invoicing traffic on the line. In June 1866 the line was jointly leased to the GWR and LNWR, within whose "sphere of influence" it fell. A short branch was also constructed through to the colliery at Vron, owned by William Low, one of the Wrexham and Minera company's directors. In the 1870s a further extension, the Wrexham and Minera Joint Railway, was built from Brymbo through to an end-on connection with the LNWR's Ffrith Branch, which ran from Llanfynydd to Coed Talon near Mold. This line was jointly operated by the GWR and the LNWR - the only line in North Wales to be so operated. The completion of this link through the Cegidog valley not only gave the GWR a route to Mold, but allowed the LNWR access to the North Wales Coalfield. The construction of the Wrexham-Brymbo line led to the immediate abandonment of the North Wales Mineral Railway's original Brymbo (or "Brake") tunnel and incline. There was a successful application to use one end of the Brymbo tunnel to store explosives in 1872, in which it was stated that the centre of the tunnel had fallen in due to "undermining of the ground". The lower section of the NWMR route from Wheatsheaf Junction, through Summerhill Tunnel, to the collieries in the Moss valley remained in use as the Wheat Sheaf and Ffrwd Branch until 1908. Introduction of passenger services Between 1882 and 1905 the GWR gradually introduced passenger services between Wrexham and Minera, in response to requests from local communities. Halts or stations were located at Plas Power (Southsea), the Lodge, Brymbo, Brymbo West, Pentresaeson (for Bwlchgwyn), Coedpoeth, and Vicarage Crossing (Minera), with a passenger terminus at the rather remote Berwig Halt. From 1905 the GWR began operating a railmotor service, with as many as fifteen workings on Saturdays. The LNWR ran its own passenger trains from Mold south to the joint station at Brymbo. In 1905, the businesses of Coedpoeth campaigned for the Great Western Railway company to lay a new branch from the existing Coedpoeth Station into the village centre. Local business claimed the station was too far away (being effectively located in Minera) to serve them properly and was of little convenience. Regardless, their petition failed miserably. This may have been because the gradient was simply too steep for conventional rail, as well as the little profit for a large undertaking. Despite this situation,