The closed and remote Cefn Onn halt in north Cardiff

[editor]

I know this one's definitely a niche interest, but I've written a photo feature about Cefn Onn halt - a now closed, little known station hidden away in a deep cutting by a tunnel. It was only accessible by foot. The nearest house was nearly half a mile away.

I used to catch my morning train there and loved the place.

So I give you:
Cefn Onn halt!

 

[Dante]

Occasionally, the driver would see me too late and have to reverse back into the station, much to the annoyance of my fellow passengers. [/URL]

fantastic, thats given me the funkiest mental image in ages

so was the station just there to serve a park?

great photo's and story

 

[editor]

so was the station just there to serve a park?

Yep. There were no houses close to the station, and only a limited number of trains would stop there - several times I found myself being taken on an unwanted trip to Caerphilly when the driver forgot to stop. Other times, the driver would park the wrong segment of the train at the station, leaving me to dash along the train carriages in double quick time.

 

[Dante]

so would this originally have been a victorian station? or was it opened later?

it sounds great, i'd love it if you could do that now, just flag down a Eurostar when you want to get into waterloo or Paris

(btw as i browse the web to find out more, its the number one hit for Cefn Onn on google)

 

[marty21]

great piccies, just a few questions about your use of the station, did you go out of your way to use it? (i would have been tempted) or was it the nearest station, and the other person who used it, do yah still keep in touch

 

[editor]

I lived much closer to a bus stop, but I liked walking along the little country path to the station every day and loved the peace and quiet of the station.

The girl who caught the train with me was lovely - she was about the same age as me, her name was Karen and she lived in a little cottage nearby (it's now been converted into a bland 'lifestyle' property)

 

[Pecanpie]

I am so glad you posted this. What a bittersweet photo essay.

 

[editor]

Cheers for the feedback - makes me feel a little less obsessed knowing that others have enjoyed the pics!

I've just done a bit more research and doscovered that during the building of the line, a large amount of Irish navvies were camped by the nearby village of Llanished.

Such was the suspicion that Fenians (a secret Irish nationalist group) were lurking in their fold, that in October 1861, the group staying in Llanishen were guarded all night by armed police who expected insurrection!

One thing: can anyone find out the exact date that the halt was opened and closed?

 

[Isambard]

I'm not 100% sure where my railway atlas is Editor and it also may pre-date the 1986 move of the station but I shall try and have a look about exact dates.

I might be TOTALLY wrong but I read somewhere years ago that Dovey Junction (forgive lack of Cymraeg name I'm not sure on that one ) was also foot access only designed only to provide an interchanage between lines.

There's a similar station in the west of Scotland somewhere on Rannoch Moor that I once travelled to that also didn't have road access.

Also some trains Norwich - Yarmouth in East Anglia serve via an obscure branch the similar Berney Arms Halt that managed to avoid closure in the 80s and has cult status amongst anoraks.

Bit off the Cymru/Wales topic but you know how anoraks like to ramble away off on any old tangent!

Nice story.

 

[editor]

I might be TOTALLY wrong but I read somewhere years ago that Dovey Junction (forgive lack of Cymraeg name I'm not sure on that one ) was also foot access only designed only to provide an interchanage between lines.

Indeed it was - it was in the middle of nowhere!

I've got a feeling that Bala Junction was similarly isolated too....

 

[Kid_Eternity]

Wow, that was sooo cool to read! Excellent stuff!
I don't mean to be picky but I noticed a tiny mistake in a paragraph just after the first two pics:

"During the winter of 1977, the snow was so bad that I found myself stood waist high in a snowdrift waiting for the morning train. Needless to say, the driver failed to see me as he hurtled past my platform, and I got blasted with a covering of snow for my troubles!. "

Note the full stop after the exclaimation mark?

KE

 

[Isambard]

I thought Dovey junction still IS foot only access:

http://bdaugherty.tripod.com/railways/gwynedd.html

but according to multi map there seems to be a side road there now.

Some 70s photos of Dovey Junction:

http://www.2d53.co.uk/cambriancoast/Dovey Junction.htm

And guess what google throws up if you search for "Cefn On" ?
Everyone's favourite baby eating trainspotter site of course!

 

[editor]

Check out this photo from that site:

Apparently, the train ran on to the spot where the photographer was standing!

http://tinyurl.com/6ysbs

 

[jd]

I thought Dovey junction still IS foot only access:

http://bdaugherty.tripod.com/railways/gwynedd.html

but according to multi map there seems to be a side road there now.

Some 70s photos of Dovey Junction:

http://www.2d53.co.uk/cambriancoast/Dovey Junction.htm

And guess what google throws up if you search for "Cefn On" ?
Everyone's favourite baby eating trainspotter site of course!

My mind turned to Dyfi Junction as I read the piece... it's a strange place indeed, nowhere near the main road. I've been through it many times on the train (usually from Penhelig Halt, quite like Cefn Onn in style), but I have no idea how to get there by car.

I think it started as the meeting point for two lines that just happened to end there - one going north up the coast and the other to Aberystwyth and south east. Why they didn't continue the northern line the few miles on to Machynlleth, I don't know.

 

[meurig]

Lovely photos ed.

As a kid growing up in Cardiff I went to Cefn Onn quite often.

My parents/grandparents told me that the man who created it had done so for his son who was dying of tuberculosis. That story always added a rather poignant feel to visits to the park for me. I can't find corroborative evidence for it now though, except here where it says that both father and son died before the second world war.

You wouldn't happen to know anymore about them would you ed?

 

[Wolfie]

I thoroughly enjoyed that Mike, thanks.

 

[osterberg]

Cefn onn

Thank you.I pass this disused station on the train every day and have always wondered about its history

 

[Isambard]

Cymru Choo Choos

I think it started as the meeting point for two lines that just happened to end there - one going north up the coast and the other to Aberystwyth and south east. Why they didn't continue the northern line the few miles on to Machynlleth, I don't know.

IIRC it was partly due to keepin the lines as close to coastal flats / valleys as much as possible to get maximum speeds rather than always heading for larger towns. (Certainly this was a GWR policy that got trains to Bristol and Caerdydd quicker but by-passed a lot of towns on the way). Couple this with the intense competitive rivalry between the private railway companies and I'm pretty certain that Machynlleth has 2 rival stations, I'll have to check.

Of course, it wasn't that economic and in a lot of cases (look at the S Wales Valleys) BOTH the GWR and "LMS" lines met the axe.

In N Wales, I'd have guessed that the Canaerffon line might be / have been a candidate for re-opening and I heard somewhere that the Almwch (sp) line on Ynys Mon might be re-opened.

 

[jd]

IIRC it was partly due to keepin the lines as close to coastal flats / valleys as much as possible to get maximum speeds rather than always heading for larger towns. (Certainly this was a GWR policy that got trains to Bristol and Caerdydd quicker but by-passed a lot of towns on the way). Couple this with the intense competitive rivalry between the private railway companies and I'm pretty certain that Machynlleth has 2 rival stations, I'll have to check.

Of course, it wasn't that economic and in a lot of cases (look at the S Wales Valleys) BOTH the GWR and "LMS" lines met the axe.

In N Wales, I'd have guessed that the Canaerffon line might be / have been a candidate for re-opening and I heard somewhere that the Almwch (sp) line on Ynys Mon might be re-opened.

You know yer trains grtho!

Makes sense re flatness, I guess... and it might have been the case that most traffic was going north/south, and so crossed the Dyfi at the earliest opportunity rather than going up the estuary to Machynlleth.

I don't think there were two stations in Machynlleth though, and I know it reasonably well. Might have to look into that...

 

[Isambard]

You know yer trains grtho!

Pervy "trots" like trains too!

I've no time to check now (I'm off to a tropical island with fantastic cuisine and a right-on government tomorrow ) but I'll check out the details when I get a chance.

<I'm really surprised no one has mentioned the re-opening of the Cwm Morgannwg line >

 

[JWH]

Cool page, editor. I remember taking a trip along some West Highlands line that had a big red flag you had to wave to get the train to stop. Does anyone know if those stations still exist? Probably all closed now.

 

[Dirty Martini]

Great stuff

Copied to my dad, who'll love it.

 

[davesgcr]

Pleased to say there were 2 stations at Machynlleth - one was the narrow gauge line to Aberllenfenni - known as the Crris Railway - closed in 1947 after a bd winter washed out the track.The remnants can be seen from the platform at the present station.Lots written about it by James Boyd and others in some detailed tomes.(get em out of the library)

And I think Cefn Onn halt is a great place -read all about how they closed it in John Davies book on the Cardiff Railway Company / Valley Lines - called very appropriatly "The Peoples Railway" - an excellent read confimming that railways are all about place AND people.

 

[editor]

Got some great archive photos added:

Cefn Onn Halt, Cardiff – nine historic photos by Rob Masterman

 

[davesgcr]

Got some great archive photos added:

Cefn Onn Halt, Cardiff – nine historic photos by Rob Masterman

Mr Masterman is an absolute gent - we met up last March and walked the closed route known to generations of railwaymen as "The Big Hill" from the site of Penrhos Junction to Taffs Well. Bob had taken some amazing photos in the 1960's there , so we did some before and after comparisons.

 

[dessiato]

I’m not a railway enthusiast but this has interested me. Perhaps I’ll need to buy an anorak. Great pics.

But what happened to Karen?

 

[nogojones]

I was walking up there earlier in the year and wondered what these were. Now I know.

 

[editor]

Here's my follow up article today:

Cefn Onn Halt fifteen years ago, photos of a closed station, December 2004

 

[editor]

Mr Masterman is an absolute gent - we met up last March and walked the closed route known to generations of railwaymen as "The Big Hill" from the site of Penrhos Junction to Taffs Well. Bob had taken some amazing photos in the 1960's there , so we did some before and after comparisons.

He does have some absolutely amazing photos in his collection. He's also sent me some of the Coryton line, which I'll be posting next week.