Peter Kerslake says "Situated at the foot of the hills and to the north of Pontypridd and south of Maerdy, the terminus of the former line through this part of the Rhondda Valley, Ferndale Depot seen here had begun life in 1884 as a four road affair constructed from local stone, distinctive in appearance during its later years by its elevated roof topped with a series of smoke extractors visible in this interesting view from 1964, the last days of the branch line and the year of the depot's consequential closure after nearly a century of service.
Having been reduced by half to just the two road facility seen here by the G.W.R. in the 1930's, the depot's former importance in its early years within an area of intense coal production had been reduced radically when coal production began to diminish during the post First War years.
This portrait of the compact little facility in typical Welsh valley surroundings shows the unusual design of the later and covered coaling plant with a coal wagon and tank engine beneath."