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The Last Train

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David H Thomas

Premium (Pro), Sandwich, Kent, EUROPE

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The Last Train

This is not the best of photographs but has a lot of personal significance. Saturday 9th March (2024) probably the last passenger train (and possibly one of the last train of any type) travelled along the Cwm Bargoed branch line in South Wales.

The line opened in 1876 - the last scheduled passenger train was in June 1964. I was carried on that last scheduled train as an unborn baby.

Since then the line continued to serve the Dowlais steelworks, and the opencast mines that operated at the head of the valley. The last of these mines - Ffros-y-Fran - closed last year, its last major customer, the steel works at Port Talbot due to close this month. So the future of this line is now very uncertain.

The trains were a figural part of my growing up. We lived adjacent to the line and I recall as a child our house literally shaking as the heavy coal trains would pass full throttle to tackle the fierce 1 in 40 gradient of the line, the steepest in Wales.

The landscape has changed a lot since I grew up here. The trackside is now heavily wooded, giving few clear lines of sight for photographs. The mines that lined the track have gone, replaced by careful landscaping.

The photo it taken as the train passes the site of the Taff Merthyr Colliery halt, built to take miners to and from the mine that would have been in the valley below the track. I put here a link to how this area used to look - possibility in the 1950's: https://www.treharrisdistrict.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/6938137058_d06e31d5ee_o.jpg

The two locomotives on this train (one at the back) are working hard to draw the thirteen carriage train. Inevitably for Wales in March it is raining, but we got a cheerful wave and toot on the horn from the driver.

Comentarios 24

Karl R. H. 11/09/2024 11:45
gefällt mir ... !
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felipe Martínez Pérez 07/09/2024 23:22
Exclente presentación
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lophoto 19/03/2024 6:35
Train to nowhere........
Fine art
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KHMFotografie 18/03/2024 20:11
... ganz starke Aufnahme+++++

LG. kalle
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Hanne L. 18/03/2024 19:42
Opencast mining is certainly no longer economical. Hopefully the train will be used on another line.
Enjoy the time,
Hanne
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Roni - raildata.info 17/03/2024 9:58
Hi,

Very interesting, thank you!

Cheers,
Roni
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Michèle FLEURY 16/03/2024 16:14
Toute une histoire nous est contée à travers cette photo du dernier train dans un paysage boisé où apparaît une montagne, toute une nostalgie de ton enfance et de ta vie, David, voilà la fin d'une époque visible dans cette dernière photo...MERCI pour l'émotion qui te traverse et ton train à la locomotive rouge et jaune, avec des reflets d'arbres dans les vitres vertes! Une vie régionale prend fin sous nos yeux par un temps gris, une météo tristounette, comme associée à la fin de ce train qui te manquera...MERCI pour tes mots et ton histoire! Amitiés et bonne fin de semaine à toi! Michèle
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Peter Leigh 15/03/2024 17:14
Great photo and interesting commentary David,
I visited this branch and the Rhymney Valley in 2019 and found the changes hard to believe as my previous visits had been in the early half of the '60s
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Klaus Zeddel 15/03/2024 16:33
Ein großartiger Blick aus dieser Perspektive auf den Zug mit seiner farbenprächtigen Lok, sehr gut die Bildqualität. So geht also auch dieses Kapitel zuende, wie alles im Leben.
LG Klaus
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Alfi54 15/03/2024 14:19
always nice to see old equipment in move ... regards Alf
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Karl R. H. 15/03/2024 13:46
ein feines Foto, eine gute Geschichte dazu ... !
servus
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G D 15/03/2024 8:00
Dieser Zug harmoniert mit der tollen Landschaft, die vordere Lok bringt ja richtige Farbakzente ein.
Schön die gesamte Bespannung.
Mich irritiert allerdings das DB Zeichen auf der Lok??
Schon geklärt, DB Cargo UK.
Nett zu lesen, die Kindheitserinnerungen von dir. Ebenso toll das verlinkte Foto aus vergangenen Tagen.
HG GD
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Adele D. Oliver 15/03/2024 2:49
a beautiful capture and excellent from this perspective, in closeness
and sharp details, light and colours !!!
warm regards,
Adele
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André Reinders 14/03/2024 20:44
Wonderful composition and colours. Fine inclusion of the diagonal

Best regards

André
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Ruth U. 14/03/2024 19:44
Ich finde, dass das Foto sehr gut ist und die rote Lok passt sehr schön in die Landschaft, interessant ist dein Text zum Bild, leider geht vieles irgendwann zu Ende, ich denke, du siehst es mit einem lachenden und einem weinenden Auge.
LG Ruth
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