Bala and Dolgelly Railway

The Bala and Dolgelly Railway was a Welsh railway company whose line opened on 4 August 1868 as one of the companies that built the standard-gauge route across north Wales from Ruabon in the east to Barmouth on the west coast. The route was opened in stages by the Vale of Llangollen Railway, the Llangollen and Corwen Railway, the Corwen and Bala Railway, the Bala and Dolgelly company and the Aberystwith and Welsh Coast Railway. The Bala and Dolgelly Railway was absorbed into the Great Western Railway by the Great Western Railway Act 1877, and the three eastern companies followed in 1896. At Bala Junction the line met the Bala and Festiniog Railway. The Ruabon to Barmouth line was listed for closure under the Beeching Axe and closed completely on 18 January 1965; stretches of the old route survive as the Bala Lake Railway, the Llangollen Railway and the Mawddach Trail cycle route.