The Meirion Mill Railway was a

narrow gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...

that operated at

Meirion Mill Meirion Mill is a woollen mill at Dinas Mawddwy in Wales. It operates as a tourist attraction. The mill is located on the site of the northern terminus of the defunct Mawddwy Railway. History Slate warehouse The large, slate-built buildin ...

Dinas Mawddwy Dinas Mawddwy () is a village in the community of Mawddwy in south-east Gwynedd, north Wales. It lies within the Snowdonia National Park, but just to the east of the main A470, and consequently many visitors pass the village by. Its population is ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. It only operated for three years from 1975 to 1977.

History

Meirion Mill is a tourist attraction that operates in a large slate building on the site of the Dinas Mawddwy station of the

Mawddwy Railway The Mawddwy Railway was a rural line in the Dyfi Valley in mid-Wales that connected Dinas Mawddwy with a junction at railway station on the Newtown and Machynlleth Railway section of the Cambrian Railways. Despite being only 6 miles 63 chains ...

. The building was originally a slate warehouse for the nearby Minllyn Slate Quarry. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the building was converted into a

Woollen mill Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...

by a consortium of local sheep farmers. In 1966, it was taken over by Raymond Street, a

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

industrialist. Street renamed the operation "Meirion Mill" and turned it into a tourist attraction, weaving and selling a wide range of woollen products. In 1974, Street was looking for ways to attract more visitors to the mill. He intended to create a small museum related to the Mawddwy Railway on the site. He learned that a narrow gauge

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

called "Trixie" was available for purchased from the nearby

Centre for Alternative Technology The Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) ( cy, Canolfan y Dechnoleg Amgen) is an eco-centre in Powys, mid-Wales, dedicated to demonstrating and teaching sustainable development. CAT, despite its name, no longer concentrates its efforts exclu ...

. He bought "Trixie" and commissioned

Alan Keef Alan Keef Ltd is a British narrow gauge railway engineering company which manufactures, overhauls, and deals in narrow gauge locomotives, rolling stock and associated equipment. The Limited Company was formed in 1975 at Cote, Bampton, Oxon, ...

to build a narrow gauge railway next to Meirion Mill along the trackbed of the Mawddwy Railway. Trixie arrived at the mill on 15 January 1975. The gauge track was laid during the spring of 1975, and the railway opened for passengers on 19 July 1975. Along with the track, Alan Keef supplied a diesel locomotive and two passenger carriages that originated at Butlin's Filey holiday camp. The railway operated for the rest of the 1975 season and during 1976. During the winter of 1976, the line was relaid on the east side of the car park at the mill. Trixie and one of the carriages were moved to Alan Keef that winter and did not return to the railway. The railway opened for the 1977 season with one carriage and the diesel locomotive operating trains. After the opening

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

weekend the railway inspectorate ordered the line closed and it was lifted shortly afterwards. A few wagons, obtained from the Gartheiniog Slate Quarry on the

Hendre-Ddu Tramway The Hendre-Ddu Tramway was a narrow gauge industrial railway built in 1874 in Mid-Wales to connect the Hendre-Ddu slate quarry to Aberangell station on the Mawddwy Railway. It consisted of a main line long and several branch lines and spurs ...

, remained on display and in storage at Meirion Mill in 2016.

Locomotives

References

{{reflist Dinas Mawddwy Narrow gauge railways in Snowdonia Heritage railways in Snowdonia 1975 establishments in Wales 2 ft gauge railways in Wales