Station Name: RHOSTYLLEN

[Source: Paul Wright and Alan Young]

Date opened: 1 October 1901
Location: The east side of Station Road
Company on opening: Great Western Railway
Date closed to passengers: 1 January 1931
Date closed completely: 14 October 1963
Company on closing: Great Western Railway
Present state: Demolished
County: Denbighshire
OS Grid Ref: SJ312490
Date of visit: 3 August 2015

Rhostyllen station was opened by the Great Western Railway (GWR) on 1 October 1901.

The station was one of three (the others being Legacy and Rhos) situated on the 3¾-mile single track GWR Rhos Branch which ran from Rhos Junction approximately 50 chains to the east of Rhostyllen station) on the Shrewsbury and Chester main line, to Rhosllanerchrugog (shortened by the GWR to Rhos). At Rhos the branch made an end-on connection with the Pontcysyllte Branch. The station was on the northern edge of Rhostyllen at the end of Station Road.

The station was provided with a single platform located on the south side of the line. A single-storey brick building housed all of the usual facilities and a further building provided storage for goods. There was no passing loop at Rhostyllen but there was a siding with loading ramp.

A photograph from 1902 shows that there were signals at the station but as there was no signal box they must have been controlled from a ground frame operated by station staff.

At the time of opening a passenger service was operated between Wrexham General and Rhos. There were four passenger trains a day each way, with two extra services on Thursday and Saturday. Two goods trains each day served the station. No trains ran on Sunday.

The 1904 RCH Handbook of stations showed Rhostyllen as being able to handle passengers, parcels and general goods.

A horse-tramway had operated through Rhostyllen since 1876 and it ran into the centre of Wrexham. Wrexham General station was located on the western edge of the town. The trains were, of course, faster than the horse trams but from 4 April 1903 electric trams were introduced by the Wrexham and District Electric Tramways Company, which accelerated times significantly. To counter this competition the GWR introduced a rail-motor service onto the Rhos branch on 1 May 1905. Three new halts were opened on the Pontcysyllte Branch (to the south of Rhos) and the passenger service was extended to the southernmost of them, Wynn Hall Halt. From 5 June 1905 three more halts were opened on the Legacy/Ponkey branch and services began operating between Ponkey Crossing Halt and Wrexham General.

The November 1906 timetable showed Rhostyllen as having 16 trains to Wrexham General on Monday-to-Friday and 17 on Saturday. There were also 16 trains in the other direction onMonday-to-Friday but on Saturday there were 18. Of the 16 Monday-to-Friday southbound trains 12 were advertised as going to Ponkey Crossing Halt, 10 to Wynn Hall Halt and two to Rhos. The disparity is due to a number of the southbound services operating both to Ponkey Crossing Halt and Wynn Hall Halt. This could have been achieved by running two rail-motors in tandem and splitting them at Legacy (the junction for the Legacy/Ponkey branches) or by the running of a shuttle between Legacy and Ponkey Crossing Halt. As there was only one platform at Legacy the former seems to be the more likely.



In 1912 the Wrexham and District Electric Tramways Company (changed to the Wrexham and District Transport Company Limited in 1914) introduced motor-bus services to Rhos and the surrounding area and they successfully competed with the rail-motor service.  On 22 March 1915, with revenue dwindling, the passenger services between Rhos and Wynn Hall Halt and between Legacy and Ponkey Crossing Halt were withdrawn and the halts were all closed. Passenger services reverted to operating only between Rhos and Wrexham General.

The electric tram services ceased to run on 31 March 1927 but they were replaced by buses that continued to compete for rail passengers. On 1 January 1931 the passenger service between Rhos and Wrexham was withdrawn and Rhostyllen station became unstaffed.

The goods siding at Rhostyllen continued to be used, mostly for deliveries of coal for a local merchant, until the line was closed to all traffic by British Railways on 14 October 1963. Track-lifting on the branch commenced in July 1964. The station was still standing in the summer of 1965 but demolition soon followed.

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 RHOSTYLLEN

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 on the Rhos Branch click on the station name:
Legacy, Rhos, Brook Street Halt, Pant Halt and Wynn Hall Halt

See also: Fennant Road Halt and, Aberderfyn Halt and Ponkey Crossing Halt
from the Rhos Branc
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Click here to see Register of Closed Railways 1901 - 1994


Rhostyllen station looking east in the summer of 1902. Standing proudly on the platform is Station Master Mr Holding who had previously been based at Ffrith.
Photo from the John Mann collection


Rhostyllen station shown on a 25-inch scale map from 1909.

Looking west at Rhostyllen station in the early 1960s.
Photo from the John Mann collection

A view looking east along the Rhostyllen station platform in the early 1960s.
Photo from the John Mann collection

The site of Rhostyllen station looking west on 2 August 2015.
Photo by Paul Wright

 

 

 

[Source: Paul Wright and Alan Young]




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