We meet at Machynlleth Station early afternoon and head into the Dulan Valley for the Corris Railway, a place steeped in the local history of the slate industry. Tea, coffee and Welsh Cakes abound before we complete our journey to Aberystwyth in plenty of time for sunset number one on a barmy summer evening!

A coastal day to the north starts at the Talyllyn Railway, the first preserved railway in Britain. Then, we head further up the coast to Fairbourne for a ride on the charming miniature railway to the beach where we board the ferry to Barmouth. We’ll rail back to Aberystwyth over the famous Barmouth Bridge and around the coast in time to appreciate sunset number 2.

We head off this morning by steam train, chugging up the Vale of Rheidol amid increasingly dramatic scenery. A mountainous afternoon sees us going “over the top” and then through the magnificent Elan Valley on one of the most scenic roads in all of Wales. We have one last sunset to see so what better way to do so than while enjoying an evening meal together at the top of Constitution Hill and have privately hired the Victorian Cliff Railway to take us there.

Time to head for home but not before a final dose of steam. We take a super scenic route to remote Llanfair Caereinion, the headquarters of the Welshpool & Llanfair Railway. This line is a delight, running alongside the river and then through rolling farmland and is best enjoyed, perhaps, from the open balconies of the rolling stock. After lunchtime we transfer to Welshpool Station from where homeward bound journeys commence.