Station Name: ABERFAN This scene is some way north of Aberfan station site and is included for historical interest. The date is July 1964 and we are looking west-north-west at the 'Nixon's Colliery Spoil Tramway', the photograph probably being taken from Cardiff Road. At the time of writing the gauge of the tramway had not been determined, although it is thought to have been 2ft 6in. Merthyr Vale Colliery is out of view. Lower left and not immediately obvious is the tramway coming in from the left before turning sharply westwards to ascend the hills as seen here. Tubs were cable-hauled on the incline. There was an engine house (winding engine) at the top of the incline, out of view, and a loop line branched off from which spurs branched off to facilitate the dumping of spoil. These summit tracks would have been of a temporary nature, being moved as required. Emptying of the tubs was done by a crane which physically lifted and upturned the tubs. In 1964 the tramway was intact but whether it was still in use at this time is unclear. At the bottom of the picture is the former Taff Vale line to Merthyr Tydfil, still operational today. The embankment running left to right across the centre of the picture is not of railway origin; the Taff River flows just beyond and at the foot of the embankment, lower left, some coal wagons are partially visible. Colliery spoil tips can be seen at top left and below them, left centre of the picture, stands the Pantglas schools of which the junior school was to fall victim to the tragedy of 1966. Immediately beyond the schools, and running left to right, can be seen the embankment of the disused Rhymney/GWR line which served Aberfan station. The embankment, sadly, did nothing to protect the school and adjacent houses from the mudslide. The houses seen here right of centre are on Ynysygored Road. The mound, over which the tramway runs between those houses and the schools, no longer exists and housing has been built on the site. It should be mentioned that collapsing spoil tips were by no means unique to Aberfan. Among others was one at Tredegar in December 1992, for example, which also engulfed a school but which fortunately was unoccupied at the time. Another occurred at Tylorstown, in the Rhondda Valley, as a result of Storm Dennis in February 2020 but without any risk to life or property. Spoil tip collapses may not be uncommon but it was the great loss of life, mostly children, at Aberfan for which the village will forever be remembered.
Photo by John Thorn, reproduced from Geograph under creative commons licence
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1951 6" OS map showing the extent of 'Nixon's Colliery Spoil Tramway' at that time.
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