Fairbourne Railway

The Fairbourne Railway (Welsh: Rheilffordd y Friog) is today a 12 1⁄4 in (311 mm) gauge railway running for 2 miles (3.2 km) from the village of Fairbourne on the Mid-Wales coast, alongside the beach to the Penrhyn Point where it connects with a ferry to Barmouth, across the Mawddach estuary. The railway opened as a 2ft gauge horse drawn tramway in 1895 before being converted first to a 15inch gauge miniature railway in 1916 and then to a 12 1⁄4 in (311 mm) line operated on narrow gauge principals using stock which is approximately 50% smaller than conventional Welsh narrow gauge.