Fairbourne Railway

The Fairbourne Miniature Railway takes travellers from the village of Fairbourne along the beaches of Bae Ceredigion/Cardigan Bay to the mouth of the Mawddach River at Barmouth Ferry station. This railway runs on a 12.25-inch (311mm) gauge for 2 miles.

Barmouth Ferry is the northern terminus of the railway and used to be on a balloon loop, so the locomotives did not have to run round their trains. They have disconnected this, and it is no longer in use. Locomotives run around the trains on arrival. This terminus is also the site of the Harbour View café, and from here, passengers can catch the pedestrian ferry across the estuary to Barmouth.

Fairbourne Station is home to the railway and has a souvenir shop, a railway museum, a G scale model railway, and a tearoom. I bought my ticket here. 

The carriages had blue trim, wooden benches, and metal flooring. In my open carriage was a notice advising that dogs don’t travel in open carriages. The locomotive was number 1078 from David Curwen in Devizes. 

After Fairbourne station, the first stop is at Beach Halt. This halt serves the beach, car park, and amusement arcade. The name of the station was formerly “Bathing Beach” during its time as a 15-inch gauge railway. From here, trains head northward through the dunes, skirting the beach before arriving at Golf Halt, which serves the 9-hole golf course and beach. Trains then continue northwards alongside the seawall before reaching Loop Halt.

Loop Halt serves the embankment footpath to Morfa Mawddach and the Barmouth Bridge. Trains continue into the passing loop and, during the two-train service, pass each other. The line then sweeps out into the sand dunes towards Estuary Halt. 

Estuary Halt is next to the Jack Steele Tunnel built in 1987 (presumably to keep the dunes off the track) and serves the car park at the end of Penrhyn Drive North. Trains pass here approximately sixteen minutes after leaving Fairbourne. Trains continue through the tunnel and more dunes before arriving at Barmouth Ferry.

My new book is available here.

The book covers not only the Great Little Trains of Wales but also other methods of transport in the UK.

I was eight years old when my interest in steam trains began. My parents and I lived close to someone who worked at Doncaster train station. The Flying Scotsman was the most famous train of the time, and for some reason it was at Doncaster for a few days. I was asked whether I’d like to see the train and go on the footplate. Of course I did. What I remember most was the enormous size of the train and that the driver’s cab seemed as big as my bedroom. Everything about the train, the colours, the gleaming metal, the gorgeous carriages, the mountain of coal, made a lasting impression – I wanted to go to places, and I wanted to go on a train like this one.

My father wanted to travel, and the plan was for my parents to see the world when he retired. Cancer cut short his life and their plan died with him. Once I had the finances, I felt duty bound to travel to the places he wanted to go, and if possible, go by steam train. This book is what I found.