Legacy railway station explained

Legacy
Status:Disused
Borough:Rhostyllen, Denbighshire
Country:Wales
Coordinates:53.0273°N -3.0541°W
Grid Name:Grid reference
Platforms:1
Original:Great Western Railway
Postgroup:Great Western Railway
Events:Opened
Years1:1 January 1931
Events1:Closed to passengers
Events2:Closed to goods

Legacy railway station was built close to the location of the disused Legacy Colliery when the Great Western Railway built the Rhos Branch in 1901. The disused line built to serve the colliery in 1876 was used by the Rhos branch for a short distance through Legacy Station to the newly formed Legacy junction where the Rhos branch diverged to follow a more Northerly route, eventually meeting the Pontcysyllte branch. Legacy Station was open from 1901 to 1931 for passenger traffic and until 1963 for goods traffic.

History

The name of the station comes from the short-lived Legacy Colliery which was built around 1873.[1] The railway through Ponkey was extended north to serve the colliery around 1876 (marked on ordnance survey maps as the Legacy Colliery Branch), but work at the colliery was suspended in 1876,[2] and was never resumed. When the railway was built to Rhosllanerchrugog in 1901, it linked up with the unused Legacy Colliery Branch. Legacy Station was built just East of the junction and named after the long-closed colliery, the GWR renamed the Legacy Colliery Branch as the Legacy Branch.

Legacy station was opened on 1 October 1901 by the Great Western Railway. It was situated to the north of Bronwylfa Road. It initially had a ground level signal box but it was later replaced in 1905 with a new one to the west. It was in 1905 that railmotor services were introduced, which extended the passenger services on the Rhos branch as far as Wynn Hall Halt, and introduced services over the Legacy branch as far as Ponkey Crossing Halt. When passenger services to closed in 1915, the line between Legacy Junction and Aberderfyn Halt was closed. The track was lifted in 1917, except for a short spur at Legacy Junction. The station closed to passengers on 1 January 1931[3] but it remained open to goods, as did the goods siding. The goods siding saw additional traffic in 1934 with the building of the water tower and service depot of the Wrexham and East Denbighshire Water Company, which remains to this day. The signal box closed in 1952. The station closed to goods on 14 October 1963. The track was lifted in the summer of 1964.[4]

Notes and References

  1. News: . 3 May 1873 . Birkenhead, Chester, and North Wales, and Stafford Railways Bills . 4 . Wrexham Advertiser .
  2. News: . 29 Jun 1878 . The Distress at Rhos . 5 . Wrexham Guardian and Denbighshire and Flintshire Advertiser .
  3. Book: Quick, M E. Railway passenger stations in England, Scotland and Wales - a chronology. 2002. Railway and Canal Historical Society. Richmond. 261. 931112387.
  4. Web site: Disused Stations:Legacy. Disused Station. 20 May 2021.