Llanidloes district
Disaster at Tylwch,1899
The small community of Tylwch lies in a very attractive valley a few miles south of Llanidloes on the road to Rhayader. It is very close to the border between Montgomeryshire and Radnorshire. Although isolated, the railway station there was a valuable means of transport for for local people and goods and also gave access to mainline routes to the north and south.
This little station was the scene of a tragic accident on 16th September,1899, pictured in the old photograph seen here. A Tylwch station nameboard can be seen lying on the embankment beyond the wrecked carriages.
kind permission of
Cyrus Meredith
A mail train which had just arrived at the station was struck
head-on by an excursion train which had left Builth early on
Saturday morning, bound for Manchester. A local woman from Pantydwr
aged only 24, who had just joined the excursion train at the
previous station with her boyfriend, was killed in the crash.
Five other people, all from the Llanidloes area, were seriously
injured.
A report in the Montgomery Express & Radnor Times suggested
that the signals were against the excursion train, but
the brakes failed to respond and the engine driver, a Llanidloes
man, could not prevent a collision with the mail train. It is
not surprising that "the greatest fear prevailed among
the passengers".
There are 4 pages on Tylwch. Use the box links below to view the other pages.
