Welcome to the Gwnford Valley Railway website, where you can get the latest on the building and operations on the Garden railway.
The Gwnford Valley Railway was built in 1902 by the Great Western Railway Company to transport slate, passengers and small quantities of mail through the Gwnford Valley. There were big plans for the railway but it just never happened as the slate business in Wales started to die out soon after it was built, but now it just runs from Llanberon yard, next to the slate mines, to Cllydelly village via Canal halt where slate is transported on the canal. There was only one engine which was designed especially for the railway which was a Mamod 0-4-0 called 'Idris', she was small, light and reliable but could only cope with just a few wagons at a time, but thats all the railway needed. In 1906 the railway went under refurbishment, and the track was re-laid and re-ballasted to take bigger loads so it was ready for the big push into the next valley. But in 1920 the plans were abandoned to extend into Gulfirn Valley and the railway faced closure, until in 1921 when a collapse of the main road into Cllydelly caused a boom of use in the railway but the road was rebuilt in 1927 which caused the railway to sink back into the undergrowth until its final closure in 1936.
But all was not lost, an enthusiasts group made Llanberon slate mines into a museum in 1989 which they later had a grant to rebuild the yard at Llanberon which later caused them to restore 'Idris' the old slate engine to her former glory as she was locked-up in Llanberon sheds after closure, but now the Gwnford Valley railway is a very succesful toursit attraction and 'Idris' is happily riding the rails again.