Barry Tourist Railway
The line through Barry Island was opened in 1896 by the Barry Railway, an independent South Wales company built primarily to handle Welsh coal exports through the new Barry Docks. A passenger branch ran from the main Barry station through Barry Island to Barry Pier, where steamer connections operated to Weston-super-Mare and other Bristol Channel resort ports.
The Barry Railway was absorbed by the Great Western Railway in 1922 and passed to British Railways in 1948. Passenger services to Barry Pier were withdrawn in the 1970s, although the line through Barry Island itself continues to be served by the Vale of Glamorgan suburban services.
The heritage operation began when the Vale of Glamorgan Railway Company moved to Barry Island in 1997, with the first steam passenger service running in 1998. The operation has had a complex management history: Cambrian Transport, a company formed in 1995 by John Buxton (formerly of the BR South Wales Valley Lines), took on the lease from the Vale of Glamorgan Council for twenty years from 1 January 2011.
The site sits adjacent to where Woodham Brothers' scrapyard once stood. Dai Woodham's decision to concentrate his cutting work on goods wagons rather than locomotives meant that, by the time the preservation movement had funds and storage to take engines away, 213 of the 297 BR steam locomotives sent to Barry for scrap had survived long enough to be saved. Engines from Barry are now in service across nearly every standard-gauge British heritage railway, making the location a foundational one for the modern preservation movement, regardless of the relatively modest scale of the heritage operation that runs on it today. One of the heritage line's halts is named Woodham Halt in honour of Dai Woodham, MBE, BEM (1919 to 1994).
History
The Barry Tourist Railway was established to operate steam passenger services on the surviving section of the former Barry Railway at Barry, Vale of Glamorgan. The railway's location carries enormous significance in the story of British railway preservation: the Woodham Brothers' scrapyard at Barry Docks, which received hundreds of British Railways condemned steam locomotives from 1963, became the primary source of locomotives for the emerging heritage railway movement. Dai Woodham's decision to prioritise cutting up wagons over locomotives meant that the steam engines sat at Barry largely intact for years, allowing preservation societies across Britain to purchase and rescue them. More than 200 locomotives were saved from the Barry scrapyard, and their descendants can now be found hauling trains at heritage railways nationwide.
Original line history
The Barry Railway was a South Wales coal-carrying railway opened in 1889, built to break the monopoly of the Taff Vale Railway on the export of Rhondda coal through Cardiff Docks. Barry Docks was built simultaneously with the railway, creating a new coal export port that quickly became one of the busiest in the world during the Edwardian coal boom. The Barry Railway was absorbed into the Great Western Railway at the 1923 Grouping and the passenger services progressively closed under British Railways.
Stations and infrastructure
The railway operates from a terminus at Barry, with steam-hauled services over the available section of former Barry Railway trackbed. The site provides access to the general area associated with the famous scrapyard history that makes Barry uniquely significant in the preservation story.
Special events and operations
The railway runs steam-hauled services and special event days through the operating season. Santa Specials and other seasonal events are held annually. Check the website for the current event calendar and operating timetable.
Visitor information
Barry is located in the Vale of Glamorgan, approximately 10 miles south-west of Cardiff. Barry railway station is on the Vale of Glamorgan Line with regular services from Cardiff Central. The town centre and seafront are within walking distance. Check the website for current opening days and admission prices.
