Pant railway station
This station is the southern terminus of the narrow-gauge Brecon Mountain Railway, opened in 1980. From here visitors enjoy a round trip with views over the countryside and Taf Fechan Reservoir.
For most of its length the railway follows the route of the former Brecon & Merthyr Railway, although the original Pant station was a little to the east of today’s facilities. The photo, by Peter Clark, shows a locomotive having its water tanks replenished at Pant on the last day of passenger trains over the line, in December 1962.
Pant station was originally the terminus of the railway from Brecon, opened in 1863. Passengers for Merthyr were taken by a four-horse omnibus from the Lord Raglan Hotel.
About three years after the railway opened, a group of barristers arrived at Pant en route to the Brecon assizes (similar to today’s crown court). Snowfall at the line’s summit at Torpantau had prevented an engine getting through, but the barristers drew up and signed a document taking responsibility for any mishap. Their train made it to Brecon, where the barristers had to wait for the judge to arrive by road from Neath.
Some 25 metres below the station car park runs the disused Morlais Tunnel. This once allowed the mighty London & North Western Railway to tap Merthyr Tydfil’s lucrative iron trade, via a route through Tredegar to Abergavenny. A ventilation shaft for the tunnel is still marked by a circular tower near the car park.
The original Pant station was the scene of a fatal accident in August 1874. The locomotive of the 4.50pm passenger train from Brecon to Newport and three of the coaches derailed on the points where a branch line to Dowlais diverged. The fireman (stoker) fell from the cab and died under the coaches. He was John Price, 26, of Dolphin Street, Newport. Passenger Elizabeth Jeffreys suffered a broken leg and was taken to the Bruce Hotel, Dowlais. Her husband was a “puddler” – a skilled ironworker – in Ebbw Vale.
West of the Brecon Mountain Railway station are the remains of the Morlais quarries, which supplied limestone to Merthyr’s ironworks.
With thanks to Peter Clark
Postcode: CF48 2UP View Location Map
Website of Brecon Mountain Railway