At Devil's Bridge Station, Vale of Rheidol Railway

Photograph taken on: 25 August 2003. (Larger image)

A scene at Devil's Bridge Station, the dead-end terminal of the Vale of Rheidol Railway. Until 1989, this railway, with the gauge of 1 foot 11 ¹/₂ inches (597mm), was owned and operated by British Rail. Opened in 1902 mainly for the transport of timber and lead ore to the coastal city of Aberystwyth, the line has the length of just less than 12 miles (19 kilometres). The terminus of Devil's Bridge is located at the altitude of 680 feet (207.3 metres) above sea level, and the trains should climb the gradient of 1 in 50 on the final stretch of the line.