Talerddig railway cutting

eMeS · 22 Aug 2019

Heard about this significant Victorian achievement for the first time a few days ago, and yesterday managed to get a few photos. Difficult from the adjacent road bridge to show the size of cut, but we were lucky to be there for two trains passing.
It's located a short distance south of Llanbrynmair on the Newtown to Machynlleth section in Mid Wales.

RailUK Forums

Envoy · 22 Aug 2019

Yes, amazing what the Victorians achieved with primitive equipment. I guess this is the highest point on the Cambrian mainline?

TheSel · 22 Aug 2019

Envoy said:
Yes, amazing what the Victorians achieved with primitive equipment. I guess this is the highest point on the Cambrian mainline?

To be fair, what the Victorians used was not primitive by the standards of the day. No pun intended, but at its time, the equipment was was ... er ... cutting edge!

And I guess one could reasonably argue that it would be higher still, were it not for the cutting! :oops:

Seriously - it makes you think. What will 22nd / 23rd century enthusiasts make of present-day engineering? "Fancy building that great long tunnel under that little village called 'London'", perhaps?

DerekC · 22 Aug 2019

And thanks for the really nice picture of an ETCS balise group and block marker board! Can I use it in a student presentation?

hexagon789 · 22 Aug 2019

Envoy said:
Yes, amazing what the Victorians achieved with primitive equipment. I guess this is the highest point on the Cambrian mainline?

It was the deepest railway cutting at time of construction in the world.

eMeS · 22 Aug 2019

DerekC said:
And thanks for the really nice picture of an ETCS balise group and block marker board! Can I use it in a student presentation?

Certainly - I wondered what it was.

Llanigraham · 22 Aug 2019

hexagon789 said:
It was the deepest railway cutting at time of construction in the world.

And allegedly the rock from it was carefully quarried and used in various buildings along the line

AndrewE · 23 Aug 2019

hexagon789 said:
It was the deepest railway cutting at time of construction in the world.

And apparently not tunnelled only because they used it as a quarry to provide stone for the structures needed on the line. My book says that 60ft of depth was the cut-off where tunnelling became cheaper than removing the rock above.

krus_aragon · 23 Aug 2019

AndrewE said:
And apparently not tunnelled only because they used it as a quarry to provide stone for the structures needed on the line. My book says that 60ft of depth was the cut-off where tunnelling became cheaper than removing the rock above.

Similarly, the spoil from the Anglesey Central Railway's cuttings around Llanerchymedd (and Llangefni?) provided ballast for the line. Why buy in rock when you're effectively quarrying it yourself?

AndrewE · 23 Aug 2019

krus_aragon said:
Similarly, the spoil from the Anglesey Central Railway's cuttings around Llanerchymedd (and Llangefni?) provided ballast for the line. Why buy in rock when you're effectively quarrying it yourself?

Ditto the Mountsorrel railway:

The line could have taken an easier route avoiding Nunckley Hill, however, being in the business of quarrying granite, a route straight through Nunckley Hill was chosen.

(from http://heritage-centre.co.uk/visit-us/a-brief-history-of-the-railway/)

hexagon789 · 23 Aug 2019

AndrewE said:
And apparently not tunnelled only because they used it as a quarry to provide stone for the structures needed on the line. My book says that 60ft of depth was the cut-off where tunnelling became cheaper than removing the rock above.

That makes sense, considering the depth - it seemed surprising that it wasn't tunnelled.

Llanigraham said:
And allegedly the rock from it was carefully quarried and used in various buildings along the line
View attachment 67583

I live the atmosphere in that last shot.

Talerddig railway cutting

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