The line has provided a service between Fairbourne village and Penrhyn Point since its opening in 1895 as a narrow gauge horse-drawn construction tramway. It was converted in 1916 to gauge, and again to its present gauge in 1986. Originally built to carry building materials, the railway has carried holidaymakers for over a hundred years. At its peak in the 1970s it was carrying in excess of 70,000 passengers a year.
The early days – Fairbourne Tramway
Following the construction of the Cambrian Coast Line in 1865 and the completion of the Barmouth Bridge in 1867 there were lavish schemes to develop the area for tourism, the area being easily accessible to day-trippers and weekend visitors from the Midlands. There were several horse-drawn construction tramways in the area serving the Henddol Quarry above the neighbouring village of Friog. The tramway that was used to construct the Fairbourne village soon introduced passenger cars to transport people to the ferry station.
The pioneering days – Fairbourne Miniature Railway
The line was converted to a gauge steam railway in 1916 by Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke of Narrow Gauge Railways Ltd. They were keen to promote tourism in the area after the failure of the Arthog scheme in the early 1900s. The railway played an important part in the development of the gauge railways in the UK. Services were operated by Bassett-Lowke Class 10 locomotive Prince Edward of Wales designed by Henry Greenly and passengers were conveyed in four open top carriages. The railway had mixed fortunes during the inter war years and went through a series of changes in ownership. At one time it was leased to the ferrymen. The railway experienced motive power problems and at one stage experimented with dual gauge track after purchasing an gauge locomotive. This was a model of a GNR Stirling 4-2-2. A third rail was laid as far as the Golf Course. The line closed in 1940 after operating its final year with Whippit Quick, a Lister 'Railtruck' petrol locomotive, as the steam locomotive Count Louis was out of service.
The Wilkins era – 1947–1984
The railway was rescued by a consortium of businessmen from the Midlands in 1946 and after rebuilding, was reopened by 1947. The line's owner John Charles Wilkins, funded the redevelopment of the railway and the purchase of new steam locomotives. The line's heyday was in the 1960s and early 1970s but the advent of mass foreign holidays meant there was a steady decline in passenger numbers during the 1970s and 1980s.
The Ellerton era – 1984–1995
The line was sold again in 1984 to the Ellerton family and underwent dramatic changes to the infrastructure which included construction of a new station at Fairbourne and the re-gauging to 12¼ inches in 1986. Four new steam locomotives were introduced and most of the gauge locomotives left the site. Two of the new locomotives had run on the Réseau Guerlédan Chemin de Fer Touristique in Brittany, France in 1978. All four steam locomotives are half sized replicas of narrow gauge engines: Yeo, Sherpa, Beddgelert and Russell. Of the extant gauge locomotives only Sylvia remained. Most of the gauge locomotives are still intact and have found homes on lines around the world. In 1990 the railway built their first steam locomotive, Number 24, a replica of a locomotive from the Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railroad in Maine. The locomotive has since left the line and now operates on the Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway in Lincolnshire. The railway was again put up for sale in 1990 and the line's fortunes appeared to be declining once more. During the five years it was up for sale the railway deteriorated dramatically.
Present: 1995 onwards
Professor Tony Atkinson and Dr Roger Melton bought the line in April 1995, they and their wives Mrs Maureen Atkinson and Mrs Amanda Melton being appointed directors. There was considerable investment in the railway to improve reliability of the locomotives and the quality of the track, and a new attraction, the Rowen Centre, was set up at Fairbourne station. In 2007 some of the displays were changed to accommodate a large G scale model railway which is gradually being added to and improved by local model engineers. In 2008 ownership of the railway was transferred to a charity, the North Wales Coast Light Railway Limited. Professor Atkinson subsidised the railway's operation but the subsidy was withdrawn after he died on 19 June 2011, leaving the railway's future in doubt. With reductions in staff and by the encouragement of donations the railway has been able to continue in operation.
Preservation Society
Like most heritage railways, the Fairbourne Railway has an active volunteer society: Fairbourne Railway Preservation Society. The society is actively involved with the running of services and maintaining the locomotives, rolling stock, stations and track work.
Ferry
For hundreds of years the ferry has been providing a crossing service over the Mawddach estuary and was originally operated by monks. In recent years it has been operated by independent operators. During the summer of 2007 the Railway Company acquired a ferry boat and commenced operating its own ferry service in July 2007. The new ferry boat "Y Chuff" was bought to ensure that a reliable service across the harbour to Barmouth would operate even during quiet periods of the season.
