Llynvi Valley Railway

The Llynvi Valley Railway was a railway company in Glamorganshire, South Wales, incorporated on 7 August 1846 by an act of Parliament with authorised capital of 200,000 pounds. It was promoted to modernise the horse-worked tramroads of the Duffryn Llynvi and Porthcawl Railway and the Bridgend Railway, which carried minerals from the Llynfi valley, by acquiring the former, converting it to railway standards and introducing locomotives. The company adopted the broad gauge to match the South Wales Railway, and in 1847 it gained powers to run south from Tondu to a junction with that main line at Bridgend instead of west to Margam. The Brogden family, who controlled much of the ironworking and mining in the Maesteg and Tondu area, were leading figures in it. The line was opened in 1861 to carry mineral products to Porthcawl on the Bristol Channel, and in 1866 the company was amalgamated with the Ogmore Valley Railway to form the Llynvi and Ogmore Railway.