Well, there are two answers to this question. The first is why is the station called Monmouth Troy. There are two parts to this answer:

• The station is nearer to Monmouth than anywhere else, so it was named after the nearest town.
• Troy is also a re-translation of the Welsh for Trothy, the nearby river which the Pontypool line followed as far as Llandenny. It quietly flows into the Wye without anyone noticing just south of the station. The word Troy is basically just a corrupted version of Trothy. On the side, there is also a nearby area of housing called Mitchell Troy. This is, of course, assuming that you don't reckon it was the site of a historic city called Troy which is supposed to be near the Mediterranean Sea.

The second answer is why we are rebuilding the WVR to this derelict site which is not terribly convenient for Monmouth and is now just next to a housing estate.

The answer to this comes in the form of two further questions and a sort of answer to them. The first question is, quite simply, "Why not?" After all, historically all of Monmouth's railways centred here, although electric traction is not terribly historic.

The second question is "Where else would the railway go if it didn't come here?" The alternatives are finish at Wyesham, which is even less convenient for Monmouth and any possible future extensions, go to May Hill, or find a new start. Let's list these options tidily.

• Wyesham
• Monmouth May Hill
• Monmouth Troy
• Another site near Monmouth

Now the CMUPR did have some idea of what they were doing and as they were hoping to build a direct through route they built a direct through station, not some tiny terminus tucked away up a backstreet somewhere in Monmouth. So Monmouth Troy was built on the straightest possible course, almost bypassing Monmouth and being located on the wrong bank of the Monnow. This meant plenty of space, but it also meant that Monmouth Town Centre is quite a good distance away.

Not building from Wyesham to Troy is a waste of a good trackbed, and we do then at least have a station with the word Monmouth in the name, so the additional few thousand pounds for restoring the viaduct would probably be well spent. Also, there isn't much space at Wyesham, and there is absolutely no room for a two-platform terminus, or even a run-round loop. Although a passing loop was there originally and so was considered when we started looking at re-opening proposals, our initial planners have little sense of scale and a full survey might result in a decision that Wyesham will have to become Britain's only station without a platform, owing to lack of space.

Monmouth May Hill was a temporary station built on the other bank of the Wye from Monmouth. It was intended to close in 1874 when the link to Troy opened, but it was decided to leave it open. The station was a single platform affair and was fairly spacious, unlike most of the other stops on the Ross and Monmouth run (the riverside platform shelter at Symonds Yat was stuck out over the river on a few struts).

There were three stations near to Monmouth, all of which are options for the northern terminus of the "new" WVR - Wyesham, May Hill, and Troy. There was a link from Troy to May Hill and from Troy to Wyesham, Troy being the central junction. But, with few expectations of direct north-south traffic there was no link built to rail standards from Wyesham to May Hill, despite a suggestion to do so in order to create a direct Chepstow - Ross link in 1958 on the grounds that it would save an inconvienient change at Troy. It is a feature of old habits dying hard that one of the first (if not the first) direct Chepstow to Ross trains was also the last - the 4th January 1959 closure special. To the very end, there was little co-ordination of the two branches, with no proper connections in the timetable, although the morning and midday trains had departed down the three lines at the same time at one point.

Now there is no link and there are no earthworks started for such a link. Any earthworks which were provided for the 1808-built Monmouth Tramroad (which terminated at May Hill after coming down through Wyesham from Coleford) have probably been borrowed for the A466, which is in no mood to return them and so a new embankment would be needed. Such a construction would also be expensive and would inconvenience local residents (it might look dark, but some people do live between the two trackbeds), as well as probably having ridiculous gradients. That, therefore, is a non-starter.

Besides, there is an industrial estate and sports ground on the site on Monmouth May Hill station. The station used to be on the north side of a road bridge, and putting one in on the south side at the bottom of a link from Wyesham is not really an option. A terminus station cannot be built on a gradient on a British railway for safety reasons, and there would probably also be complaints about a steep approach gradient wearing out the batteries on departing trains if we went in for battery operation. So here are the options again: Wyesham Monmouth May Hill Monmouth Troy Another site near Monmouth On the right is why we cannot use Monmouth May Hill. The former station site is seen in 2005, now in use for alternative purposes.

Another site near Monmouth gets difficult.

Now a station could be built on a ledge north of Wyesham and further up the hill from May Hill as a joint "Monmouth for Wyesham" station. But this is all built-up area, and gets difficult. Residents are very happy with new transport once you've built it if it doesn't make too much noise and is available whenever they want to use it. However, they aren't quite so keen, strangely, on the thing being built in the first place, and demand compensation for it. They always have done. This gets expensive. Besides, it will need heavy earthworks, leave a very, very narrow track overhanging the A466, and the terminus would suffer the same problem as Wyesham - there would be no space whatsoever. Maybe, again, not even enough room for a platform.

Building a new station on the west bank of the Wye is difficult as either a new bridge over the Wye is needed, without removing anything already there, or you use the old viaduct into Troy. At which point it is much cheaper just to re-open Troy station and have done with it. A few plots of land adjacent to the main road are still available, but there are not many, they don't allow for expansion and rail access would be inconvenient. It must be remembered that railway stations always need good rail access, for obvious reasons.

The only way of arranging an alternative route is by forgetting the trackbed north of Penallt Halt and building a new railway across the front of the Boat Inn and on up the West bank of the Wye. This line would then cross the Trothy, Monmouth Troy station throat and the Monnow before terminating in the middle of a bed of allotments in front of Monmouth Boys School, sandwiched between the Wye and the A40/A449 dual carriageway. This has the advantages of being much more convenient for Monmouth, avoiding property demolition in Redbrook and cutting out two crossings of the Wye. It has the disadvantages that it precludes re-opening any other railways to Monmouth, will make the Boat Inn seem very dark, will not be convenient for Wyesham, will require a brand new trackbed (with all associated expenses) and will entail building on allotments. It is almost harder to build on allotments than it is to demolish houses.

The allotments could be ommitted, but the train would then simply end up terminating in a station stuck across Monmouth Troy station throat - as convenient for Monmouth as ever and not serving Wyesham. It would also be on the other bank of the river to Redbrook. This might not seem very important, but it was a sufficient issue to justify building Penallt Halt. On the other hand, Penallt Halt may have been built before the footbridge was added to Penallt Viaduct. Then again, the halt was retained even after the footbridge was provided.

So here is our list of options again:

• Wyesham
• Monmouth May Hill
• Monmouth Troy
• Another site near Monmouth.

Only Monmouth Troy is left, so this will have to be where the station will go. This is as much cancelling out weaker links than anything else, but Troy would, hopefully, just strike the right balance between accessibility (for passengers and trains), easiest rebuilding, and historical accuracy. Plus, we want our own depot to save renting costs and allow us to install unique specialist equipment without getting in everyone else's way. We might manage to fit one in somewhere at the western end of Monmouth Tunnel, but to build such a thing there really involves going right into Troy - since the tunnel is at the western end of the station.