Welsh Highland Railway

{{Heritage Railway |name = Welsh Highland RailwayRheilffordd Eryri| |image = |caption = WHR locomotive K1, the first Garratt articulated locomotive, at Snowdon Ranger halt with train and Snowdonia behind |locale = Wales |terminus = Caernarfon and Porthmadog |linename = Welsh Highland Railway Company |builtby = North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways (NWNGR) , Welsh Highland Railway |originalgauge = |preservedgauge = |era = |owned = |operator = Festiniog Railway Company and Welsh Highland Railway Limited |stations = 13 on WHR/RhE and 3 on WHHR |length = and |originalopen = 1922 |closed = 1937 |stageyears= 1961 |stage = Welsh Highland Railway Society formed |years = 1964 |events = WHR Society reformed as Welsh Highland Light Railway (1964) Limited |years1 = 1980 |events1 = WHR Ltd. line opened for passenger service |years2 = 1990 |events2 = FR Co. became involved |years3 = October 1997 |events3 = WHR (Caernarfon) opened from Caernarfon to Dinas |years4 = August 2000 |events4 = Reopened - Dinas to Waunfawr |years5 = August 2003 |events5 = Reopened - Waunfawr to Rhyd Ddu |years6 = 7 April 2009 |events6 = Reopened - Rhyd Ddu to Beddgelert |years7 = 21 May 2009 |events7 = Reopened - Beddgelert to Hafod y Llyn the current line includes an additional section from Dinas to Caernarfon. The original line also had branches to Bryngwyn and the slate quarries at Moel Tryfan, which have not been restored.

There is also the long Welsh Highland Heritage Railway which runs from Porthmadog along the trackbed of the former Cambrian Railway exchange siding and connects to the WHR main line at Pen-y-Mount junction.

History

The original Welsh Highland Railway was formed in 1922 from the merger of two companies - the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways (NWNGR) and the Portmadoc, Beddgelert and South Snowdon Railway (PBSSR), successor to the Portmadoc, Croesor and Beddgelert Tram Railway. Unfortunately, it was never a commercial success.

Forerunners: 1863–1921

The Croesor Tramway had run from Portmadoc since 1863 up into the Croesor Valley and the slate quarries in this area. This was a horse-worked line laid to a nominal 2 foot gauge.

The NWNGR had originally built a gauge line from a junction with the standard gauge London and North Western Railway line at Dinas to Bryngwyn with a branch from Tryfan Junction via Waunfawr to Llyn Cwellyn (Snowdon Ranger). The line was opened in 1877 and was extended to South Snowdon (Rhyd Ddu) in 1881, a total of 9 miles. This closed to passengers in 1916 but goods traffic continued up to its absorption by the WHR in 1922.

In 1902, the newly-formed PBSSR took over the failed Portmadoc, Croesor and Beddgelert Tram Railway with the aim of extending it to South Snowdon slate quarry in the Nant Gwynant Pass. Work was abandoned by the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, although the tunnels through the Aberglaslyn Pass were mostly completed.

Formation and construction: 1921–1923

The name Welsh Highland Railway first appeared in 1921 when a 1914 Light Railway Order (LRO) was processed. It was originally drawn up by the local Caernarfonshire authorities and aimed to link the PGSSR and NWNGR but had been delayed by The First World War. It was revived by two local politicians and a Scottish distillery owner, Sir John Henderson Stewart. In July 1921, Stewart also obtained control of the Festiniog Railway, in order to obtain extra rolling stock for the WHR.

The LRO was passed in 1922, following a public enquiry. The budget was £75,000 and much of the funding was borrowed from the Ministry of Transport and local authorities. According to the historian Peter Johnson, this would become a burden as the railway needed to generate the unlikely sum of £3,750 profit each year to service the debt. Like the modern day WHR, the railway was opened in stages. The former NWNGR section re-opened on 31 July 1922 and the remainder on 1 June 1923. Its rolling stock was out of date, it lacked locomotives and carriages and its marketing was inadequate. In 1924, winter passenger services were discontinued due to poor traffic. A dispute with the Great Western Railway over the costs of the crossing over its line at Porthmadog also caused problems, despite the crossing having been used since 1867 without any charges or problems. The railway even had to resort to escorting passengers across the crossing on foot. and a group of like-minded railway enthusiasts, joined to form The Welsh Highland Railway Society. This group is the precursor of what eventually became WHR Ltd., which owns and operates the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway (WHHR). Legal problems meant they were unable to take over the old company so, in the 1970s, the group purchased the former standard gauge exchange sidings (the Beddgelert Siding) near Tremadog Road, Portmadog, from British Railways to use as a base. In 1980, they began running passenger services over the line that is now known as the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway. They also acquired an original WHR locomotive Russell, which began working passenger services in 1987.

In the mid 1980s, a number of FR Co. employees became concerned about impact of competition from the WHR and passed this view on to the FR management.

As the WHR has no telephone cabling to connect the system, the FR Co is developing a more modern alternative method of connecting the ETS machines. Until the system is finished, the WHR will continue using its current token systems.

Cae Pawb - The Cambrian crossing

Just outside of Porthmadog, the railway crosses the Network Rail-owned Cambrian coast line using a flat crossing. It existed on the old Welsh Highland Railway and was the source of much conflict between the old company and the Great Western Railway over the cost of WHR trains using the crossing. On the modern WHR, the crossing is called Cae Pawb.

The crossing is constructed from a continuous cast lump of manganese steel. Continuous rail is used for the standard gauge section, with notches cut out to allow narrow gauge trains to cross. The WHR section is cast in rail as opposed to the WHR standard flat rail, which connects the crossing to the WHR narrow gauge lines either side.. Currently the train pulls onto the Cob. A "pilot" loco then attaches to the rear and pulls the train into the Harbour Platform. At departure time, the pilot pulls the train onto the Cob to enable the train locomotive to be at the Caernarfon end of the train.

Timetable

Historically, the WHR was split into two operational sections:

Dinas to Beddgelert and Beddgelert to Porthmadog (using present day form)

For the 2009 timetable operation, a "two set" operation was employed, with rolling stock being based at Dinas. During the year, operations were extended from Rhyd Ddu, first to Beddgelert on 7 April 2009, and then to Hafod y Llyn on 21 May 2009, site of a small halt on the original line. Although passengers could only board and alight at Hafod-y-Llyn, its remote location means that it can only be accessed by self-sufficient walkers and cyclists as there are no parking or other facilities at the halt and the platform is very short. It closed when was opened in 2010.

The Festiniog Railway Company had, at one point, planned to open the entire railway in 2007. Delays and funding restrictions meant that the opening was repeatedly delayed, with the full opening not happening until 2011. From the end of May 2010, the line was extended a further to . Shortly here-after the railway announced that it would finish, and as it had approval for service by the Safety Directorate of the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR), the remaining section would be completed before the end of September 2010. The cause of this sudden rush was the ROTS to ROGS transition. This should have happened in 2006, but heritage railways gained an extension of the transition period to Oct. 1, 2010. It was foreseen that this change in regime would bring high additional costs to the railway, so it was decided to finish before that date. A minor delay was incurred by the necessity to build a new culvert at the location where the new Porthmadog diversion road is being built.

Following the visit from the ORR on 15 October 2010, approval was given for passenger operation. On 30 October 2010 the first passenger trains, departing from Caernarfon to Porthmadog and return, were operated for the benefit of sponsors of the project. The commissioning of ERTMS on the Cambrian Line was completed during a possession between Harlech and Pwllheli between 24 and 27 October.

As a result of the Porthmadog bypass works, the Ffestiniog Railway was severed just east of Minffordd station from 3 January to 16 February 2011 to build a new bridge. Therefore the regular Winter FR trains were scheduled to operate from Porthmadog to . The first through services between Caernarfon and Porthmadog Harbour station began on 19 February 2011, with regular services recommencing from 27 March 2011.

Whole of line operations

Although, with completion of the main track laying it is now possible to run trains from through to , Salem Halt Sponsors' Train stopped here in 2010. Currently under restoration, reopening in 2011. 6.5 miles (10.4 km) 12.1 miles (19.4 km) (Forest Campsite) 16.8 miles (27.0 km) (opened 27 May 2010) 22.3 miles (35.9 km) (opened 27 May 2010) 23.9 miles (38.4 km) 24.7 miles (39.7 km) Inaugural Train arrived 30 October 2010

Welsh Highland Heritage Railway / Rheilffordd Ucheldir Cymru

Porthmadog (WHHR)

Gelert's Farm halt (Only on return journey, for museum tours)

(Current terminus)

Traeth Mawr Loop (Never a station. Temporary terminus loop in 2007 & 2008, now removed.)

See also

British narrow gauge railways

Slate operations on the WHR

SAR NGG 16 Class

Notes

References

Bibliography

Carter, Ian (2008). British Railway Enthusiasm. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-6566-8

External links

Welsh Highland Railway (Porthmadog) - official site

Welsh Highland Railway (Caernarfon) - official site

Welsh Highland Railway (Caernarfon) - official construction site

Rebuilding the Welsh Highland Railway - unofficial site

Welsh Highland Railway History

WHR Current and Historic Information

Category:Ffestiniog Railway Category:Slate industry in Wales * Category:Snowdonia Category:Narrow gauge railways in Wales Category:On-street running Category:Railway companies established in 1922 Category:Railway lines opened in 1923 Category:Railway museums in Wales Category:Museums in Gwynedd Category:2ft gauge railways