The Railway
Transport in the area was drastically
improved with the opening of the railway to Lampeter. the town
was on the routes of several projected schemes, which came to
nothing, but the first train steamed in to Lampeter from Pencader
Junction on June 1st 1866. The railway was extended to Strata
Florida in on September 1st, and finally to Aberystwyth in August
1867. The railway was owned by the Manchester and Milford Railway
Company, which was a financial disaster, and was built to the
now standard gauge of 4ft, 8.5 inches, rather than the 7ft gauge
of the Great Western Railway. Three trains ran every day except
Sundays, and enabled Lampeter to become an important station,
although the cost of building the railway was slowly bankrupting
the company. A steam Locomotive, No7 "Carmarthen", exploded
at Maesycreigiau in 1890, and the Cambrian Railway took the
M&M to court over unpaid bills. The Great Western Railway
eventually bought the line in 1906.
Under the auspices of John C Harford,
Falcondale, a branch line was constructed between Lampeter and
Aberaeron, opening in 1911, this too was later sold to the GWR.
After the nationalisation of the
railways, the passenger service to Aberaeron ceased. Passenger
trains on the main line to Carmarthen and Aberystwyth continued
until January 1965, when they ceased due to flooding, never
to resume. Milk continued to be conveyed by railway until 1973,
when the traffic was transferred to road. The tracks were lifted
shortly afterwards. Little remains of the railway, the large
station and goods yard are now part of the University
and the Cattle Market, although the name Station Terrace and
the railway bridge over the river Teifi near the Co-operative
Supermarket serve to remind us of this part of Lampeter's history. |
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