5655 1950s Wenvoe
Ray Viney identifies this as Wenvoe station on the former Barry Railway line. The train is probably an excursion heading south towards the junction at Cadoxton.
It is not only the stickers on the leading carriage that makes us think it is an excursion, but mainly the length of the train. The passenger service on this line was between Pontypridd and Barry Island and in the summer timetable there were three return trains on a Sunday which catered for seaside excursion traffic to Barry Island, five or six coach trains being the norm. In the lines last years the timetable showed only one return service on weekdays with one coach normally being sufficient. Wenvoe station closed on the withdrawal of passenger services on 10 September 1962.
This view of 5655 , shedded at Merthyr at about this time , shows clearly the modified coal bunker with its recess for the lamp bracket and associated raised top section , so necessary as these little engines were very often , as seen here , called upon to work bunker first , especially when running back down on the Welsh Valley lines on their return journey homeward as turntable facilities were invaraibly absent at the end of their earlier outward run.
The " Southern Region " style of disc Reporting Number seen here would appear to be a feature of workings in the Welsh valleys for both passenger and freight duties during these years , and I am sure that those who undestand these things would be able to identify their numbers such as the " 370 " shown here.