The railway at Robertstown Level Crossing, 2003
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, by road.
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. (EWS, English Welsh and Scottish Railways, was a freight train operator.
66222 is an Ontario built Class 66 freight locomotive. EWS is now called DB
Schenker Rail (UK)).
