Welsh Highland Railway. Caernarfon Porthmadog

Welsh Highland Railway. Caernarfon Porthmadog

The tale of our infatuation with steam trains continues with…

…the Welsh Highland narrow gauge railway running between Caernarfon and Porthmadog, where it links to the Festiniog Railway, running from Porthmadog to Blaenau Ffestiniog high in the slate mountains of Snowdonia.

 
Welsh Highland Railway train arrives in Caernarfon
 
Welsh Highland railway loco taking on water at Caernarfon
 
Welsh Highland railway loco moves to front of carriages ready for journey to Porthmadog
 
Welsh Highland Railway loco with Caernarfon Castle in background
 
Locomotive standing at Caernarfon taking on passengers
 

At 09:30 on Thursday 16th June we were standing on the platform with lots of others awaiting the arrival of the 10:00 steam engine which would pull the 10:00 train from Caernarfon all the way to Porthmadog passing the foot of Snowdon on the way.
When the engine pulled into the station, there was a ripple of excitement. It is, like all steam engines, a living breathing thing, a Welsh dragon come to life.

 
An excited Dorothy in First class on the Welsh Highland Railway
 

Aboard the train, I felt like an excited child on a birthday outing. As the train pulled out of the station, I looked back to watch Caernarfon Castle slipping out of sight as we puffed along the track.

 
Incline up to Rhyd Ddu from Caernarfon
 
Mynydd Drws y Coed from the train approaching Rhyd Ddu
 
Rhyd Ddu station on the Welsh Highland Railway
 

The narrow-gauge engines on the Welsh Highland Railway run on tracks two feet wide. To go round the sharp corners required to take them snaking up steep inclines, they are articulated in two places. Each steam engine is made in three parts, a central boiler with driver’s cab, a watertank and a coal bunker.

 
Welsh Highland Railway loco showing three main articulated sections
 
Locomotive driver oiling bearings before next journey
 
Driving controls in locomotive cab
 
Welsh Highland Railway train prepares to leave Porthmadog for Caernarfon

Welsh Highland Railway. Brief history

The brief history of the line between Caernarfon and Porthmadog goes back to 1864 when a tramway was built to carry slate from the mountains to the coast for export. The line was extended over time until it eventually joined up and carried both slate and passengers.
Sadly, the Welsh Highland Railway was never a financial success and in 1944 a ‘winding-up’ order was made. The company was never actually closed, so eventually, in 1989, it was possible for the Ffestiniog Railway to make a bid for the track. In 1999, they aquired the assets from the official receiver and with the aid of a Milleniun Commission grant, much fund raising, and a lot of volunteer labour, the Welsh Highland Railway was reconstructed, bit by bit, to become the wonderful entity it is now.

It is still run on volunteer labour.

Journey from Caernarfon to Porthmadog

The journey from Caernarfon to Porthmadog is 25miles long and runs through beautiful countryside. It climbs from sea level at historic Caernarfon to 197metres before descending through forests and the beautiful Aberglaslyn valley until it arrives back at sea level in Porthmadog.

 
Welsh Higland train threading its way through wooded glades around Waunfawr
 
At Porthmadog, the line uses the main street to reach the other side of the valley for its journey North
 
Welsh Highland railway name plate on the cab of the locomotive
 

We loved every bit of our journey and can heartily recommend it to visitors. We took lots of pics and video. The best bit of the end of the end of the journey was that we could do it all again on the return journey from Porthmadog to Caernarfon!

Dorothy
10th July 2016