Llangurig railway station

A railway through Llangurig arose because of the rapid and chaotic growth of the Victorian railway network in Great Britain. In 1859, the Mid-Wales Railway (MWR) had received an Act of Parliament to build and run a railway from Newtown to Brecon via Builth Wells and then on to Merthyr Tydfil, Cardiff or Neath. But just as the MWR began building north towards Llanidloes, problems arose when the Manchester and Milford Railway (M&MR) finally received parliamentary assent to connect the industrial north west of England directly with the port of Milford Haven via a series of interconnecting lines in 1860. The initial proposal had been put forward in 1846 but the scheme was not passed until it…

The branch line was officially 'opened' on 28 October 1863 comprising approximately 4 miles from Penpontbren Junction to Llangurig station where there is no visible evidence that platforms were provided. A single MWR goods train was then hired by the L&NR to run along its entire length. This legally entitled the L&NR to invoice the M&MR for its share of the cost of building the joint junction station at Llanidloes, which it promptly did. But it was never reopened. Nevertheless, the signal box at Penpontbren Junction was staffed until the old MWR mainline closed on 31 December 1962, under British Railways. }}