Bala Junction railway station

52°54′23″N 3°34′53″W / 52.90640°N 3.58150°W / 52.90640; -3.58150Grid referenceSH 937 355Platforms3^[1][2][3]Other informationStatusDisusedHistoryPre-groupingGreat Western RailwayKey dates1 November 1882Opened^[4]18 January 1965^[5][6]Closed to passengers

v t e Bala & Festiniog Railway
Legend
Conwy Valley line to Llandudno Ffestiniog Railway to Porthmadog Harbour Blaenau Festiniog Junction Blaenau Ffestiniog North Blaenau Ffestiniog Ffestiniog Railway to Duffws (FR) Diphwys (F&BR) Glynllifon Street (F&BR) Former wooden viaduct Tan-y-Manod (F&BR) Graig Ddu Quarry Pengwern Quarry Tyddyngwyn (F&BR) Manod Teigl Halt Festiniog Maentwrog Road Line to south dismantled Trawsfynydd power station loading point Trawsfynydd Lake Halt Trawsfynydd Camp Trawsfynydd Llafar Halt Bryn-Celynog Halt Cwm Prysor Viaduct Cwm Prysor Halt Arenig Capel Celyn Halt Section flooded by Llyn Celyn Tyddyn Bridge Halt (under dam wall) Frongoch Bala (New) Bala Junction Ruabon–Barmouth line to Llandderfel Bala (Penybont) (original Bala Lake Halt) Bala Lake Railway to Llanuwchllyn Ruabon–Barmouth line to Barmouth

v t e Ruabon–Barmouth line
Legend
Shrewsbury–Chester line to Chester Ruabon Llangollen Junction Shrewsbury–Chester line to Shrewsbury Acrefair Trevor Pontcysyllte Branch via Monsanto works Sun Bank Halt Llangollen Berwyn Deeside Halt Glyndyfrdwy Carrog Bonwm Halt Corwen East Denbigh, Ruthin & Corwen Rly to Denbigh Corwen Cynwyd Llandrillo Llandderfel Bala Junction Bala and Festiniog Railway to Blaenau Ffestiniog Bala (Penybont) formerly Bala Lake Halt Bryn Hynod Halt Llangower Glan Llyn Halt Pentrepiod Halt Llanuwchllyn Llys Halt Garneddwen Halt Drws-y-Nant Wnion Halt Bont Newydd Dolserau Halt Dolgellau Penmaenpool Aberystwith & Welsh Coast Rly to Pwllheli Barmouth Barmouth Bridge over Afon Mawddach Arthog Barmouth Junction (Morfa Mawddach) Aberystwith & Welsh Coast Rly to Machynlleth

Bala Junction railway station was on the Ruabon to Barmouth line in southern Gwynedd, Wales.^[7] It closed to passengers on Monday 18 January 1965. Bala Junction was unusual in that it was inaccessible by road^[8] and merely served as an interchange station; it was located about ¾ mile to the south-east of the town of Bala.

The station was at the junction with the Blaenau Ffestiniog branch. It was built as a crossing point for trains on the Bala Ffestiniog and Ruabon Barmouth lines, and featured three platforms with a small waiting room and signalbox on a central island platform. There was also a cast-iron GWR water tank.^[9]

History

Opened by the Great Western Railway, it remained in that company through the Grouping of 1923. The station passed to the Western Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948. Passenger services to Bala and on the Ruabon-Barmouth line ceased in January 1965; the service beyond Bala to Blaenau Festiniog having been withdrawn in 1960.

During its operational life, Bala Junction served as an interchange station for the branch line train to Blaenau Festiniog, usually operated by small tank locomotives such as the 6400 Class 0-6-0PT and 5800 Class 0-4-2T tank locomotives. These trains did not run beyond Bala Junction, instead returning north to the GWR station at Blaenau Festiniog. There were no goods facilities here either; all goods trains stopped to shunt detached wagons for the branch line train.

As a junction station, Bala Junction was equipped with standard GWR lower quadrant semaphore signals to control train movements between the Bala Ffestiniog and Ruabon-Barmouth lines. These were used particularly when the branch line train was shunting in preparation for its return to Blaenau Festiniog as there were no turning facilities here. To run around, the branch line engine had to cross from Platform 3 (the Bala Ffestiniog platform) onto the main line and run back along Platform 2, used by eastbound trains running to Ruabon.

As of 2024, the only remnants at Bala Junction are the trackbeds of the Bala Ffestiniog and Ruabon-Barmouth lines and the platform faces. The site is close to a nearby dam; part of the access road for this uses the formation of the Bala Ffestiniog line, passing close to the remains of a short bridge that carried the line into Bala Junction itself.

• 
  BR Standard 4MT 75028 arrives at Bala Junction with the 12.45 Pwllheli-Chester.
• 
  View NE from the station along the Ruabon Barmouth Line.

Neighbouring stations

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Llandderfel Line and station closed		Great Western Railway Ruabon Barmouth Line		Bala Lake Halt Line and station closed
Bala Line and station closed		Great Western Railway Bala Ffestiniog Line		Terminus

References

Sources

• Baughan, Peter E. (1980). A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: Volume 11 North and Mid Wales (1st ed.). Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-7850-3. OCLC 6823219.
• Boyd, James I.C. (1988) [1972]. Narrow Gauge Railways in South Caernarvonshire – Volume 1. Headington: The Oakwood Press. ISBN 978-0-85361-365-7. OCLC 20417464.
• Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
• Clemens, Jim (2003) [1959]. North Wales Steam Lines (DVD). The Jim Clemens Collection No.6. Uffington, Shropshire: B&R Video Productions. Vol 79.
• Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2010). Bala to Llandudno: Featuring Blaenau Ffestiniog. Midhurst, West Sussex: Middleton Press (MD). ISBN 978-1-906008-87-1.
• Quick, Michael (2009) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (4th ed.). Oxford: Railway & Canal Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-901461-57-5. OCLC 612226077.
• Southern, D. W. (1995). Bala Junction to Blaenau Ffestiniog (Scenes from the Past, Railways of North Wales, No. 25). Stockport: Foxline Publishing. ISBN 1-8701-19-34-7.
• Turner, Alun (2003). Gwynedd's Lost Railways. Catrine, Ayrshire: Stenlake Publishing. ISBN 9781840332599.

Further reading

• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2010). Ruabon to Barmouth. West Sussex: Middleton Press. figs. 63-69. ISBN 9781906008840. OCLC 651922152.
• Coleford, I. C. (October 2010). Smith, Martin (ed.). "By GWR to Blaenau Ffestiniog (Part One)". Railway Bylines. 15 (11). Radstock: Irwell Press Limited.
• Coleford, I. C. (November 2010). Smith, Martin (ed.). "By GWR to Blaenau Ffestiniog (Part Two)". Railway Bylines. 15 (12). Radstock: Irwell Press Limited.
• Ferris, Tom (2004) [1961]. British Railways Volume 4 - Bewdley To Blaenau (DVD). demanddvd. DEMDVD084.

External links

• The station site on a navigable OS Map, via National Library of Scotland
• The station on a navigable 1953 OS map, via npe Maps
• The station and line, via Rail Map Online
• The line LJT2 with mileages, via Railway Codes
• The line RUA with mileages, via Railway Codes
• Bala and Dollgellau Railway, via Railscot
• Bala and Festiniog Line, via Railscot
• Corwen and Bala Railway, via Railscot
• Remisinscences by a local railwayman, via Forgotten Relics
• Images of the station, via Yahoo
• Driver's view north of Bala to Blaenau, via YouTube
• Train leaving Bala station, via alamy
• Several photos of the Blaenau line, via Penmorfa
• Several photos of the Blaenau line, via Penmorfa
• A special on the Blaenau line, via 2D53
• 1960 Working timetable, via 2D53
• Details of Summer 1989 excursions through the station, via Six Bells Junction
• Deatails and photos of 22 Jan 1961 railtour, via Six Bells Junction
• The 1961 last train special, via YouTube
• An inspection saloon ride on the line, Part 1, via YouTube
• An inspection saloon ride on the line, Part 2, via YouTube
• Signal box diagram, via Signalling Record Society