Welsh Railways Union

[GWRSwindon]

In the summer of 1888, Sir Edward Watkin, William Pollitt, and J. W. Maclure made a tour of several of the Welsh railways. The three came away with the idea of forming a working union of the Welsh railways. The Welsh union was to help them face the threat of LNWR of the Wirral Railway.



Had this happened, the Wirral's Bidston-Hawarden would never have been built. Lucky for the MS&L, the Wirral agreed to transfer the unbuilt line to the MS&L and WM&CQ and grant them running powers over the Bidston Jct-Birkenhead dock line and between Birkenhead Dock and Park stations.



With Gladstone supportive of the plans on the Wirral, Parliament approved both the transfer of the Bidston-Hawarden line and the Welsh Railways Through Traffic Act in 1889.



I can't seem to find very much on just how the plans for the Welsh Railways Union foundered, but it did not come to pass in any case. But what if it had?



(Image from @webbcompound on RMweb)