# The heart of Wales
Line crosses the 18 arches of the Cynghordy Viaduct near Llandovery | Route:
Shrewbury to Llanelli about 110 miles; Notable passengers: livestock,
Historically; Dining car: a trolley service sometimes operates; Sit on: the
left-hand side for view up to Sugarloaf Mountain.
ONE of Britain’s
remotest railways, the heart of Wales Line by some miracle survived the closure
of Britain’s rural lines in the 1960s. what remains today is a railway line
time-warped from a bygone era: stations where you have to ask nicely for the
train to stop, tracks where weeds sprout between the sleepers and viaducts
beneath whose arches sheep shelter from driving rain. To see it for yourself, jump aboard a westbound train
at Shrewsbury – passing by medieval manor houses and tumbling green hills,
stopping at handsome spa towns like Llandrindod Wells and Llandwrtyd Wells,
where Victorian gentlemen one disembarked to exfoliate themselves. The journey
then skirts the western edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park before the
train draws to a halt in Llanelli – a town which this year hosts the annual
elebration of Welsh culture, the Eisteddfod. Special services ca noccasionally
be found chuntering up and down the line on weekends-this April sees a train
hauled by ‘Black fives’, the historic steam locomotives that once served on the
railway.
Arriva Trains Wales operates normal services on the Heart of
Wales Line from Shewbury-Llanelli (arrivatrainswales.co.uk).
The Railway Touring Company operates its steam hauled ‘Heart of Wales’ special
on 12 April (railwaytouring.net).
