Exploring the long forgotten St George Quarry / Kinmel Park Camp Military Railway - Abergele to Rhyl
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- Опубліковано 12 гру 2023
- The Kinmel Park Camp Railway opened in 1915, to serve the British Army training camp built in the grounds of Kinmel Hall near Abergele in North Wales. It was 3 miles long and joined the North Wales Coast mainline by Foryd / Kinmel Bay Station.
By 1918, the branch was linked to the Vale of Clwyd branch line which ran from Corwen to a junction just west of the Rhyl Harbour bridge which crosses the River Clwyd estuary at Rhyl.
Using the Vale Branch, the Kinmel Park line was connected to Rhyl Harbour. The line exclusively served the St George Quarry from 1918 onwards. It survived until 1964. Today the line is almost forgotten but the trackbed can be followed through most of Kinmel Bay. Join me for a look along the whole route to see what is left today.......
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#kinmelpark #stgeorgequarrybranch #abandonedrailway
Thanks for this, I appreciate your thoroughness.
Thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated
Interesting video, thank you 👍
Thanks 👍
Very interesting video, I live in Bodelwyddan and remember the quarry trains crossing the Abergele Road when I was a kid. In 2018 I took the Grandkids to the now closed 'Adventure Trail' in the grounds of Kinmel Hall and there was a piece of the railway track mounted on display.
Thanks Graham. It's a shame there is nothing left to see at Bodelwyddan now of the line.
Great video.
Thanks
Fascinating video….we had a caravan on Winkups camp in the 60’s and spent hours exploring the area as children. I can remember a disused track running adjacent to the Abergele sea wall from Golden Sands holiday Park towards Abergele railway station. I assume it was there to service the building of the sea wall.
Thanks. Yes there was a track. As far as I'm aware it was for maintenance or rebuilding of the sea wall. Kimmel Bay and Towyn have changed greatly over the years
@@RWHTrains
There was a rumour that the sea wall was built/upgraded by prisoners of war….and I could never understand as a child why the communal toilet blocks on Winkups had rusty barbed wire around the roof, who’d want to break into a toilet!?…so maybe prisoners were held there…of course I have absolutely no evidence of this I’m just putting 2 and 2 together and probably making 8.
@philrobinson5667 Kinmel Park was used for POWs at one time so totally feasible. There are that many campsites in that area they probably used by the war effort
@@RWHTrains Interesting stuff…my grandfather was in the Home Guard and mentioned that unlike the allies, the enemy forces showed little interest in escaping he remembers himself, only a youngster at the time and two other elderly ‘guards’ being in charge of ten prisoners digging up the A6 in Stockport and they had no ammo in their rifles at the time…but they weren’t worried as the prisoners were hard working and affable….so, despite the barbed wire around the lavs maybe they weren’t considered that dangerous therefore not many stories exist.
@@philrobinson5667 thanks for sharing. I've heard similar before about them not wanting to escape. Seems they were quite well looked after. Better than the British POWs were anyway
So why wasn't the railway used to transport the Canadian troops who allegedly mutinied at Kinmel Camp to Liverpool to sail home after WW1. As I believe their departure kept being delayed and were to march to Liverpool.. The graves of the soldiers who died are at Bodelwyddan Church
A great video as there is so little information and pics of this line and it means a lot to me. When I was little I used to hear the trains from the infants School in Abergele, trundling down from St George Quarry. I vaguely remember the track after it closed and all of the crossings along the line. My father used to tell me about the line and that there were quite a few derailments due to the bad condition of the track. He regularly used to travel the line to visit his family at St George. At the point of the well by Thorncliffes the line crossed the road ( old A55) and then turned left into a platform, which is now probably under the present A55 road, and where he used to get off to visit his relatives. He said the driver used to have a special staff (token) to access the line. During the 70's I remember the crossing on the A547 where you could clearly see the ballast and the pins that held the track down onto the sleepers, they were so primitive which probably explains the derailments. The trackbed in the area soon had it's hedges removed and the fields were soon ploughed over leaving no trace of the railway. There were large warehouses at Foryd and I think the railway accessed them, I seem to remember small turntables to position the wagons for possible access to these areas. I believe it was the station building that was situated close to the crossing there. Beyond there I remember the pointwork for the sidings and the other side of the road what looked like double track or main track and siding leading away. As regards the engine shed, I think the building is probably too elaborate for a loco shed, but who knows? My guess is that there is a picture knocking around on the internet, of the quarry site which shows where a siding accesses a simple single road tin shed which looked more suitable for a loco shed. I've always wanted to see what's left in the grounds of Kinmel Hall, but never managed to visit there. I was at Foryd Junction the day the Denbigh line infrastructure began being dismantled, firstly by Llandudno Junction S&T department removing the signals and stripping half of the signal box. Sadly, much of the site is unrecognisable now.
Thanks for sharing. I only remember the crossing in the mid 1980s at Foryd Road. You are correct there is very little information or photos out there about the line. Apparently someone wrote a magazine article at some point but I haven't been able to track down anything from that apart from the photo of the train on a crossing (I think on the back road near Borth crossroads). There was a little bit on a local cycling website (a Daily Post report) I think from when the pathway was made into a cycle path but that from over 25 years ago.
I never knew there was any passenger traffic on the line so that is really interesting to hear about your Dad using the line and the platform at Kinmel Park. I read something about the shed at the harbour. I think it was on Facebook a while ago but it wasn't confirmed anywhere else. I did find one photo which showed a number of lines running alongside the Quay side.
There is so much local history we have lost around here. We only hear about the Dyserth branch. I believe there was also some sort of siding at Towyn and Gronant as well but cannot find out much about them
That's how I got into trains can remember hearing them when I was a kid at night (class 40s and others).
I think this line was owned by the quarry so that would explain the reduced maintenance and the derailments.
I would like to see Kinmel Hall as well. I looks such a magnificent structure. Such a shame that it's in the state of is these days. I have been sent me some photos of inside the estate. There is a bit of track work on a plinth and building ruins. I don't think it is open to the public very often unfortunately
@@RWHTrains Thanks for your reply, it's all very interesting. That train on the crossing is on the A547 I believe, I remember that bit so well. Yes my father used to tell me about travelling on the train and where the platform was every time we passed that area. Maybe he used the same platform as the troops used, but I got the idea it was not very far from were the line crossed the road at Terfyn. The station at Kinmel Bay is further evidence that passengers used the line, but where my father caught the train, I don't know. He lived in Rhyl in those days. At Terfyn the line went through the stone wall there. They rebuilt the gap using stone and it's difficult to see where it was when you are passing by car. Yes it's sad the rate everything around here is disappearing, it was alright when you could see the ballast but once that disappeared and the foliage started to take hold then it's become very difficult. Yes there was a siding at Sandy Cove, Towyn which left the road close to Sandy Cove bridge on the Abergele side and ran so far along the sea wall. I think it was to allow maintenance of the sea wall.
@@RWHTrains My grandmother lived in at Kinmel Hall when it was Clarendon School. It was such a beautiful looking building. I witnessed the terrible fire which I think was in a kitchen back in around 1974. I've seen quite a bit on the internet in the past, last time I looked it was in a sad state.
@levelcrossing150 I agree I'm sure it's that road with the level crossing. I could not see any trace where the wall at Terfyn has been filled they have done a really good job at matching it up.
I found reference to a station by the harbour as well but nothing about regular services. I'm not totally sure but I don't think trains from the coast mainline went down the quarry branch, so your Dad may have got on at the harbour. Foryd Pier that was called. They must have been run mainly for the camp or quarry workers I guess.
I did find a bit of untouched trackbed at the back of Tir Llwyd Industrial Estate. It's a bit of a trek though as it's accessed from some roads that are blocked off. I think Tir Llwyd must have been planned to be bigger than it is as there is a big undeveloped bit. It runs down the back of there. I could only see a couple of small sections I don't it can be walked unfortunately
I think the brick building was a timber yard and the mayquey pub was the old station.
Thanks for the info
I have a photo of the piece of track but can't seem to add it to the comment box.
I don't think photos can be added. It's a shame didn't know about that piece of track
Have you a facebook page I can then post it?
@@grahambloxsome3226 yes Robin Harrison
Thanks again Graham for the photos. Really appreciated