We had a week away in a farm cottage near Bridgend, the main reason was for Col to go to watch Southport F C play Merthyr F C in the first game of the 2025-26 football season. Col did have a chance to go and take some railway pictures.
One day he went out and found a nice spec at a place called “Stormy”. This is between Bridgend and Pyle, along the line from Cardiff to Swansea.
At Stormy there are a couple of goods loops, one on each side of the fast lines. These loops are used for freight trains going to and from the nearby Port Talbot steel works, so there is quite a lot of metals traffic.
The main line carries Great Western Railway trains from and to London Paddington, Swansea, Carmarthen. The line also carries Transport For Wales more local services to Cardiff and the Pembrokeshire coast.
On the way to the week away we had a overnight stop in Llandrindod. So a visit to the station for 2 of the 8 service trains a day,
On the heart of Wales line two trains are in the station at Llandrindod on the afternoon of 7th of August 2025. 150254 on the left is forming the 13.59 hrs service from Shrewsbury to Swansea while on the right is 153303 forming the 12.51 service from Swansea to Shrewsbury.
The line from Craven Arms in Shropshire to Llanelli is mainly single track with some passing loops as here in the station.
The train service, through mainly rural areas is not very often, being four services each way each day, except for Sundays when it is two each way.
Photo image Cw 9250 Copyright Colin Wareing
Pictures from Stormy on the 12th of August, which was a very hot day, heat wave conditions, getting up to 32c.
Transport for Wales diesel train no 197 009 disappears around a bend on the railway line from Swansea to Bridgend at Stormy in South Wales.
The train service it is working is the 11.02 departure from Pembroke Dock to Cardiff Central on a warm and sunny August afternoon when the temperature had heat wave values of 32C.
At Stormy there are two goods train loops, one on either side of the main lines for use of freight trains going to and from the nearby steel works at Port Talbot.
12.8.25
Image Cw 9251 copyright Colin Wareing of Colin and Carole’s Creations
DB Cargo diesel locomotive no 66074 passes the goods loops at Stormy on the railway line form Bridgend and Swansea working a rolled steel coil train to Margam for the Port Talbot Steel works.
The train service it is working is the 12.15 departure from Newport Dock to Margam TC on a warm and sunny August afternoon when the temperature had heat wave values of 32C.
At Stormy there are two goods train loops, one on either side of the main lines for use of freight trains going to and from the nearby steel works at Port Talbot.
The train was running under head code or train reporting no 6Z25.
12.8.25
Image Cw 9253 copyright Colin Wareing of Colin and Carole’s Creations
DB Cargo 66092 Stormy 12.8.25
DB Cargo diesel locomotive no 66092 approaches Stormy No 1 bridge on the railway line form Swansea and Bridgend working a train of steel products from the Trostre works to Newport docks.
The Trostre works is part of the Port Talbot Steel works.
The train service it is working is the 14.10 departure from Trostre Works to Newport Dock on a warm and sunny August afternoon when the temperature had heat wave values of 32C.
At Stormy there are two goods train loops, behind the photographer, one on either side of the main lines for use of freight trains going to and from the nearby steel works at Port Talbot.
The train was running under headcode or train reporting no 6B38
12.8.25
Image Cw 9254 copyright Colin Wareing of Colin and Carole’s Creations
DB Cargo diesel locomotive no 66003 passes the goods loops at Stormy on the railway line form Bridgend and Swansea working a train of empty steel carrying wagons for Round Oak near Brierley Hill to Margam to be reloaded from the Port Talbot Steel works.
The train service it is working is the 09.12 departure from Round Oak to Margam TC on a warm and sunny August afternoon when the temperature had heat wave values of 32C.
At Stormy there are two goods train loops, one on either side of the main lines for use of freight trains going to and from the nearby steel works at Port Talbot.
The train was running under headcode or train reporting no 6V05 and would arrive in Margam at 15.16hrs, 23 minutes earlier than it was timed to be there.
12.8.25
Image Cw 9255 copyright Colin Wareing of Colin and Carole’s Creations
DB Cargo 66011 and 66034 6B41 Stormy 12.8.2025
DB Cargo diesel locomotives no 66011 and 66034 pass the goods loops at Stormy on the railway line from Bridgend to Swansea working a train of empty fuel carrying tank wagons from Westerleigh fuel terminal near Bristol to the Theale fuel depot at Robertson sidings near Milford Haven for reloading.
The train service they are working is the 11.02 departure from Westerleigh to Robertson on a warm and sunny August afternoon when the temperature had heat wave values of 32C.
At Stormy there are two goods train loops, one on either side of the main lines mainly for use of freight trains going to and from the nearby steel works at Port Talbot.
The train was running under headcode or train reporting no 6B41 and would arrive in Milford Haven at 18.35hrs.
12.8.25
Image Cw 9256 copyright Colin Wareing of Colin and Carole’s Creations
We stayed in a cottage on a farm near Tondu where there is a station on the valley line from Bridgend to Maesteg.
I took the opportunity to have a ride on one of the newish 197’s to Pencoed and back. The station area in Tondu is fairly over grown with some tracks in place on branch lines used by the coal trains up until the 1990’s.
Transport for Wales diesel train no 197 117 winds it’s way past the signal box at Tondu on its way to Maesteg in South Wales.
The train service it is working is the 15.07 departure from Ebbw Vale to Maesteg, here leaving Tondu at 16.55hrs on a dull and humid August afternoon.
The train is fairly new the class of trains built by CAF being introduced to the railway in January 2023.
The railway from Bridgend to Maesteg was part of the extensive valley railways of South Wales that used to transport coal from the pits. The station and line closed to passenger traffic in 1970 but following the demise of the coal mining industry it was reopened in 1992 as aprt of the regeneration of the former industrial regions.
The line from here to Maesteg is now a single track branch line and the train driver has just picked up his token from the signal man to proceed along the branch.
13.8.25
Image Cw 9252 copyright Colin Wareing of Colin and Carole’s Creations