The standard gauge line, which is 10 miles (16 km) long, runs on part of the former Ruabon – Barmouth GWR route that closed in 1965.

[1] In March 2021, the railway company announced that, having made a loss in three consecutive years, they had invited their bank to appoint receivers.

Travel up to this time had been by horse-drawn carriage, but by the 1840s, the Shrewsbury to Chester line had been completed, which allowed passengers to alight at Llangollen Road (later known as Whitehurst Halt), and then take a coach towards Holyhead.

[1] Early progress was slow due to a lack of funding, though in 1977 Shell Oil donated a mile of unused track.

Work finished in July 1981 with the remaining quarter mile of track used to lay sidings at the old Llangollen Goods Junction to house the railway's growing fleet of rolling stock.

[1] As rebuilding work progressed train services were extended (via the 689 yard long Berwyn Tunnel) to Deeside Halt (in 1990), Glyndyfrdwy (in 1993) and finally into Carrog on 2 May 1996.

[9] It is uncertain if the trust can extend eastwards towards Ruabon or westwards to Cynwyd as the trackbed was not fully safeguarded against modern development.

In March 2020, the railway announced that a financial crisis had been averted due to £125,000 in donations from supporters, enabling it to avoid a Company Voluntary Arrangement after making pre-tax losses of £330,601 in 2018, £329,175 in 2019 and £258,804 in 2020.

[13] In May 2020, Prime Minister Boris Johnson stated that the line would have a "glorious future" after raising £75,000 in share purchases and donations.