In the mid 1960s, the dense railway network of the South Wales Valleys, developed mainly to serve collieries and their communities, was largely intact, though many lines were already closed to passengers. With the threat of complete closure looming over many of these “mineral lines”, railway enthusiasts were keen to explore and record them before it was too late, and several well-supported rail tours were organised, notable for their complex itineraries.
The Rambling 56 tour had the added special ingredient of steam haulage by one of the Valleys’ trademark 0-6-2 tank engines.
In 1965, the publisher of this site was a twelve-year-old trainspotter. My friends and I knew that steam would soon be gone – on the Western Region just a year later – but I didn’t appreciate then how important the railways had been in the development of the coalfield, or how privileged I was to be travelling, over lines that would soon be demolished, through a coal-dominated landscape that would be, like the Rambling 56, a distant memory 50 years later. I’m pleased to own a smokebox plate from one of 6643’s close relations, built 1927-8.
Rambling 56 Rail Tour 