… and Merthyr, and a trip to Treherbert: Wednesday 7 May. Last time I rode on a trains from Cardiff to Aberdare, there was still coal traffic on the branch (it didn’t last much longer), and we travelled in one of the dreaded ‘Pacers’ (it wasn’t that bad – but it was rather basic).
The lines up the valleys have since been taken apart and put back together, more or less, since that trip just nine years ago. We travelled on new electric trains, running mostly ‘under the wires’ but at times on battery power, through some very fine new stations (and some older ones). Truly a quality experience (even if the Treorchy schoolchildren were rather noisy! We should have caught a later train from Treherbert)
A full(ish) illustrated account will appear on Geoff’s Rail Diaries in due course; meanwhile, here’s a taster: