OVER the past five years an average of just 150 people per year have boarded at Sugar Loaf Halt in Powys, at the heart of the Heart of Wales line.

Arriva Trains Wales, who manage the station, have launched a new visitor book there in the hope of capturing some of the love for the little station with an interesting past.

But with the new visitor book making space for more than 3,500 entries it could take up the best part of 25 years to fill.

By contrast, Cardiff Central, the busiest station in Wales, would see the book fill up in just a morning if all passengers were to sign it.

“We were approached by Peter Joyce our station adopter who asked if we’d consider placing a visitor’s book at the station,” said Geraint Morgan, Community Relations Manager for Arriva Trains Wales.

“Initially, due to the harsh weather the station can be exposed to we were unsure whether the book would last very long.

“However, we have found a means of protecting the book and look forward to visitor’s leaving comments about their visit. It’s a great little station and we’re proud to provided services there.”

Sugar Loaf Halt was built in 1868 to accommodate a small number of railway workers cottages, taking their children to school in Llanwrtyd. The station is cut into the rock and accessibly from a gravel path off the A483. It closed in 1965 but reopened in 1984 primarily for walkers and cyclists heading to the nearby Sugar Loaf hill, which is seprerate to the more famous Sugar Loaf mountain in Monmouthshire. As well as being Wales’ least used, it is also the fourth least used in the UK.

Sugar Loaf Halt features in the book Tiny Stations by Dixe Wills, who also worked with Paul Merton on his Channel 4 series “Secret Stations” last year which saw the actor and comedian visit a number of small request stop stations around the UK including some on the Heart of Wales Line and in Carmarthenshire.

Sugar Loaf has eight trains passing through Monday to Saturday, four going to Shrewsbury and four towards Swansea. There area four on a Sunday, two in each direction making a total of 54 a week. But with the station being a request stop, weeks can sometimes go by without the train stopping, particularly during the winter months.

The station is very isolated located at an altitude of 820ft above sea level with the nearest town being Llanwrtyd Wells about five miles away.

At a little over 20ft it also boasts one of the smallest platforms in the UK.