Brymbo railway branch lines

1962 view towards Brymbo (GWR) to left, towards Vron Colliery to right. Brymbo Steelworks in the background.

The Brymbo railway branch lines served the rich reserves of coal, iron, limestone and other minerals in an area around Brymbo to the west of Wrexham in Wales. Coalowners and others needed transport to get their products to market and lines were built from the main line into the mineral-bearing area. The topography was difficult and gradients were steep. The Great Western Railway became dominant, but a rival company built a competing line and branches.

Brymbo was surrounded by a maze of duplicating branch lines serving pits and quarries and a passenger service was started on some routes. Brymbo became the centre of a considerable iron and steelmaking activity but the industry declined before World War II and in the 1960s it reduced considerably. The passenger service was discontinued, and mineral traffic declined as its customers ceased to trade. There is no railway in the area at the present day.