Pontrilas railway station

A busy scene at Pontrilas Station in 1907

Postcard from 1927 at the busy junction station

Arriva Trains Wales service passing the disused station

Pontrilas railway station was a former station which served the Herefordshire villages of Pontrilas and Ewyas Harold, and was a little distance from Grosmont, in Monmouthshire, Wales. It was located on the Welsh Marches Line between Hereford and Abergavenny. The Golden Valley Railway ^[1] ran from here through to the Midland Railway line at Hay on Wye. The station is now a private house offering B&B and a self-catering cottage.^[2]

The station closed in 1958 (see Pontrilas).

The remaining railway infrastructure includes the operating signal box. The sidings are still in use for infrastructure work and as a less often used freight loop. It is at the end of the long climb from Abergavenny freight and steam specials on this route provide a noisy spectacle coming through the station. In the southbound direction the long section between Pontrilas and Abergavenny frequently results in trains being held here awaiting a clear run into Abergavenny.

The branch line junction and bridge, crossing the A465 onto the Golden Valley Railway, has been demolished in road widening - only the abutment to the bridge remains.

During the 1990s rail freight operated to this set of sidings, delivering wood products to Pontrilas Sawmill. Plans were even mooted to open a short siding into it; this would have had to cross the A465 or replace the missing Golden Valley bridge so was unlikely in hindsight. Freight traffic ended when British Rail closed the Freightliner service.

There are a large number of other sized trains still to be seen in Pontrilas, as a large online model railway retailer - OnTracks.co.uk – is based in the business unit below the signal box.

References

1. The Golden Valley Railway
2. B&B and self catering cottage

Coordinates: 51°56′37″N 2°52′35″W / 51.9435°N 2.8765°W