motor train onto the line and extended the passenger service south along the Pontcysyllte Branch to Wynn Hall Halt (which along with two other halts was opened specifically for the rail-motors). The November 1906 timetable showed 12 services to and from Wrexham General on Monday-to-Friday, ten of which either originated at, or continued to, Wynn Hall Halt. The journey time to Wrexham General was 15 minutes.
By the second decade of the twentieth century the service between Rhos and Wynn Hall Halt had become unremunerative and it was discontinued on 22 March 1915.
The July 1922 timetable showed 13 Monday-to-Friday passenger services in each direction between Rhos and Wrexham General with four extra services each way on Saturday; no services ran on Sunday. However, less than a decade later, on 1 January 1931 the service was withdrawn.
After regular passenger services had ceased football specials continued to serve Rhos until the early 1950s. During the 1945 Eisteddfod, which was held at Rhos, special trains ran to and from the station. In 1952 the signal box was closed and it is unlikely that any specials operated after that date although a rail tour did visit on 18 April 1959. Goods services were discontinued at Rhos on 14 October 1963.
Tickets from Michael Stewart and route map by Alan Young
CLICK HERE TO SEE AN OS MAP SHOWING THE PASSENGER RAILWAYS OF THE WREXHAM AREA AT THEIR GREATEST EXTENT
CLICK HERE FOR A DETAILED HISTORY OF RHOS STATION
Sources:
- Awdry, C British railway companies (Guild Publishing,1990)
- Bodlander, A; Hambley, M; Leadbetter, H; Southern, D and Weatherley, S. Wrexham railways (Bridge Books, 1992)
- Bodlander, A; Hambley, M; Leadbetter, H; Southern, D and Weatherley, S. Wrexham railways vol.2 (Bridge Books, 1993)
- Bodlander, A; Hambley, M; Leadbetter, H; Southern, D and Weatherley, S. Marcher railways: the railways of Wrexham and Oswestry - a photographic journey (Bridge Books, 2008)
- Clinker, C R Clinker’s register of closed passenger stations and goods depots in England, Scotland and Wales 1830-1977 (Avon-Anglia,1978)
- Cobb, M H The Railways of Great Britain – vol.1 (Third Edition) (Author, 2015)
- Quick, Michael Railway passenger stations in Great Britain - a chronology (RCHS, 2009 and on-line supplements)
To see the
other stations that have closed on the Rhos Branch
click on the station name: Rhostyllen, Legacy, Brook Street Halt, Pant Halt and
Wynn Hall Halt
See also Fennant Road Halt, Aberderfyn Halt and Ponkey Crossing Halt from the Legacy/Ponkey Branch
Click here to see Register of Closed Railways 1901 - 1994 |
Rhos station looking south probably around the time of opening in October 1901. The image shows the passenger facilities at Rhos including the signal box which contolled traffic movements. The goods facilities were located a short distance away beyond the footbridge at Brook Street.
A view looking north at Rhos station during a visit by the SLS Wrexham & District Rail Tour of 18 April 1959. Despite the fact that the station had been closed to regular passenger services for 28 years it appears to be remarkably intact.
Looking south along the platform at Rhos station on 11 July 1964. There had been significant decline since the rail tour visit of 1959 shown in the photo above. Goods services had ceased to serve the Rhos branch on 14 October 1963.
The site of Rhos station looking north on 3 August 2015.
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