The Cambrian Coast

Drivers Eye View

Machynlleth to Barmouth - The most spectacular stretch of the famous Cambrian Coast railway is the 25 miles alongside Cardigan Bay from Machynlleth to Barmouth.

The line has been much in the news over recent years and it is easy to appreciate why, from the driving cab of our class 150 “Sprinter”.

We reach the magic coastline soon after leaving Dovey Junction (where the Aberystwyth line diverges) and very soon we are traversing the narrow swathe between sea and rockface.

After Aberrdyfi (Aberdovey) and Tywyn we encounter the most notorious section of the whole line - the Friog cliffs. Here our 2-car train crawls up and onto the narrowest of ledges cut into the sheer rockface.

Two derailments occurred here in years past, on both occassions sending locomotive and crew crashing down to the beach 100ft below.

Today a concrete avalanche shelter marks the spot. Finally, of course, there is the half-mile long timber trestle bridge at Barmouth, still standing in splendid isolation across the Mawddach estuary.

Two other railways are featured en route, the Talyllyn (the first ever “preserved” railway) at Tywyn and the Fairbourne and Barmouth Steam railway following its metamorphosis under new ownership.

Filmed 1988.