The Bangor and Carnarvon Railway was incorporated on 20 May 1851. The line was leased to the Chester and Holyhead Railway from the time of opening, the C&HR in turn being worked by the LNWR. Freight and passenger traffic between Bangor and Port Dinorwic commenced on 1 March and 10 March 1852 respectively. On 20 August 1853 a branch to Llandudno was authorised by Parliament. At one time Llandudno, or rather Ormes Bay, had been considered as the departure harbour for Dublin, but as stated Holyhead had overtaken that. Tourism would, it was thought, support the branch. Originally it was intended to join the main line at Conway, facing Holyhead, but it was realised that the available space there prevented that, and the point of junction was placed east of the Conwy river, at what became Llandudno Junction. The branch opened on 1 October 1858. It was worked by the LNWR, and leased to that company in 1862, and vested in the LNWR by Act of 28 July 1873. The Vale of Clwyd Railway was authorised by Parliament on 23 June 1856. It was to run from a junction with the C&HR at Foryd Junction, not far from Rhyl, to Denbigh. It opened, using a temporary station at Denbigh on 22 September 1858. For the time being the C&HR, shortly to be taken over by the LNWR, allowed access to their Rhyl station. The LNWR took over the working of the line by an Act of 1863, and the company was amalgamated with the LNWR by Act of 15 July 1867. After the absorption of the Chester and Holyhead Railway by the LNWR in 1859, more branches connecting the line were built:  In the mid-nineteenth-century Llanrwst was an important market town, and a branch to it from the main line had been contemplated for some time. The LNWR promoted the Conway and Llanrwst Railway was authorised on 23 July 1860 and opened to the public on 17 June 1863. In 1868, with the growth of tourism, the line was extended to Betws-y-Coed  At this time the slate industry was expanding massively above Betws-y-Coed, at Blaenau Ffestiniog. Although other railway connections existed there, the LNWR decided to extend the branch to reach it.