About

Ride in an old fashioned steam train on a journey that is enjoyable for everybody and just right for families. Take a gentle trip down the beautiful Dulas Valley in one of the observation carriages on this family-friendly steam railway. See sheep grazing on the riverside slopes by woodland old and new, with buzzards wheeling overhead.

Corris Railway is a narrow gauge railway built back in 1859. It runs from Corris to Maespoeth and was originally a horse hauled tramroad until steam engines were introduced in 1878. A shop, museum, toilets and Children's play area is available at the station. The round trip takes 50 mins with a break at Maespoeth to visit the workshop.

Look into our workshops during the short guided tour of the Railway's head quarters at Maespoeth, and after visit the shop and free museum at Corris. There see original slate-carrying waggons, and the 'chicken' living inside a rescued original Corris Railway carriage. Children can play with 'small world' toys, use a children's playground and try a family quiz.

Lucky children might even get to blow the whistle and wave the green flag. Our volunteer drivers, firemen, guards and shop staff are all fully trained enthusiasts for railways and passengers and are always keen to share their 'inside' knowledge. The Railway and Museum are always 'works in progress', so visit us again to see how we are doing.

Train Running Times: 11am, 12pm, 1pm, 2pm & 3pm.
Extra trains may run on busy days. Later trains may run on some special event days

THE CORRIS RAILWAY MUSEUM & CAFE
There is a free museum at Corris where tickets for the train can also be purchased. A small café is also available at the museum. Entry to the museum is free and open between 10.30am and 5.00pm on the days that passenger services operate.

YOUR RAILWAY FOR THE DAY
The Corris Railway will be offering a “Your Railway For The Day” experience, which can be taken up, subject to volunteer availability, on days without timetabled operations in April, May, June and September.

HISTORY OF THE CORRIS RAILWAY
The Corris Railway is a narrow gauge (2 foot 3 inch) railway whose origins date back to the 1850's. The line was initially built as a horse-and-gravity worked tramroad to carry slate from the quarries of Corris Uchaf and Aberllefenni in southern Merionethshire to the nearest navigable point on the Afon Dyfi (River Dovey), where it was loaded into ships and carried to its diverse destinations. In the 1860's the line ceased to deliver direct to shipping and instead transhipped its slate to the standard gauge railway at Machynlleth, in western Montgomeryshire. A semi-official passenger service, using adapted wagons, flourished in the early 1870s.

In 1878 the line was acquired by a London company, Imperial Tramways Ltd and three steam locomotives and ten purpose-built passenger carriages were introduced, although due to a dispute with the quarry owners, passenger services were suspended until 1883. For the rest of the nineteenth century the Railway was very prosperous, developing a substantial tourist traffic. From 1892, Imperial Tramways was based in Bristol, sharing offices and management with the Bristol Tramways firm.

The twentieth century brought with it a decline in the slate industry, followed by increasing competition from road transport. The railway ran its own successful bus services, using vehicles provided from Bristol and it was probably more a desire to control these services than to acquire the Corris Railway itself that led to the Great Western Railway purchasing the line from Imperial Tramways in 1930. Soon afterwards passenger services were withdrawn. The line continued in use for goods only until 1948, when it became one of the first to be closed by the newly-nationalised British Railways. The line was dismantled soon after closure, the surviving locomotives and rolling stock finding a new life on the nearby Talyllyn Railway.