Minffordd railway station

Minffordd 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15 September 1939	Festiniog Railway services withdrawn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
2018/19	16,774
2019/20	14,562
2020/21	8,314
2021/22	13,658
2022/23	14,932
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

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

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.

Standard gauge facilities

The

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.

Narrow gauge facilities

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

Cambrian Coast Line

platform.

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

Dr

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]

Other railway facilities at Minffordd

To the railway historian and, indeed, the railway archaeologist, the railways at Minffordd are of considerable interest.

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 down platform of Minffordd station. The exchange sidings laid out in 1872 to the design of

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.

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 restored in their memory. The cottage adjoins the gate, which has now been replaced by an automated system.

Cae Ednyfed

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.

Minffordd weighbridge

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.

Services

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
Porthmadog		Cambrian Coast Line		Penrhyndeudraeth
	Heritage railways
Boston Lodge Halt		Ffestiniog Railway Porthmadog – Blaenau Ffestiniog		Penrhyn
	Historical railways
Porthmadog Line and station open		Aberystwith and Welsh Coast Railway Cambrian Railways		Penrhyndeudraeth Line and station open

References

Notes

Sources

• OCLC 2074549
  . B1A.
• OCLC 874117875
  . B1B.
• OL 11956311M
  .
• C.E.Spooner; Narrow Gauge Railways, 1871,
• Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd.
  OCLC 22311137
  .
• Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers.
  OCLC 228266687
  .
• The Ffestiniog Railway Company's web site
• Ffestiniog Railway Timetables Archived 21 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine

Further reading

• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (1995). Porthmadog to Blaenau. West Sussex: Middleton Press. figs. 43–55.
  OCLC 877269886
  .

External links

Media related to Minffordd railway station at Wikimedia Commons

• Train times and station information for Minffordd railway station from National Rail