page_title: Newtown and Machynlleth Railway
section_title: Conception
hierarchical_section_title: Newtown and Machynlleth Railway / Conception
caption_attribution_description: 1 negative&#160;: glass, dry plate, b&amp;w&#160;; 16.5 x 21.5 cm.
context_page_description: The Newtown and Machynlleth Railway was a railway company in Wales. It built a line from a junction with the Llanidloes and Newtown Railway near Caersws to the market town of Machynlleth; the line opened in 1862. Newtown had become the hub of railway lines in the district. Machynlleth was an important town, and extension from there to Aberystwyth and to the coast northward was in the minds of the promoters.
  The topography of the district was challenging, and a practicable line had to be routed north of the most mountainous region, and climb steeply. There was a summit at Talerddig, 693 feet above sea level; a 120-feet deep rock cutting was made at the summit, to mitigate the climb on the approaches. Another company built the line connecting Machynlleth to Aberystwyth, and also to Portmadoc and Pwllheli, and the Newtown and Machynlleth Railway company itself was incorporated into the Cambrian Railways company in 1864. Its line became the main access route for Aberystwyth and the coast, and remains in use at the present day.
context_section_description: In the mid 1850s the railway map of central Wales was still blank. The South Wales Railway opened progressively from 1850; it was in a tense alliance with the Great Western Railway, and ran along the south coast; there were several early mineral lines near its route. The Chester and Holyhead Railway, friendly to the London and North Western Railway ran along the north coast, and the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway demarcated the eastern border. Both the LNWR and the GWR had proposed railways into the interior, but both had withdrawn.
  [[Newtown and Llanidloes were centres of flannel manufacture at the time, and in frustration promoted their own railway joining the towns. The Llanidloes and Newtown Railway was authorised in 1853 and opened in 1859. The L&NR was not connected to any other line, but encouraged by the development, another railway was locally promoted: the Oswestry and Newtown Railway. This was authorised in 1855 and opened in stages from 1860, connecting to the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway, and thence the developing English network, at Oswestry.
  There was still a considerable expanse of undeveloped territory to the west and south of Newtown, and thoughts returned to railways covering longer distances. A line striking across Wales from the north-east to the south-west, possibly developing an Atlantic coast port seemed attractive, and this led to several ambitious schemes. Other routes were considered, and one joining Newtown to Aberystwyth was considered attractive. Avoiding the mountainous area surrounding Plynlimon, the easiest and obvious route lay in a sweep north through Talerddig to Machynlleth, an important market town. A solicitor based there, named David Howell, made energetic moves to form a railway scheme, beginning with a public meeting on 20 December 1856 at Machynlleth. There was support for a railway, and the engineer Benjamin Piercy prepared plans for a route. A 23-mile line from the Llanidloes and Newtown Railway near Caersws to Machynlleth was shown to be feasible. It involved a climb from 412 ft to a summit of 693 ft at Talerddig with a maximum gradient of 1 in 71, and an even steeper descent to near sea level at Machynlleth with four miles at 1 in 52/60.
  The Newtown and Machynlleth Railway was incorporated by Act of 27 July 1857, with authorised capital of £150,000. The Bill was unopposed in Parliament. The first sod was cut in November 1858, the delay suggesting land acquisition and money-raising difficulties.
caption: Machynlleth Station about 1885
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