Rhuddlan railway station

Rhuddlan was a railway station located in Rhuddlan, Denbighshire. It first opened in 1858 as part of the Vale of Clwyd Railway, and afterwards under the auspices of several different companies. The station closed to passengers on 19 September 1955, some seven years after nationalisation.

Rhuddlan
Location	Rhuddlan, Denbighshire Wales
Platforms	1
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Vale of Clwyd Railway
Pre-grouping	London and North Western Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
5 October 1858	Opened
19 September 1955	Closed

History

The railway at Rhuddlan opened on 5 October 1858 as part of the Vale of Clwyd Railway, which connected with the station at Rhyl railway station for the Chester and Holyhead Railway.[1] At opening, Rhuddlan station had a single platform on the east side of the line. While there was a passing loop for trains, this did not have a platform for a second train to stop.[2] The station building was brick built, while a goods store on the platform was constructed out of wood.[3] The platform storage was increased in 1879, when a second room was built.[4]

Access was provided by the road towards Abergele, which passed over the tracks south of the station via a railway bridge. There were steps down from the bridge directly onto the platform for foot passengers, while a side road was constructed for vehicles.[3] There was a near disaster in June 1921 when a car came off the bridge and went down a steep bank, ending a few feet short of the platform just prior to the arrival of a train.[5]

The London and North Western Railway took control of the Vale of Clwyd Railway in 1864, and absorbed it into its services on 15 July 1867. They were absorbed into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1924. When nationalisation took place in 1948, the station formed part of British Railways London Midland Region.

The station was host to a LMS caravan from 1934 to 1939. Camping coaches were also positioned here by the London Midland Region from 1955 to 1968, most years there were four coaches, but only three in 1957 and 1958 and just two in 1955.[6]

It closed to passenger services on 19 September 1955.[1] Trains continued to pass through the station until the line was closed on 1 January 1968,[7] with the track lifted shortly afterwards.[3]

Site today

The station was demolished and only some fence posts and steps down from the road bridge remain.

References

1. Quick, Michael (2019) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (PDF) (5th ed.). Railway and Canal Historical Society.
2. "Rhuddlan station on OS Six-inch map Flintshire IV (includes: Bodelwyddan; Rhuddlan.)". National Library of Scotland. 1878. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
3. Wright, Paul (7 May 2010). "Station Name: Rhuddlan". Disused-Stations.org.uk. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
4. "Rhyl". North Wales Chronicle. 19 July 1879. p. 5. Retrieved 25 April 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
5. "Charabanc Party's Narrow Escape". Dundee Evening Telegraph. 7 June 1921. p. 10. Retrieved 25 April 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
6. McRae, Andrew (1997). British Railway Camping Coach Holidays: The 1930s & British Railways (London Midland Region). Scenes from the Past: 30 (Part One). Foxline. pp. 22 & 50. ISBN 1-870119-48-7.
7. Hurst, Geoffrey (1992). Register of Closed Railways: 1948-1991. Worksop, Nottinghamshire: Milepost Publications. p. 52 (ref 2367). ISBN 0-9477-9618-5.

Further reading

• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2012). Branch Lines around Denbigh. West Sussex: Middleton Press. figs. 7-10. ISBN 9781908174321. OCLC 814270878.

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Foryd		London and North Western Railway Vale of Clwyd Railway		St Asaph