The Corris Railway () is a narrow gauge railway based in Corris on the border between Merionethshire (now Gwynedd) and Montgomeryshire (now Powys) in Mid-Wales.
The line opened in 1859 as a horse tramway, running from quays on the River Dyfi at Morben and Derwenlas, through the town of Machynlleth and then following the Dulas Valley north to Corris and on to Aberllefenni. Branches served the slate quarries at Corris Uchaf, Aberllefenni, the isolated quarries around Ratgoed and quarries along the length of the Dulas Valley. In 1878, the railway was rebuilt and steam locomotives were introduced. It was taken over by the Great Western Railway in 1929 and closed in 1948.
A preservation society was formed in 1966, initially opening a museum at Corris. A short section of line between Corris and Maespoeth was re-opened to passengers in 2002. The railway now operates as a tourist attraction. Two new steam locomotives have been built for the railway, in 2005 and 2023. Two of the original locomotives and some of the original rolling stock are preserved on the nearby Talyllyn Railway.
The railway has the unusual gauge of which was shared by only three other public railways in the United Kingdom: the Talyllyn Railway and the short-lived Plynlimon and Hafan Tramway in Mid Wales, and the Campbeltown and Machrihanish Light Railway in Scotland.
History Commercial history Precursor schemes: 1850 to 1858
Before 1859, slate from the quarries at Corris, Corris Uchaf and Aberllefenni was hauled by horse-drawn carts and sledges to wharves on the banks of the River Dyfi. The first proposal to construct a railway connecting the quarries to the coast came in August 1850, when the owners of the Aberllefenni, Abercorris, Gaewern and Hengae quarries met with engineer Arthur Causton to propose the Abercorris and Aberdovey Railway. By November 1850, the name had changed to the Corris, Machynlleth & River Dovey Railway or Tramroad which was planned to run down the Dulas Valley and then along the north shore of the Dyfi past Pennal to Pant Eidal, near the later main-line Gogarth Halt. A bill was submitted in early 1851, withdrawn, then resubmitted in December. The bill specified the tramroad's gauge as ; due to the narrow gauge selected, the House of Lords committee imposed a restriction in the bill that forbade the use of locomotives.
This 1851 scheme was authorised in the (15 & 16 Vict. c. clxvi) but was not constructed, and was followed by two further proposals in the early 1850s. Following the plans for a railway along the Dyfi valley, these early proposals were shelved.
In December 1857, a fourth bill was set before Parliament to create the Corris, Machynlleth and River Dovey Tramroad (CM&RDT). This was similar to the 1851 scheme, except that it proposed to cross the Dyfi near Machynlleth and then follow the south bank of the river, and proposed a tramway from the "machine house" (i.e. the slate mill) at Aberllefenni, down to the wharf at "Cae Goch on the River Dovey" (Cae Goch was near to the later main line Glandyfi station). The gauge specified for the tramroad was increased to , and the same restriction forbidding locomotives was imposed. This bill was passed on 12 July 1858, becoming the (21 & 22 Vict. c. xcv).
The Tramroad Era: 1858 to 1878 After more than eight years of proposals, the 1859 scheme was the one that was built. Construction proceeded quickly, and by April 1859 the tramroad opened between Machynlleth and Corris. The section from Aberllefenni to Corris was built later that year. The section from Machynlleth to Morben was opened later. It is thought that the tramroad never extended beyond Morben.
On 3 January 1863, the standard gauge Newtown and Machynlleth Railway had opened, followed on 1 July of the same year by the Aberystwith and Welsh Coast Railway's (A&WCR) line from Machynlleth to Borth. These two lines became part of the Cambrian Railways by August 1865. The opening of the standard gauge line to Borth made the section of the from Machynlleth to Morben obsolete. It was much easier to transship slates to the main line at Machynlleth and most of the lower section of the tramway was abandoned, probably in 1869.
In 1862, a new bill was deposited, seeking to extend the Upper Corris Tramway to iron ore mines at Tir Stent, near the pub at Cross Foxes. The bill also sought powers to raise further capital for the tramroad and allow the use of locomotives. But the directors of the objected and the bill failed. Another similar bill was deposited in December 1863, and again the opposed it. This time, however, they withdrew their objection; the company had been acquired by Thomas Savin, who was the principal contractor in the construction of the tramroad, and Savin had offered to sell the company to the . The second bill passed on 25 July as the (27 & 28 Vict. c. ccxxv); it formally converted the tramroad to a railway changing the company's name to the Corris Railway Company, allowed the use of steam locomotives and allowed the abandonment of the section west of Ffynnon Garsiwn in Machynlleth.
In 1863, a new transshipment wharf was built at to allow slate to be loaded from waggons into standard gauge wagons. Passenger and goods trains continued to run to Machynlleth Town station on the west side of Machynlleth, with some slate trains continuing to the wharfs at Morben.
It took until the 1870s for work to begin to upgrade the Corris Railway to a standard where locomotives could be used. The original tramroad was laid with light bridge rail suitable for waggons to traverse as they were pulled by horses. These rails would not support the weight of much heavier steam locomotives. Although the Corris Railway Act 1864 did not permit passengers to be carried, passengers were carried from at least 1860, and a timetabled passenger service was introduced in 1872. In 1874, a new goods warehouse and horse stable was built besides the transshipment wharves at Machynlleth, this was later converted to form the first passenger station here.
In 1878, control of the railway passed to the Imperial Tramways Company of London. The new owners ordered new passenger carriages for the railway. They also appointed Joseph R. Dix, son of the main-line stationmaster at Machynlleth, as Manager in succession to David Owen.
The Dix Years: 1879 to 1907
Two new acts, the (43 & 44 Vict. c. liv) and the (46 & 47 Vict. c. xxxiv) were obtained which adjusted the tolls on the railway and permitted the carriage of passengers. The second of these acts was necessary because the owners of the quarries served by the railway objected that passenger trains would interfere with their mineral traffic. Initially the railway ran a test passenger service on the local roads; this proved to be so popular that they were able to pass the act of Parliament over the opposition of the quarry owners. It was also the first instance of a long history of the Corris Railway operating passenger road services in the area.
In December 1878 the first steam locomotive purchased from the Hughes Locomotive Company arrived. By February 1879 it had been joined by the other two that had been ordered and all three had begun work. Although the carriages arrived in 1878 it was not until 1883 that the Corris Railway Act 1883 was secured to allow the formal commencement of passenger services. A semi-official passenger service had been running since the early 1870s using adapted waggons to convey quarry workers and visitors.
The line was now in its settled form and began to operate a full service under Dix's energetic management. The railway was widely promoted to visitors as the best route to Tal-y-llyn Lake and Cader Idris (ignoring the claims of the rival Talyllyn Railway). The initial passenger service ran from to , with new stations at and opening in 1884. The track was upgraded beyond Corris so that passenger services could reach the line's northern terminus at , with services starting on 25 August 1887, and in the same year stations were also opened at and .
The railway developed a network of horse-hauled road services, including providing a link between Corris station and Abergynolwyn station on the Talyllyn Railway. This was promoted as part of a circular "Grand Tour" which took in the two narrow gauge railways and the Cambrian service between Tywyn and Machynlleth.
In 1892, control of Imperial Tramways moved to Bristol and George White of Bristol Tramways became chairman and Clifton Robinson became managing director.Corris Railway Society Journal 1992 & 1993 In the 1900s, Bristol motor buses were sent by the parent company to run the road services.
The closure of Braichgoch Quarry in 1906 brought the railway its first loss, and although the line continued on through subsequent decades, serving the quarries around Corris and Aberllefenni, it never again showed a profit. The bridge over the River Dyfi was rebuilt that year replacing the second timber viaduct with a steel bridge on slate piers.
Decline: 1907 to 1930 Following a dispute with the directors, Dix was dismissed in June 1907, and replaced by John J O'Sullivan (formerly of the Cork, Blackrock and Passage Railway). A new station building at Machynlleth was completed towards the end of 1907. As well as slate and passengers, the line hauled timber extracted from the Dyfi forest in the 1910s through 1930s. There was also a constant traffic in coal and general goods to the quarries and communities served by the railway.
After World War I, the decline in slate traffic continued as cheaper foreign slate and alternative roofing materials became popular. O'Sullivan had died in office in 1917; the parent company's Secretary, Frederick H Withers, acted as manager until a new manager, Daniel J McCourt (who had worked on Imperial's Middlesbrough system until that was taken over by the local municipality) took over in 1921 and was responsible for developing and extending the connecting bus services as partial compensation for the decline in rail traffic.
Takeover and nationalisation: 1931 to 1948
In late 1929, Imperial Tramways sold the Corris to the Great Western Railway (GWR), who by that time were the owners of the main line serving Machynlleth, whose primary interest was taking control of the railway's bus routes. After running a bus in direct competition with the railway in 1930, the railway's passenger service was withdrawn at the beginning of 1931. While the did not relish owning another Welsh narrow gauge line, they did perform some track maintenance, and on at least two occasions the rolling stock was repainted.
On 1 January 1948, the line was nationalised along with its parent company, becoming part of British Railways (BR). While the had tolerated the Corris, was looking for an excuse to close the loss making railway. In August 1948, that excuse came when the River Dyfi flooded. The waters began to undermine the Corris Railway embankment on the south side of the Dovey Bridge, and although the track was never breached, it was the excuse that needed to close the line. The last train ran on 20 August 1948 and the following day the railway was closed, without notice. The Aberllefenni to Corris section was lifted in November 1948, and 10 tons of the rail was purchased by Henry Haydn Jones for use on his Talyllyn Railway. By the end of 1950, track lifting had reached Machynlleth station.
In 1951, the Talyllyn Railway became the first railway in the world to be preserved. The Talyllyn purchased the two remaining locomotives, which had been stored out of use at Machynlleth, along with several goods waggons and the brake van – see List of Talyllyn Railway rolling stock. In 1958, the Talyllyn also purchased one of the Corris carriages, which had been in use as a summerhouse in a garden in Gobowen.
Preservation Early days: 1966 to 1980