Brian Monaghan took pictures of Abergewsyn and then the whole combination including Meifod on a couple of occasions. He was based in Manchester which was an easy trip to Warrington for him.
He was often criticised over his ‘eye in the sky’ photos but it was mainly due to his old bellows full frame camera and huge wooden tripod. That camera was amazing as it had full adjustability so he could tweak the shot to get the best focus.
He very kindly gave us a set of photos from his second visit for our own private use. I have managed to scan these although some of the transparencies are a bit dark as I haven’t got a scanner that can back-light the large film. I have included both monochrome images and the corresponding colour images as well. For some reason I seem to have more colour photos that the monochrome ones.
Photo by Brian Monaghan: Meifod Station in the foreground with the quarry siding higher-up.
Photo by Brian Monaghan: A view of the quarry above Meifod.
Photo by Brian Monaghan: A Langley Darjeeling loco hauls two Egger bogie flat wagons around the upper ‘Talybont’ loop.
Photo by Brian Monaghan: A goods train leaves Talybont.
Photo by Brian Monaghan: An Egger tram hauls a passenger across the trestle bridge from Talybont to Meifod.
Photo by Brian Monaghan: A passenger train leaves Meifod towards Talybont.
Photo by Brian Monaghan: A goods train from the quarry at Meifod en route for Talybont.
Photo by Brian Monaghan: A passenger train arrives at Talybont. The line off to the right under the footbridge goes to Meifod.
Photo by Brian Monaghan: A goods train from Meifod, en route for Talybont passes under a scaffold set up for some urgent masonry repairs. The scaffold was originally added to fill in a space before the Meifod extension was built, but proved such a talking point that it remained in re-built form to allow trains to pass through it.
Photo by Brian Monaghan: A goods train waits at Talybont for an Abergwesyn bound goods from Meifod to clear the section.
Photo by Brian Monaghan: A Langley Darjeeling loco heads towards Abergwesyn from Meifod. The Festiniog Railway disc signal was used to change the track section to either the Meifod or Talybont controllers.
Photo by Brian Monaghan: An original Minitrains Plymouth diesel waits with a goods train at Meifod while and electric hauled passenger train passes the quarry.
Photo by Brian Monaghan: A passenger train leaves Meifod towards Talybont.
Photo by Brian Monaghan: A view of the quarry above Meifod.
Photo by Brian Monaghan: A Langley Darjeeling loco hauls two Egger bogie flat wagons around the upper ‘Talybont’ loop.
Photo by Brian Monaghan: A goods train from the quarry at Meifod en route for Talybont.
Photo by Brian Monaghan: An overall view of Abergwesyn station on the lower loop and a Langley Darjeeling loco on the upper Talybont loop.
Photo by Brian Monaghan: A rather dark photo of the Meifod Quarry, but it is the best that I can get out of a 40+ year old transparency.
Photo by Brian Monaghan: A rather dark photo of the link between Meifod and Talybont, but it is the best that I can get out of a 40+ year old transparency.
Photo by Brian Monaghan: Meifod Station in the foreground with the quarry siding higher-up.
Photo by Brian Monaghan: A goods train leaves Talybont.
Photo by Brian Monaghan: An Egger tram hauls a passenger across the trestle bridge from Talybont to Meifod.
Photo by Brian Monaghan: A passenger train arrives at Talybont. The line off to the right under the footbridge goes to Meifod.
Photo by Brian Monaghan: The road entrance to Abergwesyn Station was protected by a gate which was automatically operated by magnets on the trains and reed switches in the track. All this was through the ingenuity of my brother Dave. Is it any wonder that he went on to be an electronics genius!
Photo by Brian Monaghan: A goods train from Meifod, en route for Talybont passes under a scaffold set up for some urgent masonry repairs. The scaffold was originally added to fill in a space before the Meifod extension was built, but proved such a talking point that it remained in re-built form to allow trains to pass through it.
Photo by Brian Monaghan: An original Minitrains Plymouth diesel waits with a goods train at Meifod while and electric hauled passenger train passes the quarry.
Photo by Brian Monaghan: A Langley Darjeeling loco heads towards Abergwesyn from Meifod. The Festiniog Railway disc signal was used to change the track section to either the Meifod or Talybont controllers.
Photo by Brian Monaghan: A goods train waits at Talybont for an Abergwesyn bound goods from Meifod to clear the section.