The railway at Robertstown

The railway line under the Robertstown Bridge is still used. Normally, there are two trains up and two down per day. They go to Tower Colliery near Hirwaun where the line comes to an end. There they load up powdered coal which is taken to Aberthaw power station, just west of Barry. The level crossing gates are operated by a man who has to chase the train up the valley in a van. He used to be allowed to ride in the locomotive cab but he took too long to walk back to the cab, along the length of the train, after closing the gates. So now, the train goes ahead after going through the crossings, and he has to jump into his van to get to the next crossing before the train does. These photos were taken at the Robertstown level crossing at the top of Wellington Street.