Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway
Region North Wales Mid Wales South Wales National Network Route Sections Gazetteer of Stations About Wales	Location: 51 46N 3 06W; UK National Grid Ref: SO 237 092 Council Offices, 101 High Street, BLAENAVON, Torfaen, United Kingdom. NP4 9PT Telephone +44 01495 792263 Email: info@pbrly.co.uk Scroll down the page to read the entire article, or select subject heading to move directly to topics. Search WalesRails .......... Message Board History.......The railway today............... Locos and Stock Days, times and Fares .....Getting there.....Nearby attractions	Preserved: Standard gauge Narrow gauge WalesRails: The Grand Tour Official Websites What's New Back to Welcome page

The Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway Company (PBRC) is located high on bleak mountain moorland in the county of Torfaen, but despite its remote location, it is well worth a visit not only for its setting - and the steepest gradients on a preserved railway in Great Britain -  but also for the wide variety of stock located there. Last year, the two-mile extension to Blaenavon High Level opened, and the branch to Big Pit is in operation this season.

On November 30 2000, Blaenavon was declared a World Heritage site, thanks to its history which placed the town at the forefront of the industrial revolution.

The Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway operates over a section of line opened in 1869 by the Brynmawr and Blaenavon Railway Company, supported by the London and North Western Railway.
Over the next few years the line was extended down the valley to join the Great Western Railway at Abersychan and Talywain, passing over the impressive Garndiffaith viaduct which still stands in noble isolation near Talywain.
Meanwhile, the Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company was developing a railway between Newport and Pontypool, eventually linked to the LNWR line from Talywain, and it is part of this route which the PBRC is developing as a preserved railway.

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At present, the P&BR operates from Blaenavon (High Level), via Furnace Sidings, to Garn-yr-erw, adjacent to the Whistle Inn - celebrated in Alexander Cordell's novel Rape of the Fair Country - and home to an extensive collection of miners' lamps.
The PBRC is pressing ahead with an extension south, initially to construct a halt to serve Big Pit mining museum, then onward to Blaenavon South and Varteg.
When the extension northward to Waunavon goes ahead, it will give the P&BR the distinction of operating to the one-time highest station in England and Wales - 1,401 feet above sea level.
The picture shows an English Electric Shunting loco and wagons on the new link to the workshops.
On trains and in the platform shop, gifts, models and souvenirs can be purchased, or, in Blaenavon itself, a wider range of goods are available from the railway shop at No 13 Broad Street.

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The P&BR is home to over 80 locos and pieces of rolling stock, so the complete list is far to big to enumerate here (though perhaps at a later date).
Also at Blaenavon is rolling stock stored for other preserved railway societies, not fortunate enough to have the necessary space to accommodate their acquisitions.

Days and times 2012

A Special timetable applies for the Ghost Trains on October 27th, 28th and 31st
Santa Specials run between Furnace Sidings and Whistle Inn only
Your return ticket is valid all day for as many trips as you wish, except on Special Event days
 

Fares
 

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Big Pit is a major tourist attraction based on the former Big Pit colliery which closed in 1980 after 100 years of operation. Coal from the mine was brought to the Washery at Furnace Sidings, a few hundred yards away.
A visit to Big Pit begins with a ride in the pit cage to a coal face 300ft below the surface, where former miners help recreate the atmosphere of a working pit in the heyday of coalmining.
Across the Valley is the site of the former Blaenavon Iron Works, also a museum to past 'glories'.
In 2007, Blaenavon featured in the BBC Wales television series Coal House, which placed three families back in 1927, where they had to cope with the hardship and deprivation faced by families at that time. In 2008 the experiment was repeated, but this time the families experienced living through World War II restrictions.

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The P&BR can be accessed by road from the A465 Heads of the Valleys trunk road, by joining the A4063 road at Brynmawr. The A4063 also links the railway with Pontypool.
Blaenavon is served by buses from Abergavenny, Pontypool, Cwmbran and Newport, all of which are on the national railway network.
For details of connecting services, including travel planner and timetables, visit the Traveline Cymru website.

Select link to go to Pontypool and Blaenavon's official Website

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Copyright © 1996/7/8/9/2000/1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12 by Deryck Lewis. All rights reserved.
Page created July 22 1996; Redesigned March 29 1999; Updated January 22 2012
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