Despite being only 6 miles 63 chains (10.9 km) long,[1] there were three intermediate stations at Cemmaes, Aberangell (where it linked to the Hendre-Ddu Tramway) and Mallwyd.

These veins surface at three locations – around Abergynolwyn in the west, surrounding Corris, and at their easternmost in the district around Dinas Mawddwy.

[4] In 1856, a prosperous mill owner from Ardwick, Sir Edmund Buckley purchased the Lordship of Dinas Mawddwy and with it a large estate covering 12,000 acres of the town and local area.

In 1874, the Hendre Ddu Tramway was opened to connect Buckley's Hendreddu quarry to the Mawddwy Railway at Aberangell.

[11] The slate industry declined during the late 1890s and early 1900s, and the railway continued to run down as there were no capital funds and barely any profit.

The Cambrian's Chairman Charles Sherwood Denniss suggested that Buckley apply for a Light Railway Order and run the line as a tourist attraction.

[13] A single daily freight train continued to run until April 1908, at which point all services were abandoned due to the poor state of the track and locomotives.

In September 1950 heavy flooding of the River Dyfi damaged the railway bridge north of Cemmaes Road station.

[17] In 1946, the slate warehouse at Dinas Mawddwy station was converted into a woollen mill by a consortium of local sheep farmers.

Street renamed the operation "Meirion Mill" and turned it into a tourist attraction, weaving and selling a wide range of woollen products.

[21] The Mawddway Railway line left Cemmaes Road heading eastwards through a cutting, on a falling gradient of 1 in 41.

On the north side of the station the railway crossed the Afon Dyfi on a low bridge and continued straight across the floodplain of the river.

[21] As the valley narrowed, the line kept to the west bank of the Dyfi, curving to follow the meanders of the river.

It passed Cwm Llinau village on the far side of the river, and three miles from its starting point, it arrived at Nantcyff.

To the immediate north of the station was another passing loop, which ran beside the wharf carrying the Hendre-Ddu Tramway.

[22] From Aberangell station, the line passed under Gwastagoed Farm Road Bridge, and ran north towards Dinas Mawddwy.

It ran under the hillside called Camlan, which according to local legend is the site of the Battle of Camlann in which King Arthur was killed.