Titled “Wales to the World” it will see the current terminus at Park Avenue, Aberystwyth transformed into a Great Western Railway style station suitable for the modern tourist together with the creation of a multifunction display and entertainment facility within our former steam locomotive shed. The new railway from Aberystwyth to Devil's Bridge". Lancashire Evening Post. British Newspaper Archive. 23 December 1902 . Retrieved 17 September 2016– via British Newspaper Archive. The Great Western Railway became part of the Western Region of British Railways on 1 January 1948 and the line continued to operate a tourist service. [18] In the 1950s local managers ensured that the Vale of Rheidol line remained well looked after. The coaches carried British Rail's express livery. The locomotives acquired names in 1956 and fully lined express livery for the following season. The Rheidol power plant is the largest of its kind in England and Wales and has generated renewable energy since 1962.

The upper reaches of the scheme are over 750 meters above sea level up in the remote Plynlimon mountain range. A series of aqueducts collects the water and channels it into the Nant-Y-Moch reservoir. Water flows from this reservoir to a power station at Dinas where it drives a 13,000 KW generator. From the power station, the water flows into Dinas reservior. The Vale of Rheidol Railway re-creates the Edwardian spirit of adventure. Step aboard one of our restored steam trains for a stunning journey along the Rheidol Valley.a b "Vale of Rheidol Railway". Archived from the original on 23 September 2015 . Retrieved 1 September 2015. The Afon Rheidol ("river Rheidol") is a river in Ceredigion, Wales, 19 miles (31km) in length. The source is Plynlimon. Receiving an average annual rainfall of 40 inches (1.02m), Plynlimon is also the source of both the Wye and the Severn. [1] Geography and geology [ edit ] Nant-y-moch dam Following financial and construction difficulties, the routes from Strata Florida to Llanidloes via Devil's Bridge and branch to Aberystwyth were not built, instead in 1865 the Manchester and Milford Railway built an easier route via the Ystwyth valley to Aberystwyth. This left the Rheidol Valley and lead ore mines without a railway.

Dinas' additional reservoir then supplies water to the largest power station at Cwm Rheidol with two 20.5 MW generators. At Cwm Rheidol, a further reservoir has been created to avoid large variations in the flow of water down river towards Aberystwyth. This reservoir collects the water that flows through the power station and releases it slowly through a 1 MW generator at Cwm Rheidol Dam. a b c d UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth . Retrieved 11 June 2022. On 1 January 1922, as part of the Cambrian Railways the line was grouped into the Great Western Railway (GWR). [12] A new station opened next to main standard gauge station in Aberystwyth. [6] The GWR invested quite significantly in its new asset, overhauling one of the two Davies & Metcalfe locomotives and building two brand new locomotives at Swindon, which arrived in 1923. Works records appear to show that the GWR carried out heavy repairs to the original Prince of Wales whereas in reality the locomotive was scrapped and a brand new locomotive built to replace it. [13] Rheidol was withdrawn from traffic in 1924. [14] New open carriages were built to replace the home-made examples used by the VoR and Cambrian, and in 1938 the closed carriages were entirely replaced by high quality modern replacements, all of which are still in service today. By the time the railway was ready to open in 1902, lead mining in Ceredigion was in steep decline. However a significant growth in tourism was under way, and the carriage of passengers soon became the principal traffic of the railway. It opened for mineral traffic in August 1902 and for passengers on 22 December 1902, [5] using two 2-6-2T locomotives built by Davies and Metcalfe and the aforementioned Rheidol, built by Bagnall. [6] In person: visit one of our four customer service hubs located within the town libraries in Aberaeron, Aberystwyth, Cardigan and LampeterVale of Rheidol Light Railway". The Daily News (UK). British Newspaper Archive. 9 August 1901 . Retrieved 17 September 2016– via British Newspaper Archive. The line was moderately successful as a tourist railway although local passenger and freight traffic remained limited, to the extent that the harbour branch was very little used throughout its existence. However, efforts were made to develop the tourist service over the summer seasons with the construction of open-sided carriages and such was the level of the tourist trade the locomotive Palmerston had to be hired from the Festiniog Railway over a number of summers pre-war (1912, 1913 and 1914) and again post-war (1921 and 1922). We are situated in the middle of the picturesque Rheidol Valley, 4 miles from the town of Aberystwyth. Johnson, Peter (2011). An Illustrated History of the Great Western Narrow Gauge. OPC. ISBN 978-0-86093-636-7. There are a number of tourist attractions in the Rheidol valley. These include the Devil's Bridge waterfalls where three bridges, each built over the previous, span the top of a spectacular waterfall.