It must be nearly 50 years since I was last at the Vale of Rheidol (I was too young to remember) and I love that this livery has come back! There are so many places to see GWR livery so if you’ve got something unique, flaunt it!

Now Moelwyn works on DCC we can test how much it pulls up the hill on Minffordd? Answer: Not a lot! But doesn’t it sound nice and look good!

Small Birminghams. Or Bug Boxes. Perhaps the most famous narrow gauge carriages ever? On Minffordd in the 1960s we show these hard at work on the relief ‘Flying Flea’ service to mop up every shilling and penny in the summer peak to plough back into rebuilding the FR.

The hardest working shunter in showbiz! Our ‘Simplex tractor ‘ Mary Ann is a real crowd-pleaser at exhibitions with its unique look and sound. This WW1 veteran helps us to make sure there’s always something moving on the layout.

Last Days Of Steam. Manors and Dukedogs may be the locos you most associate with the Cambrian but look in a book of photos from the 1960s you’ll see a lot of BR Standard 4MTs. This one is calling at Minffordd with a Down service for Pwllheli.

Pick-up Goods Train. Minffordd was - and remains - a minor halt for passenger trains on the Cambrian Coast Line. This place was built for swapping freight between narrow and standard gauge. It makes for a lovely slow shunting scene in the foreground on our layout.

Minffordd in the 1960s. Change here for Festiniog Railway trains to Penrhyn & Tan-y-Bwlch, or all stations on the Cambrian Coast Line to Pwllheli.

Main line and Mineral Line action at Minffordd.

Trench Warfare! Now we have a second WW1 veteran joining our Minffordd fleet, but which is your favourite? Mary Ann or Moelwyn? 🗳 Vote in the comments 👇

Moelwyn with sound! I reckon the yard shunting is going to be even more the most appealing operating job on Minffordd now we have this as well as the Simplex to play with!

A very pleasant surprise to open the latest issue of the Ffestiniog Railway Society Magazine and see a lovely photo of Minffordd gracing the foot of the editorial page.

Lizzie’s Last Run! A bargain price Hornby Princess Elizabeth arrived in the post today. I decided to give it one last birl around the test track before ripping the gears off the Ringfield tender drive for a new life as younger sister Margaret Rose being towed around Minffordd.

Just tripping. A light load of two gunpowder vans for the Collett, perhaps just dropping them off in the sidings at Penrhyndeudraeth for another consignment from Cooke’s.

Escape the heat of London for the fresh air of the mountains and the seaside? Oh for the days when the Cambrian Coast Express left Paddington each morning.

And the great getaway begins. If they are lucky they’ll find the last handful of free seats. With a 2-car unit it’ll be standing room only by the time they get to Barmouth!

Time between exhibitions is when you catch up on maintenance jobs - returning from Porthmadog last weekend is one of the first times we don’t have a long snagging list to attend to.

You can tell it’s a Bank Holiday Weekend - ‘The Flying Flea’ relief train has been pressed into service, captured on the last stage of the Down trip leaving Minffordd.

Apparently there’s a rush on (char)coal this weekend ☀️ 🔥 🍗 🍺 Mary Ann is on it!!

What a great weekend it was in Porthmadog with Minffordd. We’ll be sharing some short video moments over the next few days, starting with an atmospheric moment that usually only our operators get to enjoy.

The arrival of the ‘Up’ Cambrian Coast Express would have signalled the end of many a holiday in North Wales, and so it is for us. Thanks for all the lovely compliments and stories, and we’d love for you to share you photos and videos of the layout In Porthmadog this weekend.

Arrived and set up in the spiritual homeland for the weekend at the @festrail.bsky.social model show, Y Ganolfan, Porthmadog. Sat & Sun 10am - 4pm. There has been close scrutiny already and, yes, previously unknown inaccuracies have been pointed out to us!

Minffordd loaded and ready for departure for…..well, Minffordd actually (or pretty damn near it). Who’s coming to the @festrail.bsky.social model railway show in Porthmadog this weekend?

A last chance for some test running before packing up for the visit to the spiritual homeland. Checking if the decoder reset has sorted out the green 24’s issues with unpredictable acceleration.

Kidbrooke in position now in Minffordd Yard in front of the big slate sheds.

Bogie wheelset checks (and changes) have been completed on the ‘Barns’ set to avoid a recurrence of the short circuit issues on the final day of @modelrailscotland.bsky.social - time for some test runs.

Another landmark number - thanks to everyone who’s followed us since we started this account. It’s been a slow burn but we hope you like what we post, will stick around and encourage others to find us here 🙏

A week ago already since the opening of @modelrailscotland.bsky.social doesn’t time fly! I could quite happily spend the 🌧 Easter weekend playing trains for 8 hours a day….

A subtle rebrand. After a wonderful weekend in Glasgow I think perhaps the young upstart has come of age and deserves equal billing with the big brother. Incidentally, we just need to find another 8 Followers for us to hit 300

The trains now arriving at Minffordd….change here for all stations to Pwllheli and Tan y Bwlch

Next stop Porthmadog - your next chance to see Minffordd running will be on 16-17 May at Y Ganolfan. See you there?