Rahul Sharma (Editor)

Harlech Military Railway

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1944 or 1946.

Propulsion system(s)
  
Conventional steam

Open
  
1941

Status
  
Closed

Route length
  
1,320 yards (1,210 m)

Owner
  
Great Western Railway

Locale
  
Harlech, Gwynedd, Wales

Track gauge
  
Standard 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ⁄2 in)

The Harlech Military Railway was built solely for military traffic during World War II. Contemporary published sources are reticent about the railway due to its military purpose.

The line was a standard gauge branch which veered seawards (westwards) off the ex-Cambrian Railways Cambrian Coast line approximately 430 yards (390 m) north of Harlech railway station. This junction and a substantial section of the line can be see in two aerial photographs of the period. The line appears on a 1948 OS map of the area.

The line's location north of the village is corroborated by Rail Map Online; however, the producers acknowledge that they are not confident that their map adequately represents the line's seaward end.

The line's primary purpose was to serve a gunnery range which was under the control of a camp at Bronaber, near Trawsfynydd.

The line is not to be confused with the Harlech Tramway which was south of Harlech.

References

Harlech Military Railway Wikipedia