The Chester and Holyhead Railway was opened throughout in 1850,Peter E Baughan, A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: 14: North and Mid Wales, David St John Thomas, Nairn, 1991, , pages 22 and 24 and it was absorbed by the London and North Western Railway in 1858. The Great Western Railway was the principal competitor of the LNWR in the area, and the GWR had taken steps to reach Rhyl, an important regional centre. It hoped to do this by taking control of a series of local railways, northwards from the Vale of Llangollen Railway at Corwen, which itself branched from the GWR at Ruabon. The GWR attempted to take control of the Denbigh, Ruthin & Corwen Railway as well as the Vale of Clwyd line.Baughan, pages 71 and 72
