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Cwmbargoed Branch

The steeply graded seven mile branch to the bleak outpost of Cwmbargoed diverges from the Rhymney line at Ystrad Mynach. In this view, taken on 21 August 1991, the Cwmbargoed line is on the right of the picture, as 37 800 heads up the branch with a train of empty hoppers. The track on the left is a shale siding, known as Nelson Bog. The two class 37s together with their short rake of mineral wagons have brought waste from the nearby Taff Merthyr Colliery.



This picture was taken about twenty minutes later and shows 37 800 arriving at Cwmbargoed with its rake of empty mgr hoppers. The train was then loaded with opencast coal by means of mechanical excavator.



Later, the same afternoon, the loaded train is seen on its way back down the branch near the village of Bedlinog.



In the summer of 1996, trains operated on the Cwmbargoed branch on Sundays. 37 702(leading) and 37 889 are seen near the village of Trelewis on 21 July 1996. The train is bound for Aberthaw power station.


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