Despite the railway's short length and short life it appeared several times in the regional press as the victim of acts of god and man. A rock fall struck a passing train in 1878 and carriages were blown over in traffic in 1870 and 1881, fortunately none of these incidents caused injury. Snow stopped work in the quarries, railways and railway building in 1881 and gauge conversion work was set back by a flood in 1882. Gauge conversion work was delayed by land ownership issues in Blaenau and raised eyebrows for working on the Sabbath. The railway took people to court for trespass in 1871, 1876 and 1878, for breaking windows in 1871 and for drunken damage at Tan y Manod in 1873. A seven year old boy was prosecuted in 1882 for placing stones on the line.