Waunfawr is a station on the narrow gauge Welsh Highland Railway, located to the south of the village of the same name. It was built in 1877 by the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways as part of their Moel Tryfan Undertaking, to carry dressed slate to Dinas Junction on the London and North Western Railway. Passenger services ceased on 26 September 1936 as the then-Welsh Highland Railway went into administration. It was reopened on 7 August 2000 following the reconstruction of the railway from Dinas to Waunfawr as part of the restored Welsh Highland Railway.
Restoration In 2000, in order to remodel the layout of the station, the old building was carefully taken down. Although carefully dismantled by the Welsh Highland Heritage Group, the numbered and stored stone was inadvertently used as fill for the embankments, or to build a stone wall, by the contractor.
Following reconstruction, the section from Waunfawr to Rhyd Ddu was formally reopened by the Prince of Wales on 30 July 2003. Prince Charles travelled from Waunfawr to Rhyd Ddu by special train.
The station flower and shrub beds were laid out and are maintained by the local community enterprise charity, Antur Waunfawr. The Snowdonia Park Hotel adjoins the station and was built originally as the station master's house. Entrance to and exit from the station platform is by way of the hotel car park. The station footbridge links with a car park and a caravan park. Snowdonia Sherpa Bus services call at the station.
In 2018–19, after a substantial donation, the station building was rebuilt in the style of the original NWNG building of 1877, but to modern building standards.
References
External links The Welsh Highland Railway Project - official reconstruction site Welsh Highland Railway (Caernarfon) Rebuilding The Welsh Highland Railway - an independent site The Royal re-opening to Rhyd Ddu 2003 Welsh Highland Railway Timetables Multimap Map of Waunfawr Festipedia Plans to reconstruct the NWNGR Waunfawr station building