Minffordd Station Bridge – North Wales, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 52° 55.561 W 004° 05.085
30U E 427078 N 5864591
This bridge carries the narrow gauge Ffestiniog Railway across the mainline Cambrian Coast Line.
Waymark Code: WMBH98
Location: North Wales, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 05/22/2011
Views: 1
The Ffestiniog Railway was originally built to carry slate from quarries to the port at the nearby town of Porthmadog.
These days the narrow gauge line is still active as a heritage railway going from Portmadog to Blaennau Ffestiniog. It claims to be the oldest independent railway company in the world. It opened in 1836 and was never included in the railway nationalisation that affected most of the UK. The track gauge is 1 ft 11 1/2 in (597 mm) wide and it operates using steam trains.
Originally the trains were not powered. There is an average gradient of 1 in 80 on the line. On the journey from Blaenau Ffestiniog the trains relied on gravity, and pulled a wagon that contained horses. On the return journey the horses were used to pull the trains back. 6 trains a day used the line which was 13.5 miles long.
The Cambrian Coast Line goes from Pwellhi in Wales to Shrewsbury in England and is part of the national network. Although it is a single track line for most of the route it is standard gauge and carries normal trains.
The bridge also carries the A487 road.
The bridge is located at the end of the platform of Minffordd Station on the mainline. There is also a station called Minffordd on the Ffestiniog railway at this point and there is a connecting footpath between the two stations. The railway bridge also goes over the passenger footpath between the two stations, but the road part of the bridge doesn’t but just passes the station on the Ffestiniog line.
The co-ordinates were taken from the bottom of the passenger footpath at the main line station At this point both the bridge ove the rail line and the footpath can be seen.
There is a small car park at Minffordd Station on the Ffestiniog line at N 52 55 32.02 W 4 5 5.00
Bridge Type: Arch
Bridge Usage: Railroad
Moving Bridge: This bridge is static (has no moving pieces)
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