PASSENGERS have been kicking the post-Christmas blues into touch by hopping on board the Llangollen Railway steam train.

In the days after Christmas, people of all ages have flocked to the railway station to savour the Mince Pie Specials.

Adults received a mince pie and a tipple while children were given a treat and a drink.

And people were able to sit back and enjoy some respite from the wet and windy weather as they admired the views of the Dee Valley.

It hasn’t all been plain sailing though.

When the first of the Mince Pie Special steam trains on the Llangollen Railway arrived at Corwen East station on Boxing Day, the train crew and passengers became marooned.

Flood water in the surrounding fields and on the approach to the station building, had cut off the elevated platform. Passengers could not leave or join the train at Corwen East and had to use Carrog station for access.

With river levels running high alongside the railway west of Carrog during the day, the decision was taken to terminate later trains at Carrog.

Trains resumed the following day and with the impact of Storm Frank being lower than expected, continued to run right through to New Years Day.

The railway’s winter programme finishes with its Winter Warmer service, which begins on Saturday and runs until Sunday.

Over the weekend, a journey along the 10-mile heritage railway between Llangollen and Corwen will also be a journey back through the decades. 

Stations along the line will be transformed to resemble different decades from the 1930s to 1960s.

Passengers can experience what post-war commuter travel would have been like in suburban carriages and travel aboard a demonstration parcels train looking out for newspapers and parcels being loaded and unloaded along the line.