In the June of 2009, we spent a week in the lovely Fforest campsite near Cardigan, west Wales, and being the railway spod I am, I simply had to find out what remained of the old Cardigan railway terminus, which closed completely in 1963 .
We walked to the old station and discovered that there was a surprising number of railway features still intact, including the goods shed – complete with original canopy – and some of the original platform.
Here’s a similar view of the station from 1958. You can see the goods shed to the right, with the single passenger platform to the left.
Although the line ran through beautifully picturesque countryside, the winding terrain and tight curves meant that train speeds averaged as low as 15mph from Cardigan to Whitland.
[Pic: HC Casserley]
More views of the goods shed, which looks to be in excellent condition.
Old goods wagon, presumably left on site after the railway closed.
More info
Cardigan is a really lovely place to visit – check out my large photo report here – and you can see the rest of my photos of Cardigan railway station here.
I’m delighted that Nick Catford – the absolute don of abandoned railway research – has seen fit to use some of my photos in his comprehensive and fascinating history of the entire Cardigan branch.
It’s a great read, although some of the photos of the crumbling old buildings along the line are rather sad to see – Boncath is a particularly melancholy sight.
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