Without going into the actual cost - a matter belonging exclusively to the contractors - the writer may be permitted to state, for the information of the Institute, that the actual working cost per yard in hard rock is about the same with machine drills as with hand labour, without taking into account the interest on capital and the depreciation of machinery; in addition to the increased speed, more ground is taken out by the machine drills per yard forward, as headings by hand labour are ordinarily only driven 5 feet by 6 feet; and if the hand heading in hard rock were taken out the same size as the machine headings, the progress in the latter case, instead of being 5½ times greater, would be about 8 times greater. Period 19th Century, Post Medieval. Ogmore Valley Railway: to Brynmenyn: Tondu. Although the subject of this paper has been attended by much that is interesting, it would perhaps not have been considered of sufficient importance for a communication to the Institute, from a Civil Engineering point of view only, but coupled with its mining and stratigraphical features it may possess some amount of interest. The station was opened by the Llynvi Valley Railway … The object of the two descriptions is to prevent the possibility of the drill ever turning back. On 1 July 1873 the GWR took over the L&OVR. Dep Plat Originating From Destination; Friday, 5th March: 09:18: Maesteg: Gloucester The Maesteg Line is a commuter rail line in South Wales from Bridgend to Maesteg. Train Times Maesteg to Severn Tunnel Junction. 158831 operating an Arriva Trains Wales service from Cheltenham Spa to … A set of four of the Beaumont drills are capable of putting in 16 to 20 holes 3 feet 6 inches deep in hard rock in three hours, and of keeping this average up. The boring of all the holes takes about four hours as a general rule. Stationboard Live Train Times. Where the valve is driven by the piston, it follows that it must be reversed before the drill strikes the rock, otherwise there would be no motion left to shift the valve to the proper position for the return stroke. Broad Class TRANSPORT. Near the village of Cymmer a junction with the South Wales Mineral Railway has been effected, and sidings are being prepared for the interchange of traffic. In the newer compressors used by the contractors, the piston is solid and the small vacant space at the end of each stroke between the piston and the top cylinder cover is taken up by a little water, which rises and falls with the piston. 6, immediately after passing through the tunnel, crosses the Avon river by means of a high viaduct, with masonry piers and wrought-iron superstructure. Over several consecutive weeks the hand labour averaged 3⅓ yards per week, and the machine drilling 18½ yards per week, or five-and-a-half times the speed of hand labour. Disused railway tunnels lie dormant across the Welsh landscape, but there are some who want to breathe new life into them. Train Times Maesteg (Ewenny Road) to Severn Tunnel Junction. The Diamond Boring Company have just completed with these drills the junction lengths of bottom heading of the Queensbury Tunnel for the Great Northern Railway Company, near Bradford, and for which Mr Fraser is engineer; the ground was rocky shale and good for progress; an actual rate of 28 yards per week was reached, and during the last month, previous to the heading being holed, a total of 105⅓ yards was driven. The oldest tunnel featured on this list is Bullo, also known as Haie Hill. Opened on the Llynvi Valley Extension (Llynvi and Ogmore Railway). Tue 2021-02-16 09:16. Port Talbot : Port Talbot Historical Society, 1998. The concussion was hardly felt at all in the face of the advanced heading, about 202 yards distant; and some men in a break-up 133 yards from the manhole were also uninjured, but the blast came out towards the entrance with terrific force. Garth (Mid Glamorgan) Location: Garth, Bridgend Wales: Coordinates Coordinates: Grid reference: Managed by: Transport for Wales: Platforms: 1: Other … The area is now a grassed zone & the bridge from which this shot was taken, no longer exists : Former B4282 Road overbridge, Neath Road, Maesteg: 7: 20: SE: … The ground in some places was rather heavy, requiring 14 bars of 15 inches diameter, which is rather heavy timbering for a single tunnel, and in such cases lengths of only 12 feet lining could be put in, the general lengths being 18 feet, four or five centres or ribs being used. Maesteg, in the Llynfi Valley, is a small industrial town in Glamorgan, South Wales. The drill can be fed, if required, by hand by simply disconnecting the automatic feed arrangement. Kenfig Hill. [11] On the closure of Dock Street and Mill Street stations to passengers in 1880, High Street station was greatly expanded: The up platform was made into an island - the north face 825 feet (251 m) in length, and the south side 814 feet (248 m). The line from Bridgend originally operated beyond Maesteg through Caerau and the Cymmer Tunnel, known locally as the 'Gwdihw', to passenger stations in Cymmer, known as Cymmer General and further to Abergwynfi. Garth (Mid Glamorgan) railway station is a railway station serving the village of Garth, Bridgend, Wales.It is located on the Maesteg Line from Cardiff via Bridgend.. History. The black band passed through near the south end is supposed to be the "Middle Black Band.". The blasting and clearing of the rubbish takes about four hours. Holes can be put in in any direction, and, as a matter of fact, hand holes are never needed. This tunnel which, when completed, will be nearly a mile in length, is being driven through a high hill lying between Maesteg and Cymmer by the Diamond Rock Boring Company (Limited), of 2 Westminster Chambers, Victoria Street, SW. The works were let in two contracts. Troedyrhiew Garth. It was originally intended to build the viaduct with nine masonry arches of 40 feet span, but it was considered that there would be a difficulty in procuring a sufficient number of masons in so isolated a locality. 2 Rhondda" Seam. The tunnel, being dug through Caerau Mountain, was to link the Llynfi & Ogmore Railway with the neighbouring Afan Valley. The men who were killed were not mutilated, but it is difficult to say whether death was caused by the concussion, or by the very overpowering fumes of exploded dynamite. The tunnel is the principal work in connection with the Llynvi and Ogmore Railway Company's Northern Extensions, the Act for which was obtained in 1873; the writer's firm being engineers for the Bill and for the works. Maesteg railway reopening. The tunnel is 1,594 yards in length, and quite straight, with a rising gradient throughout the whole length towards Maesteg of 1 in 226. Fri 2021-02-19 17:16. Maesteg (Ewenny Road) (MEW) Departures MEW to STJ: Arrivals STJ to MEW: Severn Tunnel Junction (STJ) Departures STJ to MEW: Arrivals MEW to STJ: … The drill may look cumbersome, but it is no stronger or heavier than is necessary to do the amount of work which is involved in piercing a 2¼ inch hole in hard rock, at from 2 to 6 inches per minute; in fact, it is work which needs a small steam hammer to do it. Ledbury Tunnel is closed due to safety reasons caused by severe weather TOCs affected:Great Western Railway, West Midlands Railway. When opened in 1810 it was the longest railway tunnel in the world - although it was only used by a horse-drawn tramway for the first couple of … The object of this arrangement is to keep all the drills relatively in the same position, so that they can be changed one for the other, and so obtain a full command of holding power. 1591 yd: 1455 m: Caerau Colliery. Severn Tunnel Junction to Maesteg. 3.1 Decision matrix In determining the viability of opening disused railway tunnels as active travel routes, Sustrans developed a decision matrix methodology, to act as an initial filter for consideration of … No.1 contract included Railway No.6 from the north end of the tunnel to the junction with the South Wales Mineral Railway, and the whole of Railway No.7. Nearby stations Maesteg Castle Street Maesteg Neath Road Maesteg Ewenny Road Cwmdu Nantyffylon Garth (Mid Glamorgan) Garth [PTRD] Troedyrhiew Garth Coegnant Llangynwyd Caerau Bryn Letty Brongu Duffryn Rhondda Halt Cymmer Afan: Maes-steg … The Big Five Caledonian Railway Glasgow and South Western Railway Great North … It is true that they are exposed to the dirt of a tunnel, but that is more than counterbalanced by the great advantage of the miner being able to see, while the drill is at work, that all parts are in proper order. The air compressors were a pair of vertical single-acting cylinders, working at a reduced speed from the engine, 30 inches diameter by 2 feet stroke, and going at 35 revolutions per minute; the valves were of the butterfly pattern, self-acting, and 3 inches in diameter; the inlet valves, 19 in number, being placed in the piston, and the outlet valves, 12 in number, being placed in a disc under the top cylinder cover. This gradient is against the load, but it is slight, and could not be obviated, having regard to the levels which had to be adopted near the southern entrance. There are cross girders, 10 feet apart, carrying the wooden decking. The height from the bed of the river to rails is 107 feet. Maesteg (MST) Railway Station. The valves are open to inspection, and, with their seats, can be easily and quickly attended to, but they rarely get out of order. being an account of the region comprised in sheet 248 of the map / Part IV,; the country around Pontypridd and Maes-Têg. For rapid and economical tunnel driving by machinery, it is absolutely essential that a powerful drill should be used, and that the liability to breakage should be reduced to a minimum. Probably both causes operated. Top headings had, of course, to be driven sufficiently in advance to draw the bars. The engineers, having regard to the difference in cost and to the greater durability of stone, elected to adopt masonry rather than brick lining, but the contractors finding the stone, although abundant, costly to dress, and that it took four to five days to turn a length in masonry, whilst it could be done in 24 hours in bricks - an important consideration when the advance heading was at the top, and the ground loose - and having a considerable amount of trouble with the Union masons, applied for permission to adopt brickwork at the same price as masonry. Llangynwyd. Railway No.7 commences by a junction with Railway No.6 near the northern end of the tunnel, and runs up the Avon Valley to Blaenavon. Suitable buffers are provided for the valve to strike against, and the same arrangement is carried out with the main piston, so that should the piston accidentally overrun its parts no harm will result. It is therefore necessary, unless time be of no importance, to keep the advanced heading at the bottom, so as to secure several different points for breaking up to full size of tunnel; and it may be stated here that the operation of breaking up was found to be easier going south with the strata rising than in the opposite direction. The feathers sliding in the latter are in connection with two ratchet wheels, one taking the straight, and the other the twist grooves. Thomas, Garfield. It may be that the large fault is the one near the south end, in which case the black band ought to have come in again. The above highly favourable results were not obtained all at once, and are due to the skill and perseverance with which the patentee, Colonel Beaumont, and his agents have displayed in perfecting the mechanical details, and the practical working out of the drill machinery; and before arriving at this successful issue a large expenditure of money had necessarily to be made by the contracting company, in experiments and improvements in the drill, and the appliances attending it from time to time. Train Times Maesteg (Ewenny Road) to Severn Tunnel Junction. The writer is informed that the same percussive drills are driving a heading in Cornwall 7 feet by 8 feet in the hardest Tin Capel at the rate of 10 yards per week; the progress with hand labour having been only 1 yard per week, the advantages here being ten times in favour of machine drilling, whilst much more ground is taken out - a very important consideration when the heading is driven in the mineral lode. In some instances where the ground was good several lengths were opened out and turned at a time. But hand feeding is discountenanced where speed is an object; indeed, without an automatic feed in hard and variable rocks bad progress would inevitably be made. Considerable judgment is required to drill the holes at the angle most effective for the particular ground; as a general rule, the top holes rake upwards, and lower holes downwards. Maesteg, in the Llynfi Valley, is a small industrial town in Glamorgan, South Wales. When the drilling is completed, the arms carrying the drills are turned longitudinally with the tunnel, and the camel is run back into a siding to allow of the muck wagons being readily passed by it. Severn Tunnel Junction (STJ) Departures STJ to MST: Arrivals MST to STJ: Maesteg (MST) Departures MST to STJ: Arrivals STJ to MST: RailwayStation. Maesteg Station code: MST National Rail ScotRail Where: Bridgend, Wales Opened on the Llynvi Valley Railway. yard, Dry masonry in drain throughout bottom of tunnel, per cube yard, Masonry set in mortar in invert, side walls, manholes, arching, or entrance of tunnel, per cube yard, Brickwork set in mortar in invert, side walls, manholes, or arching of tunnel, per cube yard. Mon 2021-03-01 19:43. An unusual feature of the village is the former rail tunnel to the Rhondda Valley, the third longest in Wales, which is in the process of been restored as a cycle path. The tunnel is 1,594 yards in length, and quite straight, with a rising gradient throughout the whole length towards Maesteg of 1 in 226. The Maesteg branch was closed in 1970, and the link with the Afan Valley was lost due to the closure of the Cymmer Tunnel. As a general rule 16 to 18 holes are bored into the face, their average length being 3½ feet to 4 feet in hard rock, and 5 feet to 5½ feet in soft ground. desktop | tablet | mobile. Most of the men were killed in a break-up about 37 yards inside the manhole. Maesteg (Ewenny Road) Garth. The advanced heading in which the drills have worked has been driven about formation level in the centre of the tunnel, and 8 feet wide by 8 feet high. Planet 96 (1992-93) Strahan, Aubrey, Sir. The carriage, or camel as it is called, consists of two arms supported midway by a vertical iron column carried by a low truck running on four flanged wheels. The apparatus consists of a cylinder carrying a piston and piston rod, which is supported on a frame on which it slides longitudinally, being moved by a feed screw, the feed depending on the speed at which the hole is being deepened. Electrification by 2019 was announced in the Department for Transport's High Level Output Specification of 2012.[2]. Queensbury Tunnel under construction in the 1870s. One of the chief specialties of the drill consists in the method of driving the valve, which is set in motion by the air in place of, as is usually the case, by some mechanical connection with the piston, or other moving part of the drill. The explosion took place in an unfinished tunnel, forming part of the Llynvi and Ogmore Railway Extension. Type of Site RAILWAY TUNNEL. About 20 lbs of dynamite are used for the above number of holes in rock, and from 10 to 12 lbs in softer ground. Today the line is operated by Transport for Wales Rail on services from Cheltenham Spa to Maesteg via Cardiff Central and Bridgend, and repeated from Maesteg to Cheltenham Spa, as part of the Valley Lines network. In masonry lining, two days are taken in building the side walls and two days in setting the centres and arching. The Llynfi and Ogmore Railway (L&OVR) was formed on 28 June 1866 (itself the amalgamation of earlier lines); a standard gauge line as opposed to the main line. On the 21st April 1876, a very lamentable accident occurred at the north end, in which 13 lives were lost by an explosion of dynamite, in a manhole 176 yards from the tunnel mouth, and where the charges were being prepared. It is located on the Maesteg Line from Cardiff via Bridgend. The rod is tapered at the end, and as long as the roller keeps clear of the inclined part no feed is given, but so soon as the deepening of the hole enables the piston to move further towards the front end of its stroke the roller descends the incline, and enables the pawl to take a fresh tooth of the ratchet wheel in connection with it. The four centre holes, converging inwards, are first blasted, then the top and side holes, and after the rubbish has been cleared away in front of them the bottom holes are blasted. Caerau. [1] When the current station opened with the restoration of passenger services in 1992, there was much local debate … It passes through mixed strata, resulting in a varied approach to construction and several changes in profile. Cymmer Tunnel . The other station, which is the terminus of the Maesteg Line, is named Maesteg. History. Railway No. Passenger services are operated by Transport for Wales. desktop | tablet | mobile. The several faults passed through make it difficult to connect the sections. Source: Stephen Hughes and Paul … Black & white photo’ of Neath Road station, Maesteg viewed from B4282 road overbridge & showing wooden semaphore post, signal arm, lamp & back-light blinder.Single line curve ran to Cwmdu & originally, Pontycymmer in the Garw valley. Tondu railway station is a railway station serving the village of Tondu, Bridgend county borough, South Wales.It is located on the Maesteg Line from Cardiff via Bridgend.. History; Services; References; External links; Passenger services are operated by Transport for Wales Rail as part of the Valley Lines network for local services.. History. The mountain rising very rapidly at each end, no assistance could be obtained from shafts, and the tunnel has been entirely driven from the two ends. The Llynfi and Ogmore Railway (L&OVR) was formed on 28 June 1866 (itself the amalgamation of earlier lines); a standard gauge line as opposed to the main line. 26 total. Maesteg (Ewenny Road) railway station is one of two railway stations that serve the town of Maesteg in Wales.It is located adjacent to the Ewenny Road Industrial Estate to the south of Maesteg on the Maesteg Line from Cardiff via Bridgend.The other station, which is the terminus of the Maesteg Line, is named Maesteg.. History Maesteg (MST) Departures MST to STJ: Arrivals STJ to MST: Severn Tunnel Junction (STJ) Departures STJ to MST: Arrivals MST to STJ: RailwayStation. Junctions at both Tondu and Cymmer connected with east-west routes across the Llynfi and Afan valleys. Reconnection with Cymmer (Afan Valley) is financially unviable to reinstate;– the tunnel portal is still visible at the Caerau end but it is completely buried at the Cymmer end. Stationboard Live Train Times. The viaduct is built on a curve of 30 chains radius, the rails being level. The bed on which the drill slides is of malleable cast iron, allowing a 3 feet length of traverse.