Because of damage caused by Storm Darragh last weekend, in line with many other heritage railways, the Corris Railway in Mid-Wales was reluctantly forced to abandon its planned Santa Specials last Saturday 7th and Sunday, 8th .

Many volunteers had travelled from far and wide, including as far south as the Isle of Wight and as far north as Scotland.

On Friday, 6th December, they had completed their preparations ready to welcome excited children on their trip to Santa’s grotto during the weekend.

By Saturday morning, plans were in disarray. Landslips had blocked the road north and south of Corris, at Corris and Maespoeth Junction the electricity supply had been lost, and overflowing on the A487 had caused rainwater to flood off the road and cascade into the machine shop, engine shed and loco inspection pit.

An inspection of the line also found three trees blocking the line in various places.

By Saturday afternoon, volunteers from the local community had cleared the road drains and stopped any more water flooding into the loco shed at Maespoeth.

Corris Railway volunteers then started cleaning-up the damage caused by the water to the railway’s infrastructure, and this will continue in the run up to Christmas.

Cancellation of the Santa Specials was particularly disappointing, as No.10 Falcon was scheduled to be the main locomotive operating Christmas trains, although it had been a regular performer earlier in the year.

Whilst larger heritage railways run Santa specials over several weekends leading up to Christmas, the small number of volunteers means that it is currently not practicable for the Corris Railway.

The busy pre-Christmas weekend has historically been a reliable source of income that helps to provide a financial cushion for the months during the winter when trains are not running.

As well as losing the income from the Santa Specials, there was an additional from the expenditure spent on setting up as well as children’s presents and the food and drink that form part of the visitor experience.

Following the dedicated efforts of one of the railway’s volunteers, all passengers who had pre-booked for the Santa Specials had received a complete refund by midnight on Sunday, 7th December.

However, some people who had booked very kindly and generously people asked the railway not to be refunded but to donate the money to General Funds.

It was not only the Corris Railway that suffered over the weekend, as the non-running of the Santa Specials affected the number of visitors to the Corris Café and the Slater’s Arms.

Assuming there is no repeat of this year’s storms, next year’s Corris Railway Santa Specials are scheduled for Saturday, 13th and Sunday, 14th December 2025.