Portreuddyn
| Portreuddyn | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type |
Bridge Site of former loop | ||||||||
| Status | Bridge in use | ||||||||
| Operational No. | UB56.83 | ||||||||
| Location | |||||||||
| Grid reference | SH584404 | ||||||||
| Route Navigator | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Stations | Locations | Bridges | Tunnels | Map | |||||||||
Portreuddyn was the location of an 180' loop on the original Croesor Tramway (later part of the Welsh Highland Railway), some 56 chains to the south of Pont Croesor, and was used as a passing point in those horse-worked times. On the reconstructed WHR there is an occupation bridge here.
History[edit]
Portreuddyn was located at 1m 49ch from the southern end of the Croesor Tramway, from where its route followed the gently rising (1:3556) Creassy Embankment, built in 1800. At Portreuddyn, however, this embankment veered inland, and the tramway builders therefore had to build their own embankment from here up to Pont Croesor.
Following the utilization of this part of the Croesor Tramway for the WHR, and realising that the Portmadoc New - Beddgelert section of the WHR was a long section requiring a passing point, it was intended in 1924 that the loop should be re-conditioned, even though no use was being made of it at the time. In reality, in March 1924 the loop was moved north - the eastern part of it was removed and used in the redesign at Croesor Junction. The west point was retained and became a sand trap siding.
Although the railway told the Board of Trade that it did not expect to make use of the loop at Portreuddyn, and indeed never did, several books have printed a December 1923 summary timetable which appeared to require use of it on Monday-Friday evenings. Further, more recent research has shown that these books should have shown the 6.30 pm train from Portmadoc as running on Saturdays only (SO) rather than Saturdays excepted (SX); since the southbound train concerned ran over an hour later on Saturdays, the necessary crossing actually occurred at Beddgelert.
This location, probably as a result of mis-interpretation of the original Welsh name, became known by a number of names, these variously quoted as:
Portreuddyn - the Castle is located nearby and was the nearest structure of consequence. (See O.S. map.)
Pont Reuddyn - this name seems to be a name in local use at the time of the Croesor Tramway. (Boyd states that, to locals, "Pont Croesor" was a name brought in by the WHR, and that the crossing point was previously known as "Pont Reuddyn".)
Pont Rhyddin (Halt) - this name only seems to appear a couple of times, in printed histories of the Welsh Highland
[Boyd makes mixed use of the name. Vol. 2 (p.15), for instance, shows a map of Pont Rhyddin Halt (with no reference to Portreuddyn), whilst the main paragraph (p.17) refers to Portreuddyn, with no reference to Pont Rhyddin.]
This location was also referred to as Pren-teg in the early 1880s, probably because of its use by the local slate quarry. (See O.S. map.)
New Bridge[edit]
The reconstructed WHR has an occupation bridge here. Like the one at Traeth Mawr it is built to a tubular design that has led to the nickname of "Teletubby" bridges.
References[edit]
- Boyd, James I.C. (1988). Narrow Gauge Railways in South Caernarvonshire, Vol. 1. Blandford: The Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-365-6.
- Boyd, James I.C. (1989). Narrow Gauge Railways in South Caernarvonshire, Vol. 2, The Welsh Highland Railway. Blandford: The Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-383-4.
- Mitchell, Vic; Keith Smith (1993). Branch Lines Around Porthmadog 1923-46. Midhurst, Sussex, England: Middleton Press. ISBN 1-873793-13-8. OCLC 30306827.