The Barry Railway: Its Docks & Successors

摘要

This, the second book appearing on the history of Barry Railway and Docks follows the 2018 publication of John Hodge's Barry, Its Railway and Port.1 Barry is well known by railway historians and enthusiasts because of its locomotive graveyard (Woodham Brothers' scrap yard2) but that is only a recent chapter in the railway history of the area. The railway companies, which from 1840 onwards, opened up the South Wales coalfield, included the Cardiff, Rhymney, Taff Vale, Pontypridd, Caerphilly and Newport, and Brecon & Merthyr railways, all of which were well established by the time the Barry Railway came along. It was formed in an attempt to break the Marquis of Bute's monopoly of Cardiff docks. All the coal raised and sent down the various valleys to be funnelled into the Taff valley was exported through Bute Dock in Cardiff. The Barry Railway was a late arrival and not unsurprisingly the most advantageous railway routes and the best dock locations had already been developed by other South Wales railways. As a result, the engineering infrastructure presented more challenges and the Barry directors spared no expense in its construction. The book also includes the story of the Barry heritage railway, originally operated by the Vale of Glamorgan Railway from 1997 to 2009 and since then by Cambrian Transport. As someone who knew Barry from the late 1950s, as a photographic account this is fascinating, and informative of the changes that have taken place.