Author : M. R. C. Price
ISBN : 9780853617143
Cover : paperback
Price : £8.95

Sixteen miles south of Aberystwyth on the wide sweep of Cardigan Bay lies Aberayron one of west Wales’ most picturesque and attractive harbours. The harbour and most f this delightful town was developed in the early 19th century. By the 1880s the townsfolk became involved with proposals to connect their own town to the GWR main line in the area. These proposals varied over the years and included the fascinating possibility of an extension of the 2 ft gauge Vale of Rheidol Railway from Aberystwyth. The final proposal was a route from the market town of Lampeter, with a branch from this line to New Quay.

Planning, construction and financing of the Aberayron branch was a protracted affair and the railway did not open until 1911. By this time there was already competition from motor buses. The planned New Quay extension was sadly never built. The late opening date of this line means that most unusually photographs are available covering the earliest days of the railway. The line lost its passenger service in the 1950s, but freight trains continued to work on the line until 1973. A section of the line south of Aberayron is now a footpath.

Also covered in this book is the New Quay Harbour Tramway, a line of approximately 4 ft 2 in. gauge built to assist in the construction of the harbour there in the 1830s.

A 5 format, 104 pages, 107 illustrations.