Mid-Wales Railway

The Mid-Wales Railway was conceived as a trunk route linking industrial north west England with seaports in south west Wales, but it ended up running as a regional line through sparsely populated central Wales. Authorized by an 1859 Act with capital of 150,000 pounds, its completed route covered 70 miles between Llanidloes and a junction with the Brecon and Merthyr Railway near Brecon, opening in 1864. It passed through small towns including Rhayader and Builth Wells, where mountainous terrain and thin local traffic made the line costly to run. Unable to remain independent, it amalgamated with the Cambrian Railways on 1 July 1904. Later absorbed into the Great Western Railway in 1922, the line saw declining use from the 1930s and its last train ran on 30 December 1962.