The Mumbles Railway-the route taken and motive power explained

Since it was first constructed in 1804, the route taken by and motive power of, what we now call The Mumbles Railway, has changed several times.

Following erosion of parts of the line in its original location along the seashore, it was relocated a few yards inland in 1815, and ran to the Castle Hill Terminus (today's Dairy Car Park).

Mumbles was not connected by road to Swansea until the Mumbles Turnpike Road was opened in 1826, adjacent to the Tramway (railway) track and the competition with cheaper horse-drawn buses put the railway out of business for some thirty years.

Two views of the horse-drawn tram at Castle Hill Terminus

The picture on the right is from Roy Kneath's archive

17 August 1877 saw the start of a regular steam service. Henry Hughes’ engine, the Pioneer was attached to two large cars containing over 80 passengers. This followed on from trials to ascertain whether the train would frighten horses on the adjacent road-way. However, the Swansea Improvements and Tramways Company also continued with its horse-drawn vehicles until they ceased to operate on 31st March 1896, which probably made for some awkward incidents as the Swansea and Mumbles Railways Co. Ltd. and their steam trains were running along the same line, throughout those 19 years.

Two lady cyclists and a lady pedestrian are pictured on the Turnpike Road alongside the Steam Train which was travelling between Blackpill and West Cross, prior 1890.

Another photograph taken close by at about the same time, shows a tradesman delivering to the Grange, a horse and trap on the road, while the Mumbles Train passes by.

In 1889, the Mumbles Railway and Pier Company was formed to lay a line one mile and 22 chains long from Oystermouth to Mumbles Head and to construct a Pier. Also in the 1890s, as part of the same project, a new sea wall from Blackpill to Oystermouth was constructed along the sea shore and the railtrack was repositioned from the roadside to the site of the current promenade, it opened on 26 August 1900.

The steps to the beach are in both the above photos

A further passing line was added and the train is pictured at Blackpill

On 1st March 1929, the last steam trains ran along the Mumbles Railway driven by long-service employees, W. Williams, H. Davies and W. Veale and the next day, 2nd March, electrified services, which many of us remember, began with a fleet of thirteen double-decker cars, each seating 106 passengers — 48 on the lower deck and 58 on the upper deck, running over the same route with additional passing places. There was an entrance platform and staircase at each end, both entrances being on the landward side.

A train might be composed of one or two of these coaches, so that a maximum of 212 seats could be available for any journey. Initially the coaches were painted cream and brown to match the town's trams, but later they became the much-remembered red. The travelling time was reduced to nineteen minutes barring delays.

The story is continued in our article entitled Oystermouth to Mumbles Head