Author : Stanley C. Jenkins
ISBN : 9780853616924
Cover : paperback
Price : £11.95

The turbulent history of the South Wales borderlands produced a romantic and picturesque landscape of castles and villages. In Victorian times this attractive Anglo-Celtic district contained a network of local branch lines, which opened up the area to tourists and visitors from England and elsewhere. The cross-country branch lines from Ross-on-Wye to Monmouth via Symond’sm Yat, and from Monmouth to Little Mill (near Pontypool) via Raglan and Usk were interesting and classic Great Western rural lines. The route from Ross-on-Wye to Pontypool Road was built by two separate companies, the Ross & Monmouth Railway being responsible for the eastern section of the line, while the western portion from Monmouth to Little Mill Junction (near Pontypool Road) was built by the Coleford, Monmouth, Usk & Pontypool Railway. The great Western Railway, which absorbed both undertakings, regarded the Ross-on-Wye to Little Mill Junction line as a continuous route.

Chapters one and two tell the stories of the Ross & Monmouth and Coleford, Monmouth, Usk & Pontypool railways respectively, while chapter three deals with the operation of the line under Great Western auspices. The next chapters describe the stations and infrastructure of the two lines in greater detail. Finally, chapter six recounts the decline of the railway after the Second World War.

This book was first published in 2002, and this revised and enlarged edition has an extra 24 pages enabling the inclusion of some new photographs. Also included is a full page track plan of Glascoed (which clearly shows the five stations/halts there). The track plan shows the developments which took place from 1938 and during the Second World War as Glascoed’s Royal Ordnance Factory became a great source of traffic for the railway. The full story of developments at Raglan prior to the opening of its station has also been clarified.

A5 format, 200 pages, 198 illustrations.