The Wrexham and Ellesmere Railway

Railway History The Wrexham & Ellesmere line was opened in 1895 and was worked by the Cambrian Railways and, for a few years at least, this single track branch formed part of a tenuous cross country link between Manchester and Liverpool and the districts served by the Cambrian system. The 1922-1923 Grouping ensured that the line passed into Great Western hands and it treated the route as an ordinary country branch line, and in the 1920s and 1930s this 12 mile single track route would have been very similar to scores of other rural lines. In World War II the route carried extra traffic to and from a large ordnance factory that had been established at Marchwiel, and in post-war years the site of this factory became an industrial estate that continued to provide freight traffic for the railway. Sadly, the Wrexham & Ellesmere line did not survive the anti-railway purges of the 1960s, and its passenger services were withdrawn in 1962. Freight traffic continued to operate over the northern end of the line until the 1980s. There has not, hitherto, been a history of the line, and very few articles have been written; neither has the route received much attention from casual photographers. This present volume therefore fills a small but significant gap in the railway history of the Welsh border region.

Table of Contents:
Introduction; Historical Summary; Origins of the Wrexham & Ellesmere Branch; The Formation of the Cambrian Railways - The Whitchurch, Wrexham, Mold & Connah's Quay Junction Railway - Influence of the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway - Formation of the Wrexham & Ellesmere Railway - An Agreement with the Great Western? - Directors & Promoters: A Further Note; Construction and Opening; Boardroom Changes - Construction Begins - The First Passenger-Carrying Train - Completion & Opening of the Wrexham Railway - Some Details of the Line; Developments during the Cambrian and Great Western Periods; Locomotives and Train Services in the Early 20th Century - World War I and the Grouping - Operating the Line during the Great Western Period - Collection & Delivery Arrangements - Goods Trains and Traffic - World War II; The Stations and Route from Ellesmere to Sesswick; Ellesmere - Ellesmere 'Old Loop Siding' - Elson Halt - Elson Siding - Trench Halt and Siding - Overton-on-Dee - Cloy Halt - Bangor-on-Dee - Pickhill Halt and Cadbury's Siding - Sesswick Halt; The Stations and Route from Sesswick to Wrexham; Marchwiel Royal Ordnance Factory Sidings - Marchwiel - Five Fords Farm Siding - Abenbury Brick Works Siding - Kings Mill Brick Works Siding - Hightown Siding and Halt - Wrexham (Caia) Goods Yard - Wrexham Central - A Note on Distances; The Final Years (1948-1982); Motive Power in the BR Period - Post-War Rolling Stock - Train Services in the BR Period - Towards Closure - The Last Trains - A Freight-Only Branch - Post-Closure Developments - The Railway Today; Chronology; Facilities at Halts and Stations; Index