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SOUTH WALES at the turn of the Century

TONDU Tucked away in a forgotten corner of Railtrack's network is Tondu, once known as Tondu Middle. It is a Great Western box dating from 1883, and controls the convergence of two branches off the South Wales Main Line (at Bridgend and Pyle) towards Maesteg. This photograph was the subject of the July 1999 quiz, where entrants where invited to identify the location.. The apparent plain-ness of the architecture can be explained by the renewal of the brickwork at an unknown date. Despite the location having once been quite complex, and controlled by several boxes, the lever frame still has many points and signals and really looks quite impressive. The signalman's diagram. The original lever frame was replaced in 1957 with the one seen here, containing 65 levers.

Photographs by Roger Bailey

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