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HISTORY: BLAENCWM RAILWAY TUNNEL
Work commenced on the tunnel in June 1885 and it was to measure 3,300 yards, becoming the seventh longest tunnel in the United Kingdom. Work was completed in July 1890. There was a stone plaque at the entrance to the tunnel and today one can be found at Glyncornel Environmental Centre in Llwynypia Rhondda and the other can be found at Afan Argoed Country Park in Cynonville, Port Talbot.
Workmen on both sides of the mountain began work and met in the middle. Passengers described the tunnel as being in a near straight line, except for a slight kink in the middle. This was in the days before laser guided digging, and according to one local resident when the tunnel workers met in the middle they had to dig out a large dome in order to connect both ends.
When the steam trains were approaching Blaencwm, you could see their steam coming out of a vent half-way up the mountainside.
It was a well known practice for mothers who had children suffering from whooping cough to put the child's head out of the carriage window as the train traveled through the tunnel. It was thought that the dust would help clear their cough!
Under the Dr Beeching railway plans, the tunnel was closed in 1963. The tunnel lies 20ft below the earth surface and today the only sign of its existence is a manhole cover. To find the manhole you must look out for a group of three trees at the base of the mountain, then look directly below them - you will find the manhole. Some reasons why the tunnel was closed was but down to the amount of water that felling into the tunnel from the mountain above - whether this was a reason or just an excuse we will never know.
Local residents formed a community when the closure was announced but the moves went ahead. In the months after the closure a bus service was run from Blaencwm, Blaenrhondda, Tynewydd and Treherbert that traveled to the Blaengwnfi via the Bwlch mountain in Cwmparc/Treorchy. But when snow settled on the mountain the service couldn't run. Within a short space of time the bus service was axed.
Journey from Blaenrhondda to Blaengwnfi by train was approximately 6 minutes, via the new bus service it took up to 35 minutes to reach the same destination. With the closure Blaenrhondda Station in Tynewydd also closed and the wooden platform was removed during the 1980s. During the mid-1990's the railway line from Tynewydd to Blaencwm was landscaped and today it is an enjoyable path leading from behind Tynewydd Post Office up to the foot of Pen Pych mountain.
There is a local story of a man who was drinking at a Tynewydd pub on night when he arrived at Blaenrhondda station just one minute late. The last train had left the station and was heading to Blaengwnfi. But this didn't deter the gentleman so he got himself down from the platform and walked along the tracks to head home - knowing that no more trains would be on the track it thought it was the best way home. He could have walked over the Blaencwm mountain and down the other side into Blaengwnfi. but he thought the quickest way would be through the tunnel. On getting half-way into the Blaencwm tunnel he stumbled over the train tracks and fell against the walk dropping his keys as he went. On finding his keys he continued his journey home. Only trouble was, in the confusion to find his keys he had faced himself in the direction of Blaencwm and therefore walked out of the tunnel and back into the village be had just left. Being fed up he decided to make a bed in a patch of ferns and slept the night at the foot of Blaencwm mountain. In the morning he didn't have time to go home and get washed so he washed himself in a nearby river and then headed off back to work in Fernhill Colliery in nearby Blaenrhondda.
Today, the tunnel is still intact under the earth. A local filmmaker once applied to the authorities to gain access to the tunnel in the late 1990's. In order to gain access he was told that he would have to secure an insurance policy for £1 million pound before access would be granted. On securing the required insurance the authority owners went back on their word and starting to state that it would be unsafe to open the entrance tunnels due to the large amount of gas that would have gathered since its closure. Therefore, since its closure in 1963 no-one has been back into the tunnel. It is fascinating to think what little treasures may have been dropped on the tunnel floor by its workers and the people who once walked through it.
Like the Blaencwm side, the Blaengwnfi station has long been removed and redeveloped. There now stands a housing estate on their entrance to the tunnel. Who knows what could happen in years to come!
During the 1990's the Rhondda Valley Heritage Steam Society looked into the possibility of replacing the line from Treherbert to Tynewydd via Treherbert Station and Blaenrhondda Station. These plans were shelved due to the large amount of money that was needed. There was a rumor at the time that they wanted to reopen the tunnel but this was never part of their heritage plans.
Blaenrhondda Railway Station sign.
By 1880 steam coal exports from the Rhondda collieries were becoming increasingly restricted through the monopoly enjoyed by the Taff Vale Railway and the Bute Docks at Cardiff. This led rival mine owners to press for additional rail links to the sea and by 1914 new railways had been built connection the Rhondda with Barry, Port Talbot, Swansea and Newport. The directors of the Rhondda and Swansea Bay Company, incorporated in 1882, were determined to link the upper Rhondda Fawr to the ports of Swansea Bay.
Work on the Blaencwm tunnel, which connected Treherbert and Cymmer in the Afan Valley, began in June 1885 and was completed on July 2, 1890.
However, the new line failed to live up to the expectations of its promoters; with prices for steam coal generally higher at Cardiff, Barry and Newport and the disadvantage of the gradient (heavy coal trucks having to negotiate the slope up the valley) the Rhondda and Swansea Bay Company ended by serving only those collieries at the very top of the Rhondda Fawr.
Source: Rhondda by Simon Eckley and Emrys Jenkins.