Cambrian Coast Express

GWR Manor Class 7803 Barcote Manor at Dovey Junction with the up Cambrian Coast Express, complete with headboard, 1 August 1961.

The Cambrian Coast Express was a named passenger train of the Great Western Railway (GWR) that ran from Paddington Station (London) via Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth and Pwllheli over the Cambrian Line.

Prior to amalgamation with the GWR in 1923, the line beyond Buttington Junction near Welshpool was owned and operated by the Cambrian Railways and passengers from England normally changed to a Cambrian Railways train at Shrewsbury. But in July and August 1921, perhaps in anticipation of things hoped for following the merger, the GWR ran a daily through express from Paddington to Aberystwyth and Pwllheli.

The first official use of the name Cambrian Coast Express was in 1927 when the train ran only on Summer Fridays and Saturdays. By 1939 the through train was running only on Summer Saturdays. It left Paddington at 10:20 am with calls at Leamington, Birmingham (Snow Hill), and Wolverhampton Low Level which was reached at 12:44 pm. Here, owing to weight restrictions over the Cambrian line, the GWR Castle Class 4-6-0 locomotive was changed for two GWR Duke Class 4-4-0 engines or for a GWR Manor Class 4-6-0 for the non-stop run to Welshpool using the Shrewsbury Abbey Foregate curve (to avoid a stop and reversal of direction at Shrewsbury). Beyond Welshpool, calls were made at Machynlleth, Dovey Junction and Borth to reach Aberystwyth at 3:55 pm. A total of 5 hours 35 minutes for the 235 miles from London. In the reverse direction, the train left Aberystwyth at 10:00 am with an additional stop at Newtown but with otherwise unchanged station calls and locomotive change at Wolverhampton. The train became the 2:00 pm (hourly service) departure from Birmingham to arrive at Paddington at 4:00 pm. Thus the up journey, which took 6 hours, was 25 minutes slower than the down journey.

After the war the train was re-introduced on Saturdays only and its seasonal operation continued under British Rail usually with through coaches to both Aberystwyth and Pwllheli. The last named train ran in 1991.

Running three days a week throughout August 2006 was a Cambrian Coast Express tourist steam service, operated by Arriva Trains Wales, which ran as far as Porthmadog, where passengers could alight to visit the town or perhaps travel on the Ffestiniog Railway.