![]() The upper (Ffestiniog Railway) level of Minffordd station | |||||
General information | |||||
Location | Minffordd, Gwynedd Wales | ||||
Coordinates | 52°55′34″N4°05′02″W / 52.926°N 4.084°W | ||||
Grid reference | SH599385 | ||||
Managed by | Ffestiniog Railway (upper level) Transport for Wales (lower level) | ||||
Platforms | 2 (narrow gauge) 1 (standard gauge) | ||||
Other information | |||||
Station code | MFF | ||||
Classification | DfT category F2 | ||||
History | |||||
Original company | Ffestiniog Railway (upper) Aberystwith and Welsh Coast Railway (lower) | ||||
Pre-grouping | Cambrian Railways (lower) | ||||
Key dates | |||||
March 1871 | Festiniog station opened [1] | ||||
1 August 1872 | Aberystwith and Welsh Coast Railway platform opened [1] | ||||
1887 | Present station buildings constructed | ||||
15 September 1939 | Festiniog Railway services withdrawn | ||||
19 May 1956 | Festiniog Railway services resume [1] | ||||
1964 | Mainline station became unstaffed | ||||
Passengers | |||||
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Minffordd railway station (translation Roadside,literally Lip of the Road) is a pair of adjacent stations on separate lines in Gwynedd,Wales. The mainline station opened as Minfford Junction on 1 August 1872 at the point where the then recently built Aberystwith and Welsh Coast Railway line from Dovey Junction to Pwllheli (latterly to become part of the Cambrian Railways) passes under the earlier narrow gauge Ffestiniog Railway. The latter was built in 1836 to carry dressed slate from Blaenau Ffestiniog to Porthmadog for export by sea,and had carried passengers from 1865 onwards. The station was renamed Minffordd in 1890.
A short walk,advertised near the station,leads to Portmeirion.
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 Passenger service on the Ffestiniog Railway was withdrawn on 15 September 1939,and reopened to Minffordd 19 May 1956,but easy pedestrian access to the Cambrian Line was maintained throughout the closed period.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. At some point the facilities were replaced by the standard small halt "bus stop" shelter.
The present substantial stone built Ffestiniog Railway station buildings,at a height of 85 metres (279 ft) above sea level and a distance of just over 2 miles (3.2 km) 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 1870s) was in a derelict condition when it was demolished in 1956. A replica was completed in spring 2002 and was later shortlisted in the National Railway Heritage Awards (2002).
At the beginning of 2011 the line was temporarily severed at the north east end of the station between the end of the loop at Cae Ednyfed Cottage and Bron Turner crossing for the construction of the Porthmadog bypass. The new bridge is wide enough for the passing loop to be extended.
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 is still in regular use. There is no evidence of joint timetabling between the gauges here.
During the late 1950s and the 1960s the interchange saw much use by chartered trains bringing visitors to the Ffestiniog Railway. Following the reopening of the joint Blaenau Ffestiniog railway station in 1982,most chartered trains now operate by that route.
There have been several notable visitors using Minffordd station. The first was on 27 August 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. [2]
Dr Hastings Banda,President of Malawi,accompanied by Lord Snowdon and the Secretary of State for Wales visited the railway on 23 May 1968. [3] Seven years later,on 25 July 1975,Princess Margaret,Viscount Linley and Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones travelled from Minffordd in a special train to view the Festiniog Railway Deviation. Lord Linley travelled on the footplate for part of the journey. [4]
After first inspecting Barmouth Bridge,the chairman of the British Railways Board,Sir Peter Parker,arrived at Minffordd on 17 June 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 Festiniog Railway,Sir Peter travelled on the footplate from Minffordd as far as Tan-y-Bwlch before continuing to Tanygrisiau and then by road to Blaenau Ffestiniog. [5]
To the railway historian and,indeed,the railway archaeologist,the railways at Minffordd are of considerable interest.
The adjacent Minffordd Yard,the former exchange yard between standard gauge and narrow gauge railways,can only be accessed by rail from the down platform of Minffordd station. 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 transshipment 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 1960s. Minffordd yard is now used exclusively for Ffestiniog Railway purposes and the standard gauge connection was removed in 1973.
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.
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 restored in their memory. The cottage adjoins the gate,which has now been replaced by an automated system.
English: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 uphill.
Nos. 1,2 &3 Cae Ednyfed –The three terraced cottages behind the water tower at Minffordd station are thought to have been used originally in connection with horse traction,possibly as stables. Nos 1 and 2 Cae Ednyfed have recently been combined into a single dwelling.
A pair of railway wagon weighbridges existed side by side,outside the weighbridge office (that still exists) next to the railway crossing at the road entrance to Minffordd exchange sidings and to the volunteers' hostel. The remains of these weighbridges rest in two slate wagons in the yard. The weighbridge office underwent a major refurbishment in 2007–08.
Preceding station | ![]() | Following station | ||
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Porthmadog | Transport for Wales Cambrian Coast Line | Penrhyndeudraeth | ||
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Boston Lodge Halt | Ffestiniog Railway Porthmadog –Blaenau Ffestiniog | Penrhyn | ||
Historical railways | ||||
Porthmadog Line and station open | Cambrian Railways Aberystwith and Welsh Coast Railway | Penrhyndeudraeth Line and station open |
The Ffestiniog Railway is a heritage railway based on 1 ft 11+1⁄2 in narrow-gauge, located in Gwynedd, Wales. It is a major tourist attraction located mainly within the Snowdonia National Park.
The Welsh Highland Railway is a 25-mile (40.2 km) long, restored 1 ft 11+1⁄2 in narrow gauge heritage railway in the Welsh county of Gwynedd, operating from Caernarfon to Porthmadog, and passing through a number of popular tourist destinations including Beddgelert and the Aberglaslyn Pass. At Porthmadog it connects with the Ffestiniog Railway and to the short Welsh Highland Heritage Railway. In Porthmadog it uses the United Kingdom's only mixed gauge flat rail crossing.
Blaenau Ffestiniog railway station serves the slate mining town of Blaenau Ffestiniog, Wales, and is the passenger terminus of the Conwy Valley Line from Llandudno Junction. Transport for Wales Rail operate through services to Llandudno Junction and Llandudno. The station is a joint station with the narrow gauge Ffestiniog Railway, which operates primarily tourist passenger services to Porthmadog throughout most of the year. A feature of the standard gauge service is the availability on trains and buses of the popular "Gwynedd Red Rover" day ticket.
The Festiniog & Blaenau Railway (F&BR) was a narrow gauge railway built in 1868 to connect the town of Blaenau Ffestiniog in Wales with the slate quarries around Tanymanod and the village of Llan Ffestiniog, 3+1⁄2 miles (5.6 km) to the south. At Blaenau Ffestiniog it made a direct connection with the Festiniog Railway (FR) with which it was closely associated during its fifteen-year life. The railway was purchased by the Bala and Festiniog Railway in 1883 and converted to 4 ft 8+1⁄2 instandard gauge to extend the Bala Ffestiniog line, a branch of the GWR's line from Ruabon to Barmouth.
Penrhyn railway station on the Ffestiniog Railway is located on a restricted site at Pen-y-Bwlch above the town of Penrhyndeudraeth.
Porthmadog Harbour railway station in Porthmadog, Gwynedd, North Wales. It is the passenger terminus of two narrow gauge railways: the Ffestiniog Railway, which was opened in 1836 to carry dressed slate from the Quarries around Blaenau Ffestiniog to the sea port of Porthmadog, for export by sea; and the Welsh Highland Railway, incorporated in 1923, which ran to Dinas. After rebuilding in 1997-2011, the other terminus is at Caernarfon, in sight of the Castle.
Tan-y-Bwlch railway station is the principal intermediate passenger station on the narrow gauge Ffestiniog Railway, which was built in 1836 to carry dressed slate from Blaenau Ffestiniog to Porthmadog for export by sea. The station lies off the B4410 former turnpike road from Maentwrog to Llanfrothen and Beddgelert, which the railway crosses on a fine cast-iron skew bridge.
Dduallt railway station is a passenger station on the narrow gauge Ffestiniog Railway in northwest Wales, which was built in 1836 to carry dressed slate from Blaenau Ffestiniog to Porthmadog for export by sea.
Campbell's Platform is a private, unstaffed halt on the Welsh narrow gauge Ffestiniog Railway. The railway was built in 1836 to carry dressed slate from Blaenau Ffestiniog to Porthmadog for export by sea. It is 9 miles and 7 chains from Porthmadog and is at 510 feet above sea level.
Plas Halt is an unstaffed halt on the narrow gauge Ffestiniog Railway in Wales, which was built in 1836 to carry dressed slate from Blaenau Ffestiniog to Porthmadog for export by sea.
The Bala and Festiniog Railway was a 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in, standard gauge, railway backed by the Great Western Railway (GWR) in north-west Wales. It connected Bala with Blaenau Ffestiniog.
Bala Junction railway station was on the Ruabon to Barmouth line in southern Gwynedd, Wales. It closed to passengers on Monday 18 January 1965. Bala Junction was unusual in that it was inaccessible by road and merely served as an interchange station; it was located about ¾ mile to the south-east of the town of Bala.
Maentwrog Road railway station was on the Great Western Railway's Bala Ffestiniog Line in Gwynedd, Wales.
Rhiw Goch is a passing point on the Ffestiniog Railway north of the village of Penrhyndeudraeth in Wales. It was originally a passing loop and an exchange point for the horses that worked the line, opening in 1836. Horses were stabled overnight at Rhiw Goch farm, which adjoins the line further south nearer to the village. When the railway converted to using steam locomotives in 1863, Rhiw Goch passing loop was no longer needed and was closed.
Nyth-y-Gigfran quarry was a slate quarry in the town of Blaenau Ffestiniog, North Wales. It was located about 300 feet (91 m) above the settlement of Glan y Pwll, south of what was to become Blaenau Ffestiniog. The quarry was sited on the steep cliffs that form the eastern edge of Allt-fawr and was entirely underground. The quarry opened around 1840 and became part of the Oakeley quarry in the 1880s; this in turn closed in 1969.
Duffws was the Festiniog Railway's (FR) second passenger station in Blaenau Ffestiniog, then in Merionethshire, now in Gwynedd, Wales. This station is not to be confused with the Festiniog and Blaenau Railway's (F&BR) Duffws (F&BR) station which stood some distance away on the opposite side of Church Street. During that station's life from 1868 to 1883 passengers travelling from (say) Festiniog on the F&BR to Tan-y-Bwlch on the Festiniog would walk between the two stations, much as passengers walk between the standard gauge and narrow gauge in modern-day Blaenau Ffestiniog.
Blaenau Festiniog Junction railway station was the Festiniog Railway (FR)'s third of eventually five passenger stations in Blaenau Ffestiniog, then in Merionethshire, now in Gwynedd, Wales.
Blaenau Ffestiniog North was the London and North Western Railway's (LNWR's) second passenger station in Blaenau Ffestiniog, then in Merionethshire, now in Gwynedd, Wales.
On 10 September 1883, the Bala and Festiniog Railway (B&FR) and the Festiniog Railway (FR) opened what would be known as an interchange station in Blaenau Ffestiniog, Merionethshire, Wales. Merionethshire is now part of the county of Gwynedd.
The Merionethshire Railway (MR) was a proposed 1 ft 11+3⁄4 in and 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in dual gauge railway in south Caernarfonshire North Wales, United Kingdom. It was incorporated by an act of Parliament on 29 June 1871. Powers to build the line lapsed in 1885 and were abandoned on 12 July 1887. Work to build the line never started, though parliamentary extensions of time to do so were obtained in 1876, 1879, and 1882.
Media related to Minffordd railway station at Wikimedia Commons