Beddgelert, a model of an engine from the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways.

The Fairbourne Railway is a privately-owned miniature railway in North Wales. It runs for 2½ miles from the village of Fairbourne (near the Fairbourne standard-gauge station) to the end of a peninsula, where there is a connection with a foot ferry across the Mawddach estuary to the seaside resort of Barmouth/Abermaw. The track is laid to a gauge of 12¼ inches. Motto: (Welsh for Wales for ever) Anthem: Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau Capital Cardiff Largest city Cardiff Official language(s) English, Welsh Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister Tony Blair MP  - First Minister Rhodri Morgan AM Unification    - by Gruffudd ap Llywelyn 1056  Area    - Total 20,779 km² (3rd... Rail gauge is the distance between two rails of a railroad. ... Fairbourne is a village in Gwynedd, Wales, lying on the estuary of the River Mawddach. ... Image File history File links Fairbourne_Railay_mini_Beddgellert. ... Image File history File links Fairbourne_Railay_mini_Beddgellert. ... The North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways (Moel Tryfan Undertaking) (to give it its full name) was a 1 ft 11½ in (597 mm) gauge railway running from Dinas to Bryngwyn, Wales, which was authorised by Act of Parliament 1872. ... Zooline Railroad St. ... Approximate extent of North Wales North Wales (known in some archaic texts as Northgalis) is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales, bordered to the south by Mid Wales. ... Fairbourne is a village in Gwynedd, Wales, lying on the estuary of the River Mawddach. ... Fairbourne railway station serves the village of Fairbourne in Gwynedd, Wales. ... The River Mawddach (in Welsh, Afon Mawddach) is a river in North Wales which has its source north of Aran Fawddwy in Snowdonia and its mouth at the town of Barmouth. ... Barmouth (Welsh: Abermaw (formal); Y Bermo (colloquial)) is a town in the administrative county of Gwynedd, traditional county of Merionethshire, northwestern Wales, lying on the estuary of the River Mawddach and Cardigan Bay. ...

The line was opened in 1895 as 2 ft (610 mm) gauge, initially as a horse-drawn construction tramway. It was converted in 1916 to 15 inch gauge, and again to its present gauge in 1986.

Steam locomotives run most of the services, some of the locomotives are approximately half-size replicas of locomotives running on existing narrow-gauge lines such as the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway and Lynton and Barnstaple Railway Great Western Railway No. ... The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, nicknamed Toy Train, is a 60cm narrow-gauge railway from Siliguri to Darjeeling in the state of West Bengal in India. ... The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway (L&B) was a narrow-gauge railway running through the rugged and picturesque countryside of Exmoor in North Devon, England. ...

The railway runs daily between April and September, and runs special events throughout the season including the popular "Friendly Fairbourne Engines" events, and Santa Specials.

The Rowen Nature Centre named after Fairbourne's beach's original name "Ro-Wen," is located on Fairbourne station, and houses a variety of local wildlife that visitors would normally miss.

History

The Railway has run from Fairbourne village to Penrhyn Point since 1895.

With the arrival of the Cambrian Coast Line and the construction of the Barmouth Bridge there were schemes to develop the area for tourism. There were several horse drawn construction tramway in the area, the tramway that was used to construct the village became the Fairbourne Railway. The Cambrian Line is a railway from Shrewsbury (in Shropshire, England) to Welshpool, Aberystwyth and Pwllheli. ... A train crossing the Barmouth Bridge The Barmouth Bridge (Welsh: Pont Abermawr) is a railway viaduct that crosses the estuary of the River Mawddach near to Barmouth in Wales, on the coast of Cardigan Bay. ...

The Early Days

Beginning life at 2 ft (610 mm) gauge, the line was converted to a 15 inch gauge steam railway in 1916 by Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke and Miniature Railways of Great Britain. It played an important part in the development of the 15 inch gauge railways in the UK.

The railway had mixed fortunes during the inter war years (at one time it was leased to the ferrymen) and at another time it experimented with dual gauge track after trying to solve a motive power shortage by buying a locomotive of a different gauge (18 inch). The line closed in 1940 after operating its final year with a Lister 'Railtruck' petrol locomotive.

1947-1984

The railway was rescued by a consortium of Midlands businessmen in 1946 and after rebuilding, was reopened by 1947. The line's owner John Wilkins funded the redevelopment of the railway and the purchase of new steam locomotives. The heyday was in the 1960s and early 1970s but the advent of mass foreign holidays meant there was a steady decline in the 1970s and 1980s.

1984-1995

The line's ownership changed in 1984 to the Ellerton family and was re-gauged to 12¼ inches in 1986. Four new steam locomotives were introduced, two of which had run on the Réseau Guerlédan in Brittany in 1978. All four steam locomotives are half sized replicas of narrow gauge engines: Yeo, Sherpa, Beddgelert and Russell. Of the extant 15 in gauge locomotives only Sylvia (rebuilt at Lilian Walter) remained.

The railway was again put up for sale in 1990 and the line's fortunes appeared to be declining once again. During the five years it was up for sale the railway deteriorated dramatically.

1995 to present day

The current owners; Prof. & Mrs Atkinson and Dr & Mrs Melton bought the line in April 1995. There has since been considerable investment in the railway and Rowen Nature Centre. The Directors do not receive any salary, their motivation is to preserve the line. Any potential profit that could be generated would be ploughed back into the railway.

Stations

• Fairbourne
• Beach Halt
• Golf Halt
• Tunnel Halt (Under construction)
• Barmouth Ferry

Fairbourne is a village in Gwynedd, Wales, lying on the estuary of the River Mawddach. ...

Locomotives

Current locomotives

The North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways (Moel Tryfan Undertaking) (to give it its full name) was a 1 ft 11½ in (597 mm) gauge railway running from Dinas to Bryngwyn, Wales, which was authorised by Act of Parliament 1872. ... The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway (L&B) was a narrow-gauge railway running through the rugged and picturesque countryside of Exmoor in North Devon, England. ... The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, nicknamed Toy Train, is a 60cm narrow-gauge railway from Siliguri to Darjeeling in the state of West Bengal in India. ... The Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway (L&MVLR) was a narrow gauge railway in Staffordshire, Great Britain that operated between 1904 and 1934. ... ex-South African Railways Garratt no 138 Millennium/Mileniwm hauling a train out of Caernarfon station December 28, 2004 Sister engine, no 143 in the countryside. ...

Other locomotives

Locomotives that have previously run on the Fairbourne Railway:

The Windmill Farm Railway is located at the Windmill Animal Farm, Burscough, near Ormskirk, Lancashire. ... The Windmill Farm Railway is located at the Windmill Animal Farm, Burscough, near Ormskirk, Lancashire. ... The Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railroad is a narrow gauge heritage railway which operates in Franklin County in the U.S. state of Maine. ... Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway is a 15 (0. ...

References

• Alan C. Butcher (ed). Railways Restored 2005. Ian Allan Publishing Co, Hersham, Surrey, 2005. ISBN 0-7110-2053-7
• J.I.C.Boyd Narrow Gauge Railways in Mid Wales
• W.J.Milner Rails through the Sand

External links

• Official web site
• Return to the Ferry photo gallery
• Maps and photos of: Fairbourne - grid reference SH615128 and Penrhyn Point - SH616149

The British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using latitude or longitude. ...