The upper-level, narrow-gauge station at Minffordd

Minffordd (translation Lip of the Road) is the interchange station (called Minffordd Junction by the Victorians) opened on 1 August 1872 at the point where the then newly built Cambrian Railways line from Dovey Junction to Pwllheli passes under the existing narrow gauge Ffestiniog Railway built in 1836 to carry dressed slate from Blaenau Ffestiniog to Porthmadog for export by sea. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 505 KB)Minffordd Station, upper-level tracks. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 505 KB)Minffordd Station, upper-level tracks. ... August 1 is the 213th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (214th in leap years), with 152 days remaining. ... 1872 (MDCCCLXXII) was a leap year starting on Monday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... The Cambrian Railways (Cambrian) owned a total of 230 miles of track, over a large area of mid-Wales. ... Dovey Junction is a station on the Cambrian Line in Wales. ... Pwllheli is the main market town of the Lleyn peninsula in northwestern Wales. ... Double fairlie Merddyn Emrys with train Double Fairlie Earl of Merionedd at Tanybwlch At Blaenau Ffestiniog Minffordd Station Historic coaches, including 1897-built ex-Lynton and Barnstaple Railway no 14 (centre) at Tanybwlch. ... Blaenau Ffestiniog is a small town in north Wales. ... Porthmadog, (Pronounced Port Madock), known locally as Port, is a small coastal town located in Gwynedd, in north-west Wales, traditionally part of Caernarfonshire. ...

The standard gauge station consists of a single platform with a simple shelter linked to the narrow gauge station by way of an underbridge and a pedestrian ramp. Access to the Cambrian Line is thus by way of the Ffestiniog Railway "up" platform. Passenger service on the Ffestiniog Railway was withdrawn on 15 September 1939, and reopened to Minffordd 19 May 1956, but easy pedestrian access to the Cambrian Line was maintained throughout the closed period. Mr Parry, GWR and BR stationmaster at Minffordd for 40 years retired in 1964 and the BR station then became an unstaffed halt. As railways developed and expanded one of the key issues to be decided was that of the rail gauge (the distance between the two rails of the track) which should be used. ... The Cambrian Line is a railway from Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth and Pwllheli. ... September 15 is the 258th day of the year (259th in leap years). ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... May 19 is the 139th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (140th in leap years). ... 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The original Bristol Temple Meads station, first terminus of the GWR, is the building to the left of this picture The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company, linking South West England, the West Country and South Wales with London. ... British Railways (BR), later rebranded as British Rail, ran the British railway system, from the nationalisation of the Big Four British railway companies in 1948 until its privatisation in stages between 1994 and 1997. ...

The present substantial stone built Ffestiniog Railway station buildings, at a height of 85ft above sea level and a distance of 2 miles 5 chains from Porthmadog Harbour, are on the "up" platform and date from 1887, but there is as yet little evidence of earlier buildings. There was a small wooden building on the "down" platform and this building (possibly dating from the 1870's) was in a derelict condition when it was demolished in 1956. A replica was erected in the first years of the 21st century.

A short walk, advertised near the station, leads to Portmeirion. A part of Portmeirion. ...

Passenger Interchange

Passenger interchange between standard gauge and narrow gauge railways in the UK has never been common. The facility at Minffordd with the close proximity of lines is the earliest, 1872, and in 2006 is still in regular use.

During the late 1950's and the 1960's the interchange saw much use by chartered trains bringing visitors to the Ffestiniog Railway but following the reopening of the joint Blaenau Ffestiniog railway station in 1982 most chartered trains now operate by that route. Blaenau Ffestiniog railway station serves the slate mining town of Blaenau Ffestiniog and is the passenger terminus of the Conwy Valley Line from Llandudno Junction. ...

There have been several notable visitors using Minffordd station.

The first was in 1889 when Prince and Princess Henry of Battenberg arrived from Barmouth by Cambrian Railways Royal Train. They were received at Minffordd Junction by Mr & Mrs Williams of Castell Deudraeth. A Guard of Honour was mounted by the 2nd Volunteer Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers and The Royal Party were conducted by Mr Williams to the Ffestiniog Railway Station where they joined a special train to Tan-y-Bwlch They took tea at Plas Tan-y-Bwlch with Mr & Mrs Oakeley while the Oakeley Silver Band played on the terrace. Mr Oakeley afterwards drove the Prince and Princess to Maentwrog Road station, for their return by The Great Western Railway Royal Train to Llandderfel. 1889 (MDCCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Battenberg (Eder) is a town of 5000 inhabitants in Northern Hesse, Germany. ... 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. ... Class 67, no. ... Official name The Royal Welch Fusiliers Colonel-in-Chief HM Queen Elizabeth II Colonel Major-General Brian Peter Plummer CBE Nicknames Motto Nec Aspera Terrent Anniversaries St. ... The original Bristol Temple Meads station, first terminus of the GWR, is the building to the left of this picture The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company, linking South West England, the West Country and South Wales with London. ...

Dr Hastings Banda, President of Malawi accompanied by Lord Snowdon and the Secretary of State for Wales visited the railway in 1968. Seven years later, on July 25, 1975, The Princess Margaret, Viscount Linley and Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones travelled from Minffordd in a special train to view the Ffestiniog Railway Deviation. Lord Linley travelled on the footplate for part of the journey. Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda (1896 – November 25, 1997) was the founding President and former dictator of Malawi. ... Antony Armstrong-Jones, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1958 Antony Charles Robert Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon (born March 7, 1930) is a well-known photographer, Emmy award-winning documentary filmmaker, and the former husband of the late Princess Margaret. ... In several countries, Secretary of State is a senior government position. ... For an explanation of often confusing terms such as Great Britain, Britain, United Kingdom and England, see British Isles (terminology). ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... July 25 is the 206th day (207th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 159 days remaining. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... HRH The Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon Her Royal Highness The Princess Margaret (Margaret Rose Armstrong-Jones, née Windsor; (August 21, 1930—February 9, 2002) was a member of the British Royal Family, the second eldest daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, and sister of the current British... Earl of Snowdon is a British peerage title, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. ...

After first inspecting Barmouth Bridge, The Chairman of the British Railways Board, Sir Peter Parker, arrived at Minffordd in 1980 in an inspection saloon hauled by a motor parcels van, as locomotives were not at that time allowed over the Barmouth Bridge. On the Ffestiniog Railway, Sir Peter travelled on the footplate from Minffordd as far as Tan-y-Bwlch before continuing to Tanygrisiau and then to Blaenau Ffestiniog. 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. ... Sir Peter Parker KBE LVO was a British businessman who served as chairman of the British Railways Board from 1976 to 1983 and guided the organisation through difficult times to the beginings of the resurgence in train travel in the United Kingdom. ... 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. ... Tanygrisiau, with the Moelwynion behind Tanygrisiau is a village in the upper end of the Vale of Ffestiniog in the county of Gwynedd, North Wales (52°58′0″N, 3°55′60″W). ... Blaenau Ffestiniog is a small town in north Wales. ...

Other Minffordd Railway Facilities

To the railway historian and indeed the railway archaeologist the railways at Minffordd are of considerable interest with several unique features - at least in the UK.

Minffordd Junction Goods and Minerals Exchange Yard

The adjacent Minffordd Yard, the former exchange yard between standard gauge and narrow gauge railways, can only be accessed by rail from the Ffestiniog Railway down line. The exchange sidings laid out in 1872 to the design of Charles Easton Spooner the great advocate of narrow gauge railways, whose book "Narrow Gauge Railways" was published in 1871, were extensive and at first were heavily used primarily for the transhipment of coal and goods destined for Blaenau Ffestiniog. This traffic declined rapidly after the LNWR reached Blaenau Ffestiniog in 1879. Outwards slate traffic by rail from Minffordd did, however, develop and in time surpassed the sea bound traffic via Porthmadog as the volume being exported declined. This slate traffic by rail from Minffordd (ironically, after 1946, using slate brought by road from Blaenau Ffestiniog) lasted until the early 1960's. Minffordd yard is now used exclusively for Ffestiniog Railway purposes and the standard gauge connection was removed in 1973. 1871 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The London and North Western Railway (LNWR) was formed in 1846 by the merger of three railway companies - the Grand Junction Railway, London and Birmingham and Manchester and Birmingham. ... 1879 (MDCCCLXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

Minffordd Volunteers' Hostel

A new and purpose designed volunteers’ hostel was built between 1992 and 1998 in two stages on land between the railway and the exchange sidings. This hostel replaced a temporary hostel established in Minffordd Yard in 1978. The hostel provides residential accommodation for volunteer staff working on this heritage railway.

Minffordd – Lottie’s Cottage

This Grade 2 Listed building was the crossing keeper's house and was the home of the late Mrs Lottie Edwards, for many years the Quarry Lane Crossing Keeper, and of her late husband Dai Edwards, a railway ganger. It has been carefully and thoroughly restored in their memory. The cottage ajoins the gate, which has now been replaced by an automated system.

Cae Ednyfed (Ednyfed’s field)

This farm provided stabling for some of the horses used on the railway prior to 1863. These horses operated between Boston Lodge and Rhiw Goch, hauling empty slate wagons up hill. Nos. 1, 2 & 3 Cae Ednyfed – The 3 terraced cottages behind the water tower at Minffordd station are thought to have been used originally in connection with horse traction, possibly as stables.

Minffordd Weigh Bridge

This was the last weigh bridge to be used on the Ffestiniog Railway. It is not at present in working order. A Weigh bridge is a device for weighing loads carried by road or rail wagons. ...

References

1. J.I.C.Boyd; The Festiniog Railway, 1959, revised edns 1965,1975
2. C.E.Spooner; Narrow Gauge Railways, 1871,
3. John Harrison; Ffestiniog Railway Magazine (FR Society), No.126, Autumn 1989, (Visit of Prince Hemry of Batenberg page 252)

External links

• The Ffestiniog Railway Heritage Group's Wiki
• The Ffestiniog Railway Company's web site
• Ffestiniog Railway Timetables

• Train times and station information for Minffordd railway station from National Rail
• Map of Minffordd railway station from Multimap.com

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Penrhyndeudraeth		Arriva Trains Wales Cambrian Coast Line		Porthmadog
	Heritage railways
Boston Lodge		Ffestiniog Railway		Penrhyn