Ffestiniog Railway

The Ffestiniog Railway (Welsh Rheilffordd Ffestiniog) is a narrow-gauge heritage railway, located in Snowdonia in north west Wales. The anglicised spelling Festiniog is still used in the official title of the railway company.

The Ffestiniog railway is about 15 miles (24 km) long and runs between the towns of Blaenau Ffestiniog and Porthmadog. The line travels through spectacular mountainous scenery and has a track gauge of 2 feet.

The Ffestiniog railway is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Wales.

The Ffestiniog railway was originally constructed in the 1830s to transport slate from the quarries around the inland town of Blaenau Ffestiniog, to the coastal town of Porthmadog where it was loaded onto ships. The railway was graded so that loaded wagons could be run by gravity from Blaenau Ffestiniog to the port downhill all the way. The empty wagons were hauled back up by horses, which travelled down in special wagons. In 1863 steam locomotives were introduced, to allow a greater number of slate trains to be run, and this also enabled the introduction of passenger trains in 1865: the Ffestiniog was the first narrow gauge railway in Britain to carry passengers. From 1869 a number of double Fairlie articulated locomotives were introduced, and these have since become one of the most widely recognised features of the railway.

By the 1920s the demand for slate as a roofing material dropped, due to the advent of newer roofing materials. As a result, the railway suffered a gradual decline in traffic. During this period it was linked with the newer Welsh Highland Railway, which proved to be a financial liability. Passenger traffic ceased on the outbreak of war in 1939, and slate traffic ceased in August 1946. For a number of years the line lay derelict.

In the early 1950s a group of volunteers purchased the company to run it as a tourist attraction, and gradually restored the line to working order. This was not helped by a decision by the electricity authority in the mid 1950s, to build a dam, and thereby create the Tanygrisiau reservoir, which flooded part of the northern end of the line. In the 1970s a new diversion route including a rail spiral and a tunnel was built around the reservoir by volunteer labour, the through route to Blaenau Ffestiniog was completed in 1982; the group building this deviation were originally officially called the Civil Engineering Group, but habitually called themselves the Deviationists. There are current plans to reinstate the link with the Welsh Highland Railway when the latter is completed from Caernarfon to Porthmadog.

Stations

Porthmadog Harbour
Boston Lodge
Minffordd (near Portmeirion)
Penrhyn
Plas Halt
Tan-y-Bwlch
Dduallt
Campbell's Platform
Tanygrisiau
Blaenau Ffestiniog

References

J.I.C. Boyd The Festiniog Railway, 1800 – 1974 (two volumes). The Oakwood Press, 1975.
Peter Johnson Immortal Rails — the story of the closure and revival of the Ffestiniog Railway 1939–1983 (Volume 1). RailRomances, Chester, 2004. ISBN 1–9000622–08–4.

External links

The Ffestiniog Railway's website


British Heritage and Private Railways
<p style="font-size: 90%">England:	<p style="font-size: 90%">Appleby – Avon Valley – Barrow Hill – Battlefield Line – Bideford & Instow – Birmingham Rly. Mus. – Bluebell – Bodmin & Wenford – Bowes – Bredgar & Wormhill – Buckinghamshire Rly. Centre – Bure Valley – Chasewater – Chinnor & Princes Risborough – Cholsey & Wallingford – Churnet Valley – Cleethorpes – Colne Valley – Coventry – Dartmoor – Dean Forest – Derwent Valley – Didcot – East Anglian Rly. Mus. – East Kent – East Lancs. – East Somerset – Ecclesbourne Valley – Eden Valley – Elsecar – Embsay – Epping-Ongar – Foxfield – Glos. Warks. – Great Central – Isle of Wight – Keighley – Kent & East Sussex – Kirklees – Lakeside & Haverthwaite – Lappa Valley – Launceston – Lavender – Leighton Buzzard – Lincolnshire Wolds – Lynton & Barnstaple – Mangapps Rly. Mus. – Mid-Hants – Mid-Norfolk – Mid-Suffolk – Middleton – Midland Rly. Centre – National Rly. Mus. – Nene Valley – North Norfolk – North Tyneside – North Yorkshire Moors – Northampton & Lamport – Northamptonshire Ironstone – Paignton & Dartmouth – Peak – Plym Valley – Ravenglass & Eskdale – Ribble – Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch – Rutland – Seaton – Severn Valley – Sittingbourne – South Devon – South Tynedale – Spa Valley – Swanage – Swindon & Cricklade – Telford – Walthamstow – Weardale – Wensleydale – West Somerset – Wisbech & March
<p style="font-size: 90%">Scotland:	<p style="font-size: 90%">Alford Valley – Bo'ness & Kinneil – Caledonian – Keith & Dufftown – Leadhills & Wanlockhead – Isle of Mull – Royal Deeside – Scottish Industrial Rly. Centre – Strathspey
<p style="font-size: 90%">Wales:	<p style="font-size: 90%">Bala Lake – Brecon Mountain – Bridgend Valley – Cambrian Rly. Soc. – Cambrian Rly. Trust – Corris – Fairbourne – Ffestiniog – Gwili – Llanberis Lake – Llangollen – Narrow Gauge Rly. Mus. – Pontypool & Blaenavon – Rhyl – Snowdon Mountain – Swansea Vale – Talyllyn – Vale of Glamorgan – Vale of Rheidol – Welsh Highland – Welshpool & Llanfair
<p style="font-size: 90%">Northern Ireland:	<p style="font-size: 90%">Donegal – Downpatrick – Giant's Causeway	<p style="font-size: 90%">Channel Islands: Alderney Railway
<p style="font-size: 90%">Isle of Man:	<p style="font-size: 90%">Douglas Horse Tram – Groudle Glen – IoM Steam – Manx Electric – Snaefell

Categories: Heritage railways | Gwynedd | Visitor attractions in Wales | Narrow gauge railways