The Ruabon railway branch lines were a network of railways built to serve the mineral bearing area west of Ruabon, which contained many coal and iron deposits, as well as limestone, and a small but dense network of railways developed to handle the minerals.
The Ellesmere Canal connected the area to Chester, for onward transport by coastal shipping. A tramway was opened in 1805 to extend the reach of the canal. When the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway was opened in 1846 – 1848 the transport opportunities were transformed, and railway branch lines were built. The S&CR merged with the Great Western Railway in 1854, and in time all the branches came under GWR control.
Short branches were extended into the area west of Ruabon and for some time formed a dense local network. As the population density increased, a local passenger operation was put on, based on Wrexham, the local market town.
In the period following World War I the mineral industry declined, and the passenger operation was discontinued. Mineral traffic reduced substantially by 1930, and the whole network was closed in 1963.
Ellesmere Canal
The mineral deposits, chiefly coal, iron and limestone, in the area immediately west of Ruabon led to an important, but localised, industry there in the eighteenth century. As the volume of production increased, the inadequacy of road transport facilities became more significant, and this led to the construction of the Ellesmere Canal; it opened to Trevor on 26 November 1805, crossing the River Dee by the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. The basin at Trevor and the locality in generally came to be known as Pont Cysyllte, later Pontcysyllte.
Ruabon Brook Tramway
The canal company had considered extending the canal northwards to serve mineral extraction sites, but the terrain was difficult for canals, and it built a horse tramway instead. It had obtained powers on 29 June 1804 to build it, and the tramway opened on the same day as the canal, 26 November 1805, and was known as the Ruabon Brook Tramway.
Conversion of the tramway into a proper railway began in 1861, under the control of the London and North Western Railway. Work began at Pontcysyllte and continued north in stages to Afon Eitha, connecting several short branches to pits and factories, and the final one from Wynn Hall Colliery to Llwyneinion Brickworks, just north of where Rhos station was later built. From completion on 30 January 1867, the railway was worked by the New British Iron Company, which owned Wynnstay Colliery, a major source of traffic until the colliery closed in 1886.
In 1896 the Great Western Railway purchased the former tramway network, by agreement dated 12 February 1896, for the sum of £51,000.
Plas Madoc branch line
The Plas Madoc branch ran from the GWR line half a mile south of Ruabon to Plas Madoc colliery; it had been built privately, by the coalowner. By the 1880s it was extended across the Ruabon Brook line, crossing it on the level near Plâs y Waen, to brickworks north of Acrefair. Worked at this later period with traffic to and from Delph Brickworks, about two miles from the Shrewsbury and Chester line as part of the GWR, it was formally acquired by them from the LNWR in about 1896.
Ponkey and Pontcysyllte branch lines
In 1861 the GWR opened a further branch: from a junction just north of Ruabon station to serve blast furnaces at Ponciau (then known as Ponkey) and Aberderfyn, opening on 1 August 1861, and on 27 August 1876 the line was extended to Legacy Colliery.
In 1896 the GWR purchased the Pontcysyllte line; this was to forestall a feared incursion by the Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway. The handover took place on 12 February 1896, and the LNWR branch engine returned to its home network.
The GWR later obtained authorisation to construct a branch line (the "Rhos" branch) from a junction south of Wrexham to Legacy, making new connections there with the Ponkey branch and the Plas Madoc branch. This new group of branches opened on 1 October 1901.
The Pontcysyllte line was extended at the south end to Trevor goods yard on the Ruabon-Llangollen line. A quarter-mile section between the station and Trefynant brickworks had been constructed by the owners, J. C. Edwards, and the GWR worked over it by agreement, for goods traffic only.