The Heads of The Valleys line served the communities of Merthyr, Tredegar and Abergavenny dating back to 1860, linking the area to major population centres around south Wales and the rest of the UK on a dramatic route of curves, steep gradients, tunnels and viaducts. The line was finally closed in 1958.

The history and social background of the railway and its passengers during this period is explored station by station and brought vividly to life through extensive research and archive photography, some of which has never been published before.

Books in the series:

• Cambrian Coast Line
• Ruabon to Barmouth
• Aberystwyth to Carmarthen
• Brecon to Newport
• Vale of Neath
• Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth
• The Mid Wales Line
• Chester to Holyhead
• Bangor to Afon Wen
• Rhyl to Corwen
• The Heads of the Valleys Line
• Conwy Valley Line

Author Geoffrey Lloyd continues this series of pocket books exploring Wales’s railway heritage, each revealing one of the nation’s ‘lost lines’.

The foreword and introduction describe succinctly and knowledgeably the history of each line, mentioning other lines it connected with. The route is then illustrated by carefully selected quality captioned photographs displaying much variety. Every photograph has a steam train in it and along with describing the location the author explains the features that caused that particular class of locomotive to be used. The device of bleeding the photographs to the edge of the page with no white borders is dramatic. Although he does not say so, these books are a celebration of the work of enthusiastic post-World War II railway photographers. [...] Good value for money for a wide audience.'Journal of the Railway & Canal Historical Society