Sunday 6 February 2011

The end of the railway age: closing the Mold to Denbigh line (part 3).

From Caerwys the line followed the River Wheeler towards Bodfari. The sign at Bodfari was especially splendid.

Passengers embark for Denbigh and beyond.

The section of line from Bodfari from to Denbigh had been reduced to a single line in the 1950s. The next two images show the driver getting the all important 'token' - safety was ensured by the simple process of no train on the track unless they were in possession of the right token. At Denbigh the token was handed back to the station master.
Poor quality image, but the token is collected by the driver at Bodfari.

At Denbigh the Token is returned.
Denbigh Station was busy with trains arriving and departing to Ruthin and Rhyl, as well as Mold, and hence to Chester. Photographs of Denbigh Station give the impression of it being a place of note. The signal box had only just been modernised when the line was finally closed in 1962.

The brand new signal box does not suggest the closure was well planned.

The end of the line.

Brian Cowlishaw cannot have known at the time, but his film shows a mode of transport and a way of life that had not changed since the mid Victorian period. The stone bridges and railway embankments from Mold to Denbigh are still visible. They are a testament to importance of the railway age. However, one part of the film, not mentioned in this blog, tells of the railway sidings built to serve a quarry near Hendre, situated between Rhydymwyn and Nannerch. The quarry was booming in the 1950s as it had won the contract to supply limestone for the building of the M1 motorway. The triumph of the private motor car was at hand.

2 comments:

  1. Thats a cracking account of the line, Tim. I dont suppose you're aware of any photos or literature referring to the Pontruffydd Bridge have you?

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  2. Where is that bridge? I don't think I do though.

    ReplyDelete