Barmouth Ferry railway station is the northern terminus of the Fairbourne Railway

Fairbourne Railway

The Fairbourne Railway is a gauge miniature railway running for from the village of Fairbourne on the Mid-Wales coast, alongside the beach to the end of a peninsula at Barmouth Ferry, where there is a connection with a pedestrian ferry across the Mawddach estuary to the seaside resort of...

. The station overlooks the Mawddach estuary

River Mawddach

The River Mawddach is a river in North Wales which has its source in a wide area north of Dduallt in Snowdonia. The river is much branched and many of the significant tributaries are of a similar size to the main river...

 and offers good views of the Barmouth Bridge

Barmouth Bridge

The Barmouth Bridge is a single-track largely wooden railway viaduct that crosses the estuary of the Afon Mawddach river on the coast of Cardigan Bay between Morfa Mawddach and Barmouth in Gwynedd, Wales...

. The passenger ferry

Barmouth Passenger ferry

The Barmouth Ferry provides a passenger service across the River Mawddach and connects the town of Barmouth with Penrhyn Point and Barmouth Ferry railway station, the northern terminus of the Fairbourne Railway. The journey takes approximately five minutes. There are two ferry operators on the...

 crosses the estuary to Barmouth

Barmouth

Barmouth ; Y Bermo ) is a town in the county of Gwynedd, north-western Wales, lying on the estuary of the River Mawddach and Cardigan Bay.The town is served by Barmouth railway station.- History :...

. It is one of only a very few stations in Britain to be situated on a balloon loop

Balloon loop

A balloon loop or turning loop allows a rail vehicle or train to reverse direction without having to shunt or even stop. Balloon loops can be useful for passenger trains and unit freight trains, such as coal trains....

, allowing trains to return with the engine pointing forwards without needing to uncouple and reverse the locomotive, or use a turntable.