There are many towns and villages across the country with a Station Road, but no station.

The street name often the only reminder in most cases of what once was.

It's hard to image the market town of Mold as home to a bustling railway but it certainly had one.

Having recently been loaned the collection of postcards and photographs belonging to former Leader columnist, the late Elvet Pierce, by his son Brynmor, I came across a stunning set featuring trains and railway life across Flintshire.

Along with the following words by local historian and author Brian Bennett, and a few of his own collection of photos, it's not difficult to get a real sense of how things used to be...

To see more photos from the Leader archives check out our Local Bygones section.

For more nostalgia and chat, visit the Leader's 'Local Bygones' group on Facebook.

Treuddyn Junction 1950s. Courtesy of Brian Bennett

Treuddyn Junction 1950s. Courtesy of Brian Bennett

THIS late 1950's view of the Tryddyn Junction railway at the point where the branch line coming down from Brymbo meets the main Chester to Denbigh main line at Mold, will surely stir the memories of many older readers - especially those from the outlying villages which used the line for school and shopping.

This featured signal box is named Tryddyn Junction, but the line actually went to Coed Talon not Tryddyn, or should that read Treuddyn? It's somewhat confusing.

This railway carried schoolchildren and shoppers to Mold for generations along the picturesque single-line route, when children from Llanfynydd, Leeswood and Coed Talon among others used the service to and from school and shops until about 1950. Then the service was withdrawn and the line was used solely as a mineral line until its final closure in about 1960, just prior to the main line being shut in April 1962.

Coed Talon Station c1940s. Courtesy of Brian Bennett

Coed Talon Station c1940s. Courtesy of Brian Bennett

This view taken from the Woodlands Road area about a quarter of a mile south/east of Mold Station clearly shows the swing gate and sleeper crossing which existed on this spot for years.

The line crossed the old Wrexham to Mold Road, near to where today the Leader is based. Indeed the brick structure is still in evidence.

One interesting fact to emerge was that this small signal box employed two men, on a shift pattern to cover from early morning to late at night.

One of the signalmen was a gentleman from Nannerch by the name of John Roberts who was a close friend of my family. He travelled each morning from Nannerch to the signal box at Mold to make sure the gates, signals and points were all in order for the early morning milk train from Saltney.

This was on an old heavy Raleigh bicycle in all weathers with no carbon fibre frames and fancy gears in those days!

The trains started from Brymbo, calling at Ffrith, Llanfynydd and Coed Talon and were usually a one coach carriage, driven by an old Fowler 0-6-0 tank engine. The image I still revere is, as a small boy, remembering the old tank engine earning its keep chugging out smoke as it passed through the quiet idyllic local countryside which skirted the then small villages of Nercwys and Treuddyn - happy memories.

The track itself is still very evident in many places and the site of the refuse tip near Nercwys is actually situated on the bed of the old branch line. The signal box was removed soon after the line closed, but the adjoining house remains, having been fully modernised.