The Gwili Steam Railway operates a standard gauge preserved railway from Bronwydd (near Carmarthen) in South Wales along a short section of the former Carmarthen to Aberystwyth railway that closed for passenger traffic in 1965, the track being lifted in 1975.

The Gwili Railway was formed in 1975 and, by 1978, had purchased and rescued about eight miles of trackbed and was running an initial steam-hauled service on a one-mile section of it. The Gwili Railway has the distinction of becoming the first standard-gauge preserved railway to operate in South West Wales when it re-opened the one-mile section of the Carmarthen-Llanpumsaint route from its base at Bronwydd Arms, three miles north of Carmarthen. Since then, the railway has expanded to Danycoed and the company continues to hope to expand to Llanpumsaint.

In June the railway trip will head south towards Carmarthen to a new station called Abergwili junction which will be located alongside the roundabout at the northern end of the A40 Carmarthen By-pass. The locomotive stock of the Gwili Railway is unusual in that it mostly represents local industrial and wartime operations rather than mainline services.

Take a step back in time, on this volunteer operated railway, to the days gone by when the pace of life was much slower. The last passenger train operated by British Railways ran on Saturday 20th February, 1965, but the line struggled on until 28th September, 1973, for freight, primarily milk, and it is from this beginning that the Gwili Railway was formed on 21st April 1975.

The track bed was purchased from Abergwili Junction to Llanpumsaint together with the stations at Bronwydd Arms and Conwil, but with only 1¼ miles of track from Bronwydd Arms to Cwmdwyfran. The first train ran at Easter 1978 using one coach pulled by a steam engine called Merlin/Myrddin.

Take the train through the beautiful GWILI VALLEY from Abergwili Junction, where the London North Western Railway met the GWR, to Danycoed Halt on a line which used to link the market town of CARMARTHEN with the seaside resort of ABERYSTWYTH. Visit the 1885 Signal Box, Victorian Tea Rooms and Museum at Bronwydd Arms, the 1911 Station building with its restored Ticket Office and Travelling Post Office at Llwyfan Cerrig and the delightful GWR Halt at Danycoed.

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