The Van Railway was a standard gauge railway in mid Wales. The line was built in 1871 to link the highly productive lead mines at Van, near Llanidloes to the main Cambrian line at Caersws. The mines closed in 1920, but the railway remained open until 1940.

The line ran westwards from Caersws along the Cerist and Trannon river valleys, with halts near Penisafmanledd and Y Fan. An underground railway portal has been restored at the mine site. The route can still be traced through the rural landscape today, where original embankments, cuttings and track bed still remain.

Passengers were carried from 1873 and general freight was carried by the Cambrian Railways in 1896. The railway was a private venture by Earl Vane, who also leased the mine to the mining company and was the chairman of the Cambrian Railway Company.

[edit] References

• Baughan, Peter E. (1980). A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: Volume 11 North and Mid Wales (1st Edition ed.). Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-7850-3. OCLC 6823219. 
• Baughan, Peter E. (1991). A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: Volume 11 North and Mid Wales (2nd Edition ed.). Nairn: David St John Thomas. ISBN 0-9465-3759-3. OCLC 26361284. 

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