Immediately after the Second World War, there was a short boom in demand for Welsh slate, to meet reconstruction needs throughout the United Kingdom. However this proved to be a short-lived period of success, and cheap foreign imports of slate and new man-made roofing materials quickly began to eat into the market for the higher-quality and more expensive Penrhyn product. A steady decline in traffic through the 1950s and growth in the use of roads for transporting slates direct from the quarry to market meant the end of the railway was inevitable. In June 1962, the last slate train ran, though a few unofficial trips were run as late as the summer of 1963.