The Ffestiniog Railway ( cy, Rheilffordd Ffestiniog) is a
heritage railway
A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...
based on
narrow-gauge, located in
Gwynedd
Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...
, Wales. It is a major
tourist attraction
A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement.
Types
Places of natural b ...
located mainly within the
Snowdonia National Park
Snowdonia or Eryri (), is a mountainous region in northwestern Wales and a national park of in area. It was the first to be designated of the three national parks in Wales, in 1951.
Name and extent
It was a commonly held belief that the nam ...
.
The railway is roughly long and runs from the harbour at
Porthmadog
Porthmadog (; ), originally Portmadoc until 1974 and locally as "Port", is a Welsh coastal town and community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd and the historic county of Caernarfonshire. It lies east of Criccieth, south-west of Blaenau Ffest ...
to the
slate mining town of
Blaenau Ffestiniog
Blaenau Ffestiniog is a town in Gwynedd, Wales. Once a slate mining centre in historic Merionethshire, it now relies much on tourists, drawn for instance to the Ffestiniog Railway and Llechwedd Slate Caverns. It reached a population of 12,00 ...
, travelling through forested and mountainous terrain. The line is single track throughout with four intermediate passing places. The first mile of the line out of Porthmadog runs atop an embankment called ''the Cob'', which is the
dyke of the
polder
A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as dikes. The three types of polder are:
# Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a lake or the seabed
# Flood plains s ...
known as
Traeth Mawr
Traeth Mawr (Welsh for "large beach") is a polder near Porthmadog in Gwynedd in Wales. The area was formerly the large tidal estuary of the Afon Glaslyn. It was created after large-scale land reclamation occurred in the late 18th century and the ...
.
The Festiniog Railway Company, which owns the railway, is the oldest surviving railway company in the world. It also owns the
Welsh Highland Railway
The Welsh Highland Railway (WHR) or Rheilffordd Eryri is a long, restored narrow gauge heritage railway in the Welsh county of Gwynedd, operating from Caernarfon to Porthmadog, and passing through a number of popular tourist destinations in ...
, which was re-opened fully in 2011. The two railways share the same track gauge and meet at Porthmadog station, with occasional trains working the entire route from Blaenau Ffestiniog to
Caernarfon
Caernarfon (; ) is a royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales, with a population of 9,852 (with Caeathro). It lies along the A487 road, on the eastern shore of the Menai Strait, opposite the Isle of Anglesey. The city of Bangor is ...
.
History
The railway company is properly known as the "Festiniog Railway Company". The single ''F'' spelling is in the official title of the company in the local act (2 & 3 Will. 4 c.xlviii) that created the railway. It is the oldest surviving railway company in the world
(although not the oldest working railway – a record that goes to the
Middleton Railway, in West Yorkshire), having been founded by the
Act of Parliament
Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...
on 23 May 1832 with capital mostly raised in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
by
Henry Archer
Henry Archer (1799 – 2 March 1863) was the son of an Ireland, Irish landowner and was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. He was called to the Irish Bar and spent most of his time between North Wales and London.
Ffestiniog Railway
In rail ...
, the company's first secretary and managing director. Most British railways were
amalgamated into four large groups in 1921 and then into
British Rail
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
ways in 1948 but the Festiniog Railway Company, like most narrow-gauge railways, remained independent. In 1921, this was due to political influence, whereas in 1947 it was left out of British Railways because it was closed for traffic, despite vigorous local lobbying for it to be included.
Various important developments in the railway's early history were celebrated by the firing of
rock cannon
A rock cannon, also known in Welsh as a carreg cannan (plural: cerrig cannan), craig cannan, or in the 19th century, craig fagnel (plural: craig fagnelau; Welsh: ''magnel'' - gun, cannon), is a rock or boulder which has been bored with holes whi ...
at various points along the line. Cannon were fired, for instance, to mark the laying of the first stone at Creuau in 1833, the railway's opening in 1836, and the opening of the Moelwyn Tunnel in 1842. The passing of a later Act for the railway also saw cannon celebrations, but on this occasion, a fitter at Boston Lodge, who was assisting with firing, lost the fingers of one hand in an accident.
Horse and gravity operation
![Composite map of Festiniog Railway OS old series 1 63360](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Composite_map_of_Festiniog_Railway_OS_old_series_1_63360.jpg)
The line was constructed between 1833 and 1836 to transport
slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
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
In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stro ...
downhill all the way from Blaenau Ffestiniog to the port. The empty wagons were hauled back up by horses, which travelled down in special
'dandy' wagons. To achieve this continuous grade (about 1 in 80 for much of the way), the line followed natural contours and employed
cuttings and
embankments built of stone and slate blocks without mortar. Prior to the completion in 1842 of a long tunnel through a spur in the
Moelwyn Mountain, the slate trains were worked over the top via
inclines (designed by
Robert Stephenson), the site of which can still be seen although there are few visible remnants.
Up to six trains daily were operated in each direction and a printed timetable was published on 16 September 1856 by
Charles Easton Spooner
The Spooners of Porthmadog refers to the Spooner family of Porthmadog, North Wales who made important contributions to the development of narrow gauge railways both locally and throughout the world. James Spooner, together with his sons James Sw ...
who, following his father, served as Manager and Clerk for 30 years. It shows departures from the Quarry Terminus (later referred to as Dinas, sometimes as Rhiwbryfdir or Rhiw) at 7:30, 9:28, 11:16, 1:14, 3:12 and 5:10. Trains waited ten minutes at the intermediate stations called Tunnel Halt, Hafod y Llyn and
Rhiw Goch
Rhiw Goch is a passing point on the Ffestiniog Railway north of the village of Penrhyndeudraeth in Wales. It was originally a passing loop and an exchange point for the horses that worked the line, opening in 1836. Horses were stabled overnight a ...
. The fastest journey time from Quarry Terminus to
Boston Lodge
Boston Lodge is situated at Penrhyn Isa, Minffordd, Penrhyndeudraeth, on the A487 road about 1 mile SE across the Afon Glaslyn causeway from Porthmadog, Gwynedd in north-west Wales.
It has a station on the Ffestiniog Railway and is the loc ...
was 1 hour 32 minutes, including three stops. From Boston Lodge, the slate wagons were hauled to and from Porthmadog harbour by horses. Up trains took nearly six hours from Boston Lodge to the Quarry Terminus and each train ran in up to four sections, each hauled by a horse and comprising eight empty slate wagons plus a horse dandy. This timetable gave a maximum annual capacity of 70,000 tons of dressed slate. Two brakesmen travelled on each down train, controlling the speed by the application of brakes as needed. At passing loops, trains passed on the right and this continues to be a feature of Ffestiniog Railway operation.
There is evidence for tourist passengers being carried as early as 1850 without the blessing of the
Board of Trade
The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for International Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...
, but these journeys would also observe the timetable.
Hafod y Llyn was replaced by Tan y Bwlch around 1872. Dinas (Rhiw) Station and much of that branch is now all but buried under slate waste; the rest of the Dinas branch line was removed about 1954–55. Occasional confusion arises because places named Hafod y Llyn Isaf and Dinas also exist on the
Welsh Highland Railway
The Welsh Highland Railway (WHR) or Rheilffordd Eryri is a long, restored narrow gauge heritage railway in the Welsh county of Gwynedd, operating from Caernarfon to Porthmadog, and passing through a number of popular tourist destinations in ...
, albeit or more to the northwest of those on the FR.
Police force
The railway employed just one police officer. Board of Trade returns for 1884 show a police inspector was based at the company's head office. In more recent times the British Transport Police made friendly overtures and were politely informed that the FR had powers to swear its own constables.
Steam and gravity operation
![Little Giant locomotive engine, Ffestiniog railway NLW3363951](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/Little_Giant_locomotive_engine%2C_Ffestiniog_railway_NLW3363951.jpg)
During the late 1850s it became clear that the line was reaching its operational capacity, while the output of the Blaenau Ffestiniog slate quarries continued to rise. In 1860, the board of the company began to investigate the possibility of introducing steam locomotives to increase the carrying capacity of the railway. Although narrow-gauge steam locomotives had been tried before this, very few had been built to so narrow a gauge. In 1862 the company advertised for manufacturers to tender to build the line's first locomotives. In February 1863, the bid of
George England and Co.
George England and Co. was an early English manufacturer of steam locomotives founded by the engineer George England of Newcastle upon Tyne (1811–1878). The company operated from the Hatcham Iron Works in New Cross, Surrey, and began buil ...
was accepted and production of the first locomotives was begun.
The first of these locomotives, ''Mountaineer'' was delivered to Porthmadog on 18 July 1863, followed a few days later by ''The Princess''.
[ After a number of trials and some modifications (notably the addition of domes) to the locomotive, the first official train ran on 23 October 1863. These ]steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
s of the 0-4-0 type allowed much longer slate trains to be run and this also enabled the official introduction of passenger trains in 1865: the Ffestiniog was the first narrow-gauge railway in Britain to carry passengers. In 1869, the line's first double Fairlie articulated locomotive was introduced and these double-ended machines have since become one of the most widely recognised features of the railway.
Down trains continued to run entirely by gravity but faster up journeys and longer trains increased line capacity. A new timetable dated October 1863 shows six departures daily from each terminus at two-hour intervals, starting at 7:00 am and taking 1 hour 50 minutes including stops (totalling 20 minutes) at Tanygrisiau
Tanygrisiau is a village and area within Blaenau Ffestiniog in the upper end of the Vale of Ffestiniog in the county of Gwynedd, north-west Wales (). It can be found along the southern side of the Moelwyn mountain range and dates to around 1750 ...
, Hafod-y-Llyn and Penrhyn Penryn is a Cornish word meaning 'headland' that may refer to:
*Penryn, Cornwall, United Kingdom, a town of about 7,000 on the Penryn River
**Penryn railway station, a station on the Maritime Line between Truro and Falmouth Docks, and serves the to ...
. Trains passed only at Hafod-y-Llyn (from 1872 Tan-y-Bwlch). When passenger services started, the usual practice was for locomotive-hauled up trains to consist of loaded general goods and mineral wagons, followed by passenger carriages, followed by empty slate wagons with brakesmen. Down trains were run in up to four separate (uncoupled) portions: loaded slate wagons, goods wagons, passenger carriages and the locomotive running light. This unusual and labour-intensive method of operation was highly dangerous, at least as far as passengers were concerned; consequently, the down passenger and goods portions were combined into a single train headed by the locomotive.
The loaded slate trains continued to operate by gravity until the end of passenger services in 1939. Slate trains eventually became very long – trains of less than eighty slate wagons carried two brakesmen but over eighty wagons (and this became common) required three brakesmen. About one wagon in every six was equipped with a brake, the others being unbraked. Trains continued to pass at Tan-y-Bwlch and, to a lesser extent, at Minffordd. The Summer timetable for 1900 had nine trains daily in each direction and trains had been accelerated to one hour from Porthmadog to including stops at Minffordd, Penrhyn, Tan-y-Bwlch, Dduallt
Dduallt ( en, Black hill) (pronounced ) is a mountain in central Snowdonia, north Wales. It is the sister peak of Rhobell Fawr.
It lies north of the A494 road, A494 between Dolgellau and Llanuwchllyn. Its eastern slopes are the Source (river or ...
(request), Tanygrisiau, Blaenau (LNWR) and Blaenau (GWR). Speeds in excess of were then normal.
The original passenger coaches (some of which survive) were small four-wheeled vehicles with a very low centre of gravity
In physics, the center of mass of a distribution of mass in space (sometimes referred to as the balance point) is the unique point where the weighted relative position of the distributed mass sums to zero. This is the point to which a force may ...
, which led to them being nicknamed 'bug boxes'. In 1872, the FR introduced the first bogie
A bogie ( ) (in some senses called a truck in North American English) is a chassis or framework that carries a wheelset, attached to a vehicle—a modular subassembly of wheels and axles. Bogies take various forms in various modes of transp ...
carriages to operate in Britain, Nos 15 and 16, which were also the first iron-framed bogie coaches in the world and are still in service. The continuous vacuum brake
The vacuum brake is a braking system employed on trains and introduced in the mid-1860s. A variant, the automatic vacuum brake system, became almost universal in British train equipment and in countries influenced by British practice. Vacuum bra ...
was installed in 1893. The line was fully signalled with electric telegraph and staff and ticket
Staff may refer to:
Pole
* Staff, a weapon used in stick-fighting
** Quarterstaff, a European pole weapon
* Staff of office, a pole that indicates a position
* Staff (railway signalling), a token authorizing a locomotive driver to use a particular ...
working. Electric Train Staff instruments were introduced in 1912 and they continue in use to the present day.
Decline of slate and development of tourism
By the 1920s, the demand for slate as a roofing material dropped owing to the advent of newer materials and to the loss of the overseas trade during World War I. As a result, the railway suffered a gradual decline in traffic.
In 1921, the Aluminium Corporation at Dolgarrog in the Conwy Valley bought for £40,000 (£ in ), a controlling interest in the FR and Henry Jack became Chairman, the FR company's financial administration moving to Dolgarrog. Jack was also chairman of the new Welsh Highland Railway
The Welsh Highland Railway (WHR) or Rheilffordd Eryri is a long, restored narrow gauge heritage railway in the Welsh county of Gwynedd, operating from Caernarfon to Porthmadog, and passing through a number of popular tourist destinations in ...
. He was instrumental in getting government backing for its completion on the understanding that the FR and the WHR would be jointly managed from Porthmadog, with maintenance undertaken at Boston Lodge and with other economies of scale. In 1923, the FR line was joined to the WHR line at a station called ''Portmadoc New''. The Welsh Highland line was almost totally dependent on tourism, but this proved slow to develop for several reasons: two slumps in the early 1920s and early 1930s; the rise of road traffic including charabanc
A charabanc or "char-à-banc" (often pronounced "sharra-bang" in colloquial British English) is a type of horse-drawn vehicle or early motor coach, usually open-topped, common in Britain during the early part of the 20th century. It has "ben ...
s; and the unreliability of the railway with its (even then) ancient carriages and increasingly decrepit locomotives.
Light railway operation was being introduced on the FR and WHR to cut operating overheads. In 1923, to gain additional expertise in this, Colonel H. F. Stephens
Colonel Holman Fred Stephens (31 October 1868 – 23 October 1931) was a British light railway civil engineer and manager. He was engaged in engineering and building, and later managing, 16 light railways in England and Wales.
Biography
Stephen ...
was appointed as part-time engineer to both companies. Stephens became Chairman and Managing Director of both companies in 1924. When the WHR was taken into receivership in 1927, Colonel Stephens was appointed as Receiver for the WHR and financial administration of both companies moved to Tonbridge
Tonbridge ( ) is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Malling, it had an estimated population ...
in Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
. The fortunes of the WHR, despite great efforts, failed to improve and it became bankrupt in 1933. To protect their investments, the joint owners of both companies arranged for the WHR to be leased by the FR. However the WHR losses continued with the loss of the Moel Tryfan slate traffic in 1935, and it closed to passengers at the end of the 1936 season and to goods in 1937.
The FR continued to operate its slate traffic, a workmen's train on weekdays throughout the year and a summer tourist passenger service. Ordinary passenger services ceased on the FR on 15 September 1939, shortly after the outbreak of World War II. The workmen's passenger service ran for the last time on Saturday, 16 September 1939. Slate trains were from then onwards operated three days each week but gravity operation was discontinued. Slate traffic ceased on 1 August 1946, apart from the section from Duffws to the North Western yard through Blaenau Ffestiniog town centre, which was leased on 7 October 1946 to the quarry owners. This provided the railway company, which retained the services of a resident manager at Porthmadog, with a small income throughout the moribund years.
The original Act of Parliament which permitted the building of the line made no specific provision for its closure or abandonment. Although the main line had ceased functioning, the company could not dismantle the railway, so the track and infrastructure were left in place. An amending Act of Parliament could have been sought to repeal the old one, but the Company did not have the money. However, without maintenance, the line soon became overgrown and unusable.
Restoration
From 1949, various groups of rail enthusiasts attempted to revitalise the railway. In 1951, railway enthusiast Alan Pegler
Alan Francis Pegler OBE, FRSA (16 April 1920 – 18 March 2012) was a British businessman, entrepreneur, and railway preservationist.
Early life
Born in London on 16 April 1920, he was the great grandson of Alfred Pegler, founder of the Nort ...
was approached by friends to buy and clear the outstanding debt on the derelict Ffestiniog Railway, to enable its purchase. Lent £3,000 by his father, he and the volunteers obtained control of the company on 24 June 1954.[ Pegler was appointed the new company's first Chairman,][ with the objective to operate the railway as a tourist attraction and gradually restore the line to working order. The first meeting of the revivalists was held at a ]Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
college on 8 September. Amongst the twelve in attendance were Allan Garraway
Allan George Weldon Garraway (14 June 1926 – 30 December 2014) was a British railway manager, responsible for restoring the abandoned Ffestiniog Railway in the 1950s. He was awarded an MBE in 1983.
Early life
Garraway was born on 14 June 192 ...
, Harold Holcroft
Harold Holcroft (12 February 1882 – 15 February 1973) was an English railway and mechanical engineer who worked for the Great Western Railway (GWR), the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SECR) and the Southern Railway (SR).
At the GWR, Holcr ...
and Vic Mitchell
Joseph Charles Victor Mitchell (1 March 1934 – 18 January 2021) was a dentist, inventor, and pioneer heritage railway, railway preservationist. He was the author or editor of, and publisher of, more than 600 books on railways in the United Kin ...
. Mitchell would later be appointed a director of the company. Pegler later released complete control of the company without any personal financial gain to the Ffestiniog Railway Trust, which still owns and runs the railway today.
In 1954, the Central Electricity Generating Board
The Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) was responsible for electricity generation, transmission and bulk sales in England and Wales from 1958 until privatisation of the electricity industry in the 1990s.
It was established on 1 Januar ...
(CEGB) built the Ffestiniog Pumped Storage Scheme. This included a new reservoir, Llyn Ystradau which flooded a mile of the line north of the Moewlwyn Tunel. In 1972, after the second-longest court case in British legal history, the Festiniog Railway Company obtained compensation for the loss of its route. Two years later, the case influenced the writing of the Land Compensation Act of 1973.
On 18 August 1954, Colonel McMullen of the Ministry of Transport, Railways Inspectorate inspected the line from Blaenau Ffestiniog to Porthmadog, accompanied by Pegler, several directors and other supporters. Restoration began on 20 September 1954 when Morris Jones, the foreman fitter who had last worked for the railway in March 1947, rejoined the staff. Jones worked to complete the rebuilding of the locomotive ''Prince'' which he had been working on when the railway closed. He was joined at Boston Lodge
Boston Lodge is situated at Penrhyn Isa, Minffordd, Penrhyndeudraeth, on the A487 road about 1 mile SE across the Afon Glaslyn causeway from Porthmadog, Gwynedd in north-west Wales.
It has a station on the Ffestiniog Railway and is the loc ...
works by two volunteers, Bill Harvey and Allan Garraway
Allan George Weldon Garraway (14 June 1926 – 30 December 2014) was a British railway manager, responsible for restoring the abandoned Ffestiniog Railway in the 1950s. He was awarded an MBE in 1983.
Early life
Garraway was born on 14 June 192 ...
. The completion of sixty years service with the FR by Robert Evans (for almost 25 years as Manager) was marked on 6 November 1954 and a special train was run from Minffordd to Porthmadog to celebrate the occasion and convey Evans, his wife, Alan Pegler (Company Chairman) and guests en route to a clock presentation ceremony. Evans continued in service as Manager until his retirement on 1 June 1955 when Garraway was appointed as Manager.
The first public passenger train from Porthmadog
Porthmadog (; ), originally Portmadoc until 1974 and locally as "Port", is a Welsh coastal town and community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd and the historic county of Caernarfonshire. It lies east of Criccieth, south-west of Blaenau Ffest ...
to Boston Lodge
Boston Lodge is situated at Penrhyn Isa, Minffordd, Penrhyndeudraeth, on the A487 road about 1 mile SE across the Afon Glaslyn causeway from Porthmadog, Gwynedd in north-west Wales.
It has a station on the Ffestiniog Railway and is the loc ...
ran on 23 July 1955. ''Prince'' returned to service on 3 August 1955. After extensive boiler repairs, Double Fairlie ''Taliesin'' returned to service on 4 September 1956. The passenger service was extended to Minffordd on 19 May 1956, to Penrhyn Penryn is a Cornish word meaning 'headland' that may refer to:
*Penryn, Cornwall, United Kingdom, a town of about 7,000 on the Penryn River
**Penryn railway station, a station on the Maritime Line between Truro and Falmouth Docks, and serves the to ...
on 5 June 1957 and to Tan-y-Bwlch on 5 April 1958. Increasing traffic put severe demands on the track – over had been reopened in four years. A long period of consolidation, rolling stock restoration and track renewal followed before the extension to Dduallt
Dduallt ( en, Black hill) (pronounced ) is a mountain in central Snowdonia, north Wales. It is the sister peak of Rhobell Fawr.
It lies north of the A494 road, A494 between Dolgellau and Llanuwchllyn. Its eastern slopes are the Source (river or ...
on 6 April 1968. This extension was celebrated on 28 May 1968 by the re-introduction of the Ffestiniog Railway Letter Service
The Festiniog Railway Letter Service is an officially authorised service within the United Kingdom railway system for posting and transmission of letters, and under certain circumstances also delivering the letters directly to intended recipients ...
.
The Llyn Ystradau Deviation
Between 1965 and 1978, the Ffestiniog Railway Deviation, a long diversionary route, was constructed between Dduallt and Tanygrisiau in order to avoid the Ffestiniog hydro-electric
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...
power station and its reservoir (Llyn Ystradau). The Deviation (this is the conventional name for such railway works) was built mostly by volunteers. At the southern end is the spectacular Dduallt spiral formation (unique on a public railway in the United Kingdom). Including a bridge, it was constructed entirely by volunteers, and gains an initial height rise of in order (after a further of new volunteer-built railway and a new tunnel) to clear the flooded track bed north of the former Moelwyn tunnel, which is plugged near its usually-submerged northern end. Between Dduallt and the old tunnel, parts of the old railway formation can be clearly seen below the new route.
The new tunnel was constructed between 1975 and 1977 by three Cornish tin mining engineers with a small team of employees. It had to be blasted through a granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
spur of the Moelwyn mountain. The tunnel plant included stone crushing and grading equipment, which produced track ballast
Track ballast forms the trackbed upon which railroad ties (sleepers) are laid. It is packed between, below, and around the ties. It is used to bear the load from the railroad ties, to facilitate drainage of water, and also to keep down vegetat ...
and other aggregates from the spoil for use on the railway. Before it opened to rail traffic, the new tunnel had to be lined throughout its length with liquid cement reinforced with steel mesh in a process called ' shotcreting'.
From 26 May 1975, and over two summers, a pull and push service, officially called ''The Shuttle'', powered by diesel locomotive ''Moel Hebog'' with carriage 110, was operated from Dduallt to Gelliwiog, to enable tourists to experience the Deviation route before the new Moelwyn Tunnel was opened.
North of the new tunnel is a long stretch of track along the west bank of the new reservoir. On 25 June 1977, full-length passenger trains first ran from Dduallt through the new tunnel to a now-dismantled temporary terminus known as ''Llyn Ystradau''. That station was alongside the Tanygrisiau reservoir but, because it was on Central Electricity Generating Board land without public access, passengers could not leave the station other than by train.
The remaining section included some specialised engineering work at its summit () where the new line passes over the power station pipelines. This was followed by two public road crossings with automatic signalling, on the FR's only reverse or down gradient, to rejoin the old route in Tanygrisiau
Tanygrisiau is a village and area within Blaenau Ffestiniog in the upper end of the Vale of Ffestiniog in the county of Gwynedd, north-west Wales (). It can be found along the southern side of the Moelwyn mountain range and dates to around 1750 ...
station (), which was reopened on 24 June 1978.
The largely volunteer group building the Deviation was officially called the Civil Engineering Group, but its members were popularly known (and are still remembered) as the ''Deviationist
In political ideology, a deviationist is a person who expresses a deviation: an abnormality or departure. In Stalinism , Stalinist ideology and practice, deviationism is an expressed belief which does not accord with official party doctrine for t ...
s'', who completed an enormous task over 13 years.
Project Blaenau
The completion of the railway through to Tanygrisiau (height ) left the FR with just to go to its goal of Blaenau Ffestiniog (height ) but the complexities of reconstructing that unique but rather derelict urban section of narrow-gauge railway took a further four years. As well as of new track and its formation, which was the responsibility of the FR permanent way department and its volunteers, much other work needed to be done. Most of the work, like the deviation itself, was undertaken by volunteers who, in many cases, assumed full responsibility for the design as well as the execution of discrete projects, each under a volunteer project leader. There were four decrepit footbridges each needing to be demolished and rebuilt to the new FR loading gauge
A loading gauge is a diagram or physical structure that defines the maximum height and width dimensions in railway vehicles and their loads. Their purpose is to ensure that rail vehicles can pass safely through tunnels and under bridges, and ke ...
. The decrepit steel bridge across the Afon Barlwyd required total replacement, with timber (Karri) beams using the original abutments and piers. The new deck is formed of old rails. Walls and fences throughout had to be repaired or replaced. These and the many other varied tasks formed Project Blaenau.
One major task near Tanygrisiau was the responsibility of Gwynedd County Council, which had at some time after 1955 taken advantage of the absence of trains to demolish what was probably Britain's lowest road under railway bridge. In early 1980, therefore, they replaced Dolrhedyn bridge and even managed to give it a few inches extra headroom for road vehicles.
Civil engineering contractors were employed in conjunction with British Rail
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
and Gwynedd County Council for the new route with its bridges and roadworks and the new joint station on the former Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
station site. British Rail commenced using the new station on 22 March 1982. Ffestiniog trains returned to Blaenau on Tuesday, 25 May 1982, thus marking the 150th Anniversary of Royal Assent to the Festiniog Railway Act of 1832. The new joint station with British Rail
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
at Blaenau Ffestiniog
Blaenau Ffestiniog is a town in Gwynedd, Wales. Once a slate mining centre in historic Merionethshire, it now relies much on tourists, drawn for instance to the Ffestiniog Railway and Llechwedd Slate Caverns. It reached a population of 12,00 ...
was officially opened on 30 April 1983 by George Thomas, Speaker of the House of Commons, who unveiled a plaque that records his visit.
With the major project of track restoration to Blaenau finally complete, attention could be turned to other matters. More Fairlie locomotives were built or restored and new carriages were built. At Minffordd, a new hostel was built for volunteers who support the permanent staff by working in every department of the railway. Stations were given new buildings, canopies and platforms, often replacing the previous temporary structures and improving the image of the railway for the future.
After fully reopening in 1982 and carrying 200,000 passengers annually, the railway became the second largest Welsh tourist attraction after Caernarfon Castle
Caernarfon Castle ( cy, Castell Caernarfon ) – often anglicised as Carnarvon Castle or Caernarvon Castle – is a medieval fortress in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, north-west Wales cared for by Cadw, the Welsh Government's historic environ ...
. Many saw this as the result of Pegler's drive and ability to inspire others with his unquenchable enthusiasm to fulfil his dream. Pegler, who remained fully involved with the railway until his death in 2012 as President, was appointed OBE in the 2006 New Year Honours
The New Year Honours 2006 in some Commonwealth realms were announced (on 31 December 2005) in
the United Kingdom,
New Zealand, Grenada, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, and Saint Christopher and Nevis to cel ...
in recognition of his contribution.
Welsh Highland Railway
In 1988, the Festiniog Railway Company was involved in a controversial plan to stop the neighbouring Welsh Highland Railway (WHR) being rebuilt, as it was concerned at the effect a nearby heritage railway competitor could have on the FR business. The initial plan would have involved the FR Company buying the original track bed of the WHR from the old company's receiver and giving it to Gwynedd County Council, provided no railway-related developments were allowed on the land. This was greeted with dismay by the WHR (1964) Company, which had been attempting to preserve the line since the 1960s.
This action may have delayed the start of rebuilding of the Welsh Highland Railway, although the alternative plan was dependent on the continued co-operation of Gwynedd County Council to ensure that the track bed was used solely for railway purposes. This was not guaranteed, as pressure from various groups who objected to the rebuilding of the railway was significant and it was the stated intention of the council to apply for an abandonment order on gaining the track bed. This would have left the track bed open for seizure by adverse possession ('squatters' rights') by farmers, use in other ways such as footpaths, road improvement schemes etc., as the statutory designation of the track bed as a railway would have been discontinued. Over the years, the presence of plans for footpaths and roads had indeed made it difficult for anyone wishing to rebuild the line.
This led a group to form 'Trackbed Consolidation Limited' (TCL) and, after some detective work, TCL managed to trace and purchase shares and debentures in the original WHR company. They felt that an alternative plan was available, one where the original company could be brought out of receivership. It was originally the intent of TCL to provide the track bed to the WHR (1964) Company to rebuild the line, but they refused the offer.
TCL were introduced to the FR and decided that the aims and objectives of TCL and the FR were similar thus, since 1988, the FR company has been totally committed to the reopening of the Welsh Highland Railway
The Welsh Highland Railway (WHR) or Rheilffordd Eryri is a long, restored narrow gauge heritage railway in the Welsh county of Gwynedd, operating from Caernarfon to Porthmadog, and passing through a number of popular tourist destinations in ...
. All TCL-owned shares/debentures were transferred to the FR on the condition that they would be returned if the railway was not built.
The next few years were marked by protracted legal procedures before the assets of the old company could be transferred and before final consent to rebuild the railway was given. The first section from Caernarfon
Caernarfon (; ) is a royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales, with a population of 9,852 (with Caeathro). It lies along the A487 road, on the eastern shore of the Menai Strait, opposite the Isle of Anglesey. The city of Bangor is ...
to Dinas, the Caernarfon Light Railway, was opened and operated by the FR from 11 October 1997. This section was not hampered by these extended legal procedures and was built as a Light Railway Order, as it was not part of the original Welsh Highland Railway route; the site of Dinas station had been sold off and thus was not part of the assets of the old WHR company. Other powers under a Transport & Works Order enabled restoration to Waunfawr in 2000 and to Rhyd Ddu
Rhyd-ddu ( Welsh for 'black ford') is a small village in Snowdonia, North Wales which is a starting point for walks up Snowdon (via the Rhyd Ddu Path), Moel Hebog, Yr Aran and the Nantlle Ridge.
It lies on the A4085 between Beddgelert and ...
in 2003. Hafod y Llyn was reached in 2009 and Pont Croesor
Pont Croesor is a railway halt in Wales, on the Welsh Highland Railway, which runs through the Snowdonia National Park from Caernarfon to Porthmadog. It is located on the section between the stations of and .
Originally, as part of the Croesor ...
in 2010. By 2010, the tracks of the WHR and Ffestiniog Railway had been reconnected at Harbour Station, linking Caernarfon
Caernarfon (; ) is a royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales, with a population of 9,852 (with Caeathro). It lies along the A487 road, on the eastern shore of the Menai Strait, opposite the Isle of Anglesey. The city of Bangor is ...
to Porthmadog
Porthmadog (; ), originally Portmadoc until 1974 and locally as "Port", is a Welsh coastal town and community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd and the historic county of Caernarfonshire. It lies east of Criccieth, south-west of Blaenau Ffest ...
and passenger services started in 2011.
The completed Welsh Highland Railway or ''Rheilffordd Eryri'' (its Welsh name) comprises parts of the former London and North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom.
In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...
(1867), North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways (1877–81), Portmadoc, Beddgelert and South Snowdon Railway
The Porthmadog, Beddgelert and South Snowdon Railway (PB&SSR) was a narrow gauge railway intended to connect Porthmadog with the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways link terminus at Rhyd Ddu. Although some of the line was constructed between 1 ...
and Welsh Highland (1922-3) Railway. The FR also links with the WHR (Porthmadog) at Pen-y-Mount Station, north of Porthmadog.
Rails
Rails increased in weight and strength as traffic changed.
* 16 lb/yd Original rails for Horse drawn operation
* 30 lb/yd Rails for early steam locomotive operation found to be too light.
* 48.66 lb/yd Rails for later steam operation
Tourism and heritage
One of the earliest references to tourism is in the LNWR Tourist Guide for 1876, which waxed lyrical about the Ffestiniog Railway, which it illustrated with a drawing of a lady in Welsh National Dress (then still in regular local use) travelling on an FR up train (since many empty slate wagons – with two standing brakesmen – were attached at the rear) with the caption "On the Ffestiniog Railway". The guide uses the "double F" spelling throughout. It was, however, in the inter-war years from 1919 to 1939 that tourism, though always valued, came to acquire a major importance.
Since restoration commenced in 1954, tourism has been the only significant source of income. The role of the Ffestiniog Railway in the promotion and fulfilment of tourism and in preserving railway heritage has been recognised many times, and notable mentions have included:
*1964 Wales Tourist Board certificate for conspicuous service to Welsh tourism.
*1972 Wales Tourist Board lists the FR as fifth most popular tourist site in Wales, after Caernarfon Castle, the Swallow Falls, the National Museum of Wales at Cardiff and Conwy Castle.
*1979 The FR was one of only six sites in Wales to receive the British Tourist Authority's Golden Jubilee Award.
*1987 The FR was the outright winner of the Independent Railway of the Year award.
*2004 The "Talking Train" (an internal audio guide) was awarded the Heritage Railway Association 'interpretation' Award.
Recognition of the railway's importance to tourism and heritage has been increasingly marked by financial assistance given to the company towards capital expenditure. Prior to September 1987, the FR had received £1,273,127 in gifts and grants. Of this: £450,476 was Gifts from the FR Society and FR Trust and other supporters; £379,335 from Wales Tourist Board; £134,320 from EEC Grants and £308,996 from other public sources.
Major grants received subsequently have been: In 1989 a grant of £430,000 (£ in ), mainly from The EEC
The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...
(National Programme of Community Interest for the promoting of tourism in Dyfed, Gwynedd and Powys); in 1995 a grant of £500,000 (£ in ), to promote work in Blaenau Ffestiniog
and in 1998 a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £375,000 (£ in ), for the construction of workshops to facilitate the restoration of historic vehicles.
Today the railway is promoted as one of The Great Little Trains of Wales
The Great Little Trains of Wales (Welsh: ''Trenau Bach Arbennig Cymru'') is the name of a joint marketing scheme formed in 1970 to promote some of the narrow gauge railways of Wales and encourage visitors to Wales. As well as marketing the railw ...
, a joint marketing scheme launched in 1970 that encompasses ten narrow-gauge railways in the country, mostly found in north and mid Wales.
Rolling stock
Stations and halts
At Porthmadog, the original line came via the streets and across the Britannia bridge from the 1836 terminus at the northernmost end of the Welsh Slate Company's Wharf where the FR officially started. This was the second datum point for all pre-1954 mileage calculations. (the first being in Blaenau Ffestiniog). The line over the bridge also connected with the Gorseddau and Croesor Tramway
The Croesor Tramway was a Welsh, narrow gauge railway line built to carry slate from the Croesor slate mines to Porthmadog. It was built in 1864 without an Act of Parliament and was operated using horse power.
The tramway was absorbed into the ...
s and was later used by Welsh Highland Railway
The Welsh Highland Railway (WHR) or Rheilffordd Eryri is a long, restored narrow gauge heritage railway in the Welsh county of Gwynedd, operating from Caernarfon to Porthmadog, and passing through a number of popular tourist destinations in ...
passenger trains from 1923 to 1936. The line over the bridge was last used in 1958 and then dismantled. It was reopened as part of the WHR in 2011.
The Cob
Between Porthmadog Harbour station and Boston Lodge, the railway runs on the Cob, the dyke of the Traeth Mawr
Traeth Mawr (Welsh for "large beach") is a polder near Porthmadog in Gwynedd in Wales. The area was formerly the large tidal estuary of the Afon Glaslyn. It was created after large-scale land reclamation occurred in the late 18th century and the ...
polder
A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as dikes. The three types of polder are:
# Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a lake or the seabed
# Flood plains s ...
. The Cob was built between 1807 and 1811 by William Madocks
William Alexander Madocks (17 June 1773 – 15 September 1828) was a British politician and landowner who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for the borough of Boston in Lincolnshire from 1802 to 1820, and then for Chippenham in Wiltshire from ...
and, in addition to its land reclamation function in conjunction with sluice gates at the Britannia bridge, it serves also as a roadway (which, since 1836, has been at a lower level on the landward side) and as a bridge across the Afon Glaslyn. Tolls were charged with a tollgate at Boston Lodge
Boston Lodge is situated at Penrhyn Isa, Minffordd, Penrhyndeudraeth, on the A487 road about 1 mile SE across the Afon Glaslyn causeway from Porthmadog, Gwynedd in north-west Wales.
It has a station on the Ffestiniog Railway and is the loc ...
until 2003, when the rights were purchased by the National Assembly for Wales
The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English language, English and () in Welsh language, Welsh, is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes ...
.
The higher, original, section of the Cob carries, in addition to the railway, a public footpath throughout virtually its entire length. There is no fencing between the footpath and the railway, because the railway does not own the top of the Cob, but used a wayleave under the local Act of Parliament passed in 1821 (1 & 2 Geo. IV c.cxv.) for improving Porthmadog Harbour. This act was repealed by the Porthmadog Harbour Revision Order 1998 (SI 1998/683) and is no longer in force.
Quarries served by the railway
The Ffestiniog Railway was built primarily to connect the slate quarries in the mountains around what is now Blaenau Ffestiniog with the harbour at Porthmadog. In all at least 23 quarries were directly or indirectly connected to the railway, often by inclines. They sent their finished products over the railway in slate waggon
Slate wagons are specialized types of railway wagons designed for the conveyance of slate. The characteristics of this stone led to the development of small open cars that carried the slate in its various forms. These were first developed on the ...
s to be transferred onto ships or, later, onto the standard-gauge railway at Minfordd.
Train operation since 1955
Infrastructure
As the line was extended, passing loops were brought into operation at Minffordd, Penrhyn and Tan-y-Bwlch. Due to the restrictions to the length of trains that could be passed at Penrhyn, Rhiw Goch was opened on 14 May 1975. Penrhyn loop remained in service for several more years before it was closed. By the end of the 1970s, the passing loops were at Minffordd, Rhiw Goch, Tan-y-Bwlch and Dduallt, and an intensive service was run in the peak summer seasons (although there were empty "slots" in the timetable which could be used by works trains). From the early 1980s, the peak summer timetable had three train sets in operation, generally passing at Rhiw Goch and Dduallt.
Automatic signalling
In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...
was installed at Tan-y-Bwlch in 1986. By the 1988 season, in part due to the challenges in maintenance of the top end points at Dduallt and the planned automation of Minffordd, the loops at Dduallt and Rhiw Goch had been taken out of service for crossing trains. At the end of May 1988, Dduallt ceased to be a token station and Dduallt loop was taken out of service altogether and became a siding. Rhiw Goch ceased to be used except on odd occasions and was taken out of use as a means to cross passenger trains in 1989. The short section token
Token may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Token, a game piece or counter, used in some games
* The Tokens, a vocal music group
* Tolkien Black, a recurring character on the animated television series ''South Park,'' formerly known as ...
instruments and the signal heads were removed, although the loop could still be used as a refuge for Engineers' trains. Minffordd and Tan-y-Bwlch therefore became the usual passing loops, both automated.
In the late 1990s, Rhiw Goch was recommissioned as a passing loop. From the 2005 season, the box has been regularly manned during the summer to provide additional operational flexibility. In 2006, an appeal was launched, through the FR Society, for funds to replace the life-expired signal box with a building of more traditional appearance. Fundraising went well and work was completed during the closed season of 2006/7.
Elsewhere, Tanygrisiau had been provided with a run-round loop whilst it had been the terminus between June 1978 and May 1982. This loop was removed when the line was reopened to Blaenau Ffestiniog. In the mid-1990s, a project was launched to install a fully signalled passing loop. This proceeded as a volunteer project, including the building of a signal box. However, prior to commissioning, the project was abandoned in 2001. The trackwork (apart for the siding off the Up Loop) remained in situ. In June 2002, the loop was once again used to run trains around as part of the 2002 Gala to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the restoration of services to Blaenau Ffestiniog. The intended platform starter signals (posts, brackets and arms) have been recovered and some are now in use on the Isle of Man Railway, whilst others are destined for the resignalling of Harbour Station. In 2004, with new disc starter signals and spring-loaded points installed, Tanygrisiau became a passing loop for the first time.
Train control and regulation
The Ffestiniog Railway operates on the electric token
Token may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Token, a game piece or counter, used in some games
* The Tokens, a vocal music group
* Tolkien Black, a recurring character on the animated television series ''South Park,'' formerly known as ...
system (ETS) using a mixture of miniature and large train staffs, under the overall control of the duty controller based at Porthmadog
Porthmadog (; ), originally Portmadoc until 1974 and locally as "Port", is a Welsh coastal town and community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd and the historic county of Caernarfonshire. It lies east of Criccieth, south-west of Blaenau Ffest ...
.
Miniature train staffs are provided for:-
* Porthmadog to Minffordd (Intermediate Instrument at Boston Lodge)
* Minffordd to Tanybwlch – Long Section (Intermediate Instrument at Rhiw Goch)
* Tanybwlch to Tanygrisiau (Intermediate Instrument at Dduallt)
* Tanygrisiau to Blaenau Ffestiniog (Intermediate Instrument at Glan-y-Pwll)
Large train staffs are provided for:-
* Minffordd to Rhiw Goch – Short Section
* Rhiw Goch to Tanybwlch – Short Section
The Short Section train staffs are brought into service by opening Rhiw Goch Signalbox, hence trapping the Minffordd to Tanybwlch Long Section Miniature train staff in the lever frame, when the signal box is opened and manned by a signalman.
The signalling and ETS equipment is primarily designed for train crew operation. To obtain permission to withdraw a train staff to enter a single line section, Control has to be contacted.
The Control Office regulates train running, giving permission for trains to enter the single line sections, recording train movements on the Train Graph, ensuring trains are formed of an appropriate number of carriages (depending on the expected train loadings), acting as the single point of contact in the rare event of a failure occurring with rolling stock, and making station announcements at Porthmadog
The Control Office is also responsible for the Train Operation on the Welsh Highland Railway
The Welsh Highland Railway (WHR) or Rheilffordd Eryri is a long, restored narrow gauge heritage railway in the Welsh county of Gwynedd, operating from Caernarfon to Porthmadog, and passing through a number of popular tourist destinations in ...
and it also regulates trains from the Welsh Highland Railway Limited, including the interface with the Network Rail ERTMS
The European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) is the system of standards for management and interoperation of signalling for railways by the European Union (EU). It is conducted by the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) and is the o ...
signaller (in Shrewsbury) to clear the WHR route where it crosses the main Cambrian Coast
The Cambrian Line ( cy, Llinell y Cambrian), also known as the Cambrian Main Line ( cy, Prif Linell y Cambrian) and Cambrian Coast Line ( cy, Llinell Arfordir y Cambrian), is a railway line that runs from Shrewsbury, England, westwards to Aber ...
(standard gauge) line at grade between Pont Croesor and Porthmadog. This is possibly the only narrow-gauge/standard-gauge level crossing in the UK, and an interface between 19th century signalling and 21st century signalling systems.
See also
* British narrow-gauge railways
There were more than a thousand British narrow-gauge railways ranging from large, historically significant common carriers to small, short-lived industrial railways. Many notable events in British railway history happened on narrow-gauge railway ...
* Conwy Valley line
* Gloddfa Ganol
* Llechwedd Slate Caverns
Llechwedd () is a visitor attraction near Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd, Wales. It details the history of slate quarrying in the town and specifically the Llechwedd quarry in which it is located. The main aspect of Llechwedd is its Llechwedd De ...
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
*
*Ove Arup & Partners; ''Report on a Rock Fall at Penlan, Ffestiniog Railway'', 1979
*E. Beazley; ''Madocks and the Wonder of Wales'', 1967
*R. F. Bleasdale; ''Spooner Album'', 1887, also repub. with commentary by A. Gray, 2003
*D. Blenkinsop; ''Linda & Blanche'' 1993
*J. I. C. Boyd; ''Narrow Gauge Rails to Portmadoc'', 1949
*J. I. C. Boyd; ''On the Welsh Narrow Gauge'', no date (1970s)
*J. Buck; ''Discovering Narrow Gauge Railways'', 1972
*D. J. Charlton; ''FR Spotter's Guide;'' 2001
*C. F. Cliffe; ''Book of North Wales'', 1850
*W. J. K. Davies; ''Narrow Gauge Railways'', 1962
*R. Edwards & P. Moss (eds); ''Festiniog Railway Historic Drawings'', 1997
*R. F. Fairlie; ''Battle of the Gauges renewed'', 1872
*R. F. Fairlie; ''Locomotive Engines, what they are and what they should be'', 1881, reprint 1969
*Festiniog Railway Co.; Share prospectus, Traveller's Guides, Stock Books, Guide Books (about 40 in all), 1957–2005
*Festiniog Railway Society; Newsletters 1954-7;
*Festiniog Railway Society; ''FR Magazine'', quarterly since 1958 – Ffestiniog since 1994
*A. Gray; ''The Spooner Album'', 2003. See also Bleasdale.
*N. F. Gurley; ''Narrow Gauge Steam out of Portmadoc'', 1980
*L. Heath-Humphrys; letter to Railway Gazette
''Railway Gazette International'' is a monthly business magazine and news website covering the railway, metro, light rail and tram industries worldwide. Available by annual subscription, the magazine is read in over 140 countries by transport ...
, 27 July 1951
*G. T. Heavyside; ''Narrow Gauge into the 80s'', 1980
*B. Hollingsworth; ''Ffestiniog Adventure'', 1981
*F. H. Howson; ''Narrow Gauge Railways of Britain'', 1948
*P. N. Jarvis; ''Adeiladu Muriau Cerrig Sych – dry stone walling on the Ffestiniog Railway'', 1993, revised edn 1995
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* P. Johnson & C.M. Whitehouse; ''Ffestiniog mewn lliw'', 1995
*J. R. Jones & A. Pritchard; ''Great Little Steam Railways of Wales'', 1991
*F. Jux; ''British Narrow gauge Steam'', 1960
*R. W. Kidner; ''Narrow Gauge Railways of Wales'', 1947
*M. Kington; ''Steaming through Britain'', 1990
*C. E. Lee; ''Narrow Gauge Railways in North Wales'', 1945
*M. J. T. Lewis; ''How Ffestiniog got its Railway'', 1965, revised edn 1968
* J. C. V. Mitchell & A.G.W. Garraway; ''Festiniog in the Fifties'', 1997
*J. C. V. Mitchell & A.G.W. Garraway; ''Festiniog in the Sixties'', 1997
*J. C. V. Mitchell & A.G.W. Garraway; ''Return to Blaenau 1970–82'', 2001
*J. C. V. Mitchell, Smith, Seymour, Gray; ''Branch lines around Porthmadog'', 2 vols, 1993
*F. H. Pole (ed); ''Welsh Mountain Railways'', 1924, reprint 1985
*J. D. C. A. Prideaux; ''Welsh Narrow Gauge Railway'', 1976
*
*P. J. G. Ransom
Philip John Greer Ransom, or John Ransom, (24 September 1935 – 27 March 2019) was a non-fiction author covering principally railway, canal and local history. He was also Hon. Secretary of the Scottish Committee of the Heritage Railway Associatio ...
; ''Narrow Gauge Steam'', 1996
*P. J. G. Ransom
Philip John Greer Ransom, or John Ransom, (24 September 1935 – 27 March 2019) was a non-fiction author covering principally railway, canal and local history. He was also Hon. Secretary of the Scottish Committee of the Heritage Railway Associatio ...
; ''Locomotion'', 2001
*A. Roberts; ''Gossiping Guide to North Wales'', 1879 (the 5/- version is much superior to the 6d edition)
*L. J. Roberts; ''Festiniog & Welsh Highland Holiday book'', 1923
*H. R. Schwabe; ''Mit Volldampf nach Ffestiniog'', 1978
*C. E. Spooner; ''Narrow Gauge Railways'', 1871, revised edn 1879
*H. Stretton; ''Past & Present Companion; Ffestiniog Railway'', 1998
*M. J. Stretton; ''Festiniog Railway in Camera, 1971''-1971, revised edn 1999
*'Taliesin' (C. R. Weaver et al.); ''Festiniog Railway locomotives'', 1988
*J. Timpson; ''Little Trains of Britain'', 1992
*E. Vignes; ''Étude technique sur le chemin de fer Festiniog'', 1878, English translation by Don Boreham 1986
*F. T. Wayne; "When Accounts become misleading Nonsense", ''Accountancy'', November 1961
*
*
*
*
*C. Winchester & C.J. Allen,(eds.); ''Railway Wonders of the World'', Vol 2, pp. 1224–28. c. 1938.
*J. Winton; ''Little Wonder'', 1975, revised edn 1986
External links
The Ffestiniog Railway's website
The Ffestiniog Railway Society
The Festiniog Railway Heritage Group's Wiki
{{Historical Welsh railway companies
Ffestiniog
Llanfrothen
Maentwrog
Penrhyndeudraeth
Porthmadog
Heritage railways in Snowdonia
Narrow gauge railways in Snowdonia
HF Stephens
Railway inclines in Wales