The Snowdon Mountain Railway (SMR; cy, Rheilffordd yr Wyddfa) is a
narrow gauge
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...
rack and pinion
A rack and pinion is a type of linear actuator that comprises a circular gear (the '' pinion'') engaging a linear gear (the ''rack''). Together, they convert rotational motion into linear motion. Rotating the pinion causes the rack to be driven ...
mountain railway 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 ...
, north-west
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
. It is a tourist railway that travels for from
Llanberis
(; ) is a village, community and electoral ward in Gwynedd, northwest Wales, on the southern bank of the lake and at the foot of Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales. It is a centre for outdoor activities in Snowdonia, including walking, mo ...
to the summit of
Snowdon
Snowdon () or (), is the highest mountain in Wales, at an elevation of above sea level, and the highest point in the British Isles outside the Scottish Highlands. It is located in Snowdonia National Park (') in Gwynedd (historic ...
, the highest peak in Wales.
The SMR is the only public rack and pinion railway in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, and after more than 100 years of operation it remains a popular
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 ...
, carrying more than 140,000 passengers annually. The line is owned and operated by Heritage Great Britain,
operators of several other tourist attractions in the United Kingdom.
The railway is operated in some of the harshest weather conditions in Britain, with services curtailed from reaching the summit in bad weather and remaining closed during the winter from November to mid-March. Single carriage trains are pushed up the mountain by either
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 or
diesel locomotive
A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...
s. It has also previously used
diesel railcars as
multiple unit
A multiple-unit train or simply multiple unit (MU) is a self-propelled train composed of one or more carriages joined together, which when coupled to another multiple unit can be controlled by a single driver, with multiple-unit train contr ...
s.
The traditional
logo
A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wordma ...
for the railway includes a pinion ring engaged on a rack bar, representing the rack railway technology used by the line.
History
Construction
![Train Station of Llanberis](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Train_Station_of_Llanberis.JPG)
The idea of a railway to the summit of Snowdon was first proposed in 1869, when Llanberis was linked to Caernarfon by the
London & 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 ...
. In 1871 a Bill was put before Parliament, applying for powers of
compulsory purchase
Compulsion may refer to:
* Compulsive behavior, a psychological condition in which a person does a behavior compulsively, having an overwhelming feeling that they must do so.
* Obsessive–compulsive disorder, a mental disorder characterized by i ...
for a railway to the summit, but it was opposed by the local landowner, Mr Assheton-Smith of the
Vaynol
Vaynol or ''Y Faenol'' ( Welsh ) is a country estate dating from the Tudor period near Y Felinheli in Gwynedd, North Wales (). It has of park, farmland, and gardens, with more than thirty listed buildings, surrounded by a wall which is long ...
Estate, who thought that a railway would spoil the scenery.
For two decades nothing happened, and Assheton-Smith remained opposed to any plans. However, in 1893 the
Rhyd Ddu terminus of the
North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways
The North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways (NWNGR) was a railway company that planned to build a number of inter-connected narrow-gauge railways across North Wales. The first two of these lines - jointly known as the "Moel Tryfan Undertaking" - were ...
was renamed Snowdon, attracting many of the tourists who previously visited Llanberis and affecting the livelihoods of the accommodation providers who were Assheton-Smith tenants.
After much persuasion Assheton-Smith ultimately gave his assent to the construction of a railway to the summit,
and though still the principal landowner in the area, he was not a major influence in the company. However, no Act of Parliament was now required, as the line was built entirely on private land obtained by the company, without any need for the power of compulsory purchase. This was unusual for a passenger-carrying railway, and also meant that the railway did not come under the jurisdiction of the Board of Trade.
The railway was constructed between December 1894, when the first sod was cut by Enid Assheton-Smith (after whom locomotive No. 2 was named), and February 1896, at a total cost of £63,800 (equivalent to £ in ). The engineers for the railway were
Sir Douglas Fox and Mr Andrew Fox of London, and the contractors were Messrs Holme and King of Liverpool.
By April 1895 the earthworks were 50% complete, a sign of the effort put into the construction work as much as of the lack of major earthworks along much of the route.
![View down to Llanberis Pass](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/View_down_to_Llanberis_Pass.jpg)
All tracklaying had to start from one end of the line, to ensure the rack was correctly aligned; so although the first locomotives were delivered in July 1895 very little track was laid until August, when the two large viaducts between Llanberis and Waterfall were completed. Progress up the mountain was then quite rapid, with the locomotives being used to move materials as required. Despite the harsh climate the first train reached the summit in January 1896. As the fencing and signals were not then ready, the opening was set for Easter.
The line was opened at Easter 1896. In anticipation of this, Colonel Sir
Francis Marindin
Colonel Sir Francis Arthur Marindin, KCMG (1 May 1838 – 21 April 1900) served with the Royal Engineers and was a key figure in the early development of association football. He was later knighted for his work in public services.[settlement
Settlement may refer to:
*Human settlement, a community where people live
*Settlement (structural), the distortion or disruption of parts of a building
* Closing (real estate), the final step in executing a real estate transaction
*Settlement (fin ...]
, compounded by excess speed due to the weight of the train. As a result of the inquiry's recommendations the maximum allowed train weight was reduced to the equivalent of 1½ carriages, leading to lighter carriages being bought and used on two-carriage trains. A
gripper system was also installed on the rack railway.
Prewar
![Hebron Station](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Hebron_Station.jpg)
The railway reopened to Hebron on Saturday 26 September 1896. On 9 April 1897 the line re-opened to Clogwyn.
By June the trains were again reaching the summit. This time there were no incidents and the train service continued.
On 30 July 1906 a wagon broke loose and ran into a train, injuring one passenger, the driver and guard. Traffic was suspended for several hours.
In 1910 there were reports of vandalism on the line. A man named William Morris Griffiths who had climbed Snowdon to see the sunrise, placed a stone on the rail and sitting on it, slid down the track at speed. Someone put a boulder on the line behind him and pushed it down, and it struck Griffiths in the back, he somersaulted off the line and died a few hours later. The manager of the railway also reported that crowds of visitors were breaking down fences, pulling up gradient posts, throwing down wires and interfering with the railway bed.
In 1936 it was reported that the railway carried 30,000 people to the summit during the season.
Passengers were still carried during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. The ''Western Mail'' for 12 May 1943 reported that two trains per day would operate from Llanberis (at 1.15pm and 4.00pm) and people could still book to stay at the summit hotel. However, this appears to have been just propaganda, as the summit was closed for military purposes from 1942 until the end of the war.
Postwar
Normal service resumed in 1946. The shortage of coal led to the railway attempting to burn old army boots as fuel.
[}] The
British Railways
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 ...
Llanberis–Caernarvon line closed to passengers in 1962. In 1983, the summit buildings were transferred to the ownership of Gwynedd County Council. A share issue was made in 1985, primarily to raise money to purchase the first two diesel locomotives. Between 1986 and 1992 the railway company was involved with the airfield and aviation museum in
Caernarvon.
Centenary
![Smr-work-train](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Smr-work-train.jpg)
As part of the centenary celebrations the railway held an enthusiasts' weekend in September 1996. This was one of the few occasions when the public were allowed to visit the railway's workshops. Scrap pinion rings were also sold as (rather large) souvenirs. From this time the locomotives were painted in differing liveries, but by 2005 this practice had ended.
Summit building project
In 2006 the
Snowdon summit cafe was demolished and construction of a new visitor centre was started. While this construction was taking place passenger trains terminated at Clogwyn, but the line and a works train was still used to transport workers and materials to the project. On some days, however, the train could not reach the summit and the workers had to walk down to Rocky Valley.
The new building, ' (loosely translated from Welsh as ""),
was officially opened by First Minister
Rhodri Morgan
Hywel Rhodri Morgan (29 September 1939 – 17 May 2017) was a Welsh Labour politician who was the First Minister of Wales and the Leader of Welsh Labour from 2000 to 2009. He was also the Assembly Member for Cardiff West from 1999 to 2011 and ...
on 12 June 2009.
Rescue work
In 2015, after the
coastguard
A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...
rescue helicopter was unable to reach the summit, the railway was used to carry
mountain rescue
Mountain rescue refers to search and rescue activities that occur in a mountainous environment, although the term is sometimes also used to apply to search and rescue in other wilderness environments. This tends to include mountains with tech ...
teams to the summit of Snowdon to rescue a 17-year-old girl who had collapsed due to an
asthma
Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, cou ...
attack while sheltering from wind gusting up to . The railway was then used to carry the girl and rescuers to the foot of the mountain, where she was transferred to an ambulance.
Route
![Snowdon Mountain Railway summit station sign](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Snowdon_Mountain_Railway_summit_station_sign.jpg)
The lowland terminus is
Llanberis
(; ) is a village, community and electoral ward in Gwynedd, northwest Wales, on the southern bank of the lake and at the foot of Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales. It is a centre for outdoor activities in Snowdonia, including walking, mo ...
station, at the side of the main road, a short walk from the site of the Llanberis terminus station of the railway from Caernarvon which closed in 1962. The railway is a
single track line with
passing loop
A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains or ...
s. It is long, with an average gradient of 1 in 7.86 (12.7
%). The steepest gradient is 1 in 5.5 (18.2%), and this occurs in a number of places. The railway rises a total of , from above
sea level
Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...
at Llanberis to at Summit station.
Operation
The Llanberis complex also houses the company offices, locomotive shed and workshop building. The forecourt has recently been changed from a visitor car park into a café and picnic area.
Train control
![SMR Hebron Station 04-07-31 19](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/SMR_Hebron_Station_04-07-31_19.jpeg)
Traffic and train movements are controlled from Llanberis: communication between Llanberis, Clogwyn and the Summit, as well as to trains' guards, is by
two-way radio
A two-way radio is a radio that can both transmit and receive radio waves (a transceiver), unlike a broadcast receiver which only receives content. It is an audio (sound) transceiver, a transmitter and receiver in one unit, used for bidirecti ...
.
The line has three
passing loop
A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains or ...
s, around 15 minutes travelling time apart. Going up the mountain, these are at Hebron, Halfway and Clogwyn stations. The operation of the Hebron and Halfway loops was converted to semi-automatic operation in the early 1990s. The Clogwyn loop is still staffed and retains the original mechanical point levers. Waterfall station had a siding but never a loop, and has been closed for many years.
All three passing loop tracks are on the southwest side of the main running line – this is in general the downhill side, where the mountain slopes away from the line. This means that, if required, the line could be easily be converted to
double track
A double-track railway usually involves running one track in each direction, compared to a single-track railway where trains in both directions share the same track.
Overview
In the earliest days of railways in the United Kingdom, most lin ...
without the need to cut into the rock face to widen the formation.
Including stops at the passing loops, the train takes an hour to climb to the summit and an hour to descend again, at an average speed of around .
Passenger trains normally run from Llanberis to the Summit. The wind speed is measured at Clogwyn Station and used to determine if trains can continue to the summit. Trains terminate at Rocky Valley Halt when the weather is too bad to allow them to proceed safely to the summit.
It is possible for two trains to run together on sight, which involves the second train following shortly (more than two minutes but less than five) after the first, and keeping a safe distance throughout the journey. This is known as a "doubler". All platforms and passing loops are long enough to accommodate two trains.
The two Llanberis platforms are dedicated, one for arrivals and the other for departures. Arriving trains empty of passengers then shunt to the other platform. At the Summit station arriving trains generally alternate between the two platforms.
When steam and diesel trains run together, it is normal for the diesel to lead up the mountain. This allows the steam train to enter the departure platform and load at its leisure, while the diesel moves across from the arrival platform from a quick turn-around.
Locomotives spend the whole day with the same carriage. Any locomotive can work with any carriage, although carriage No. 10 (the most modern) until 2012 usually ran with a diesel locomotive.
In 2013 four new carriages, which seat 74 passengers instead of 56 (as in the old ones), entered service. They work together with the four diesel locomotives and thus form four identical trains.
Steam versus diesel
![Coal Llanberis](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/Coal_Llanberis.JPG)
For steam-hauled trains, the Llanberis shunt movement includes a trip to the water crane and coaling stage outside the locomotive shed. At Halfway Station steam locomotives also take water from a water crane, fed from a large tank located just above the station. For emergency use another large water tank is situated near Clogwyn Station which can feed two water cranes.
The diesel locomotives are used on the normal trains, with the steam locomotives being used on higher priced Heritage Steam trains. On arrival at Llanberis, diesel-hauled trains run directly from the arrival platform to the departure platform, load and depart at the scheduled time. Steam-hauled trains take at least half an hour to transfer from the arrival to the departure platform, thus making no more than one trip every three hours.
The use of diesel locomotives therefore allows more trains to be run with the same number of carriages. By using diesels, the reduction in costs for both operating trains over the line and having them standing between infrequent runs has allowed the operating season to be extended considerably.
It is stated by the management that the vast majority of passengers do not care whether the trains are powered by steam or diesel locomotives. In the late 1980s comparative figures for the diesels against steam locomotives made it clear that they made economic sense.
:
Technology
Rack rail
![SMR Axle on display at Llanberis 05-07-24 20](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/SMR_Axle_on_display_at_Llanberis_05-07-24_20.jpeg)
The line is built to
800 mm gauge ( gauge), a gauge it has in common with several rack railways in
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
. The
rails
Rail or rails may refer to:
Rail transport
*Rail transport and related matters
*Rail (rail transport) or railway lines, the running surface of a railway
Arts and media Film
* ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini
* ''Rail'' ( ...
are fastened to
steel sleepers. The line uses the
Abt rack system
A rack railway (also rack-and-pinion railway, cog railway, or cogwheel railway) is a steep grade railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with ...
devised by
Roman Abt
Carl Roman Abt (16 July 1850 – 1 May 1933Herring, Peter (2000).) was a Swiss mechanical engineer, inventor and entrepreneur. He made groundbreaking innovations in rack-and-pinion railways, giving his name to one of the most widely used systems ...
, a Swiss locomotive engineer. The system comprises a length of toothed rail (the ''rack'') between the running rails which meshes with a
toothed wheel (the ''pinion'') mounted on each rail vehicle's driving axle. These pinions provide all the traction and braking effort, and the vehicle's wheels are free to revolve on the drive axles and serve only for support and guidance.
Train formation
For safety, train formations consist of one locomotive pushing a single carriage up the mountain and leading it down again while the locomotive brakes allow a controlled descent. (On opening, the usual practice was to have a locomotive pushing two coaches; this was changed in 1923.)
The carriage is not coupled to the locomotive, as gravity keeps the two in contact.
Rolling stock
![SMR 12 near Rocky Valley 05-07-19 16](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/SMR_12_near_Rocky_Valley_05-07-19_16.jpeg)
The company has owned a total of eight steam locomotives, five diesel locomotives and three diesel railcars.
History
![SMR trains pass at Clogwyn 05-07-19 21](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/SMR_trains_pass_at_Clogwyn_05-07-19_21.jpeg)
When the railway was being planned, only the Swiss had significant experience in building rack locomotives, so it was they who won the contract to build the engines for the line. In comparison with some Swiss railways the line is not very steep, and this is reflected in the design of the engines, which are all classified 0-4-2T. The boilers of the locomotives are set at an angle of 9°, to keep the water level over the tubes when the locomotive is ascending the mountain.
Built specially for the line in 1895 and 1896, Nos. 1 to 5 were manufactured by the
Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
*Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
*Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
*Swiss Internation ...
of
Winterthur
, neighboring_municipalities = Brütten, Dinhard, Elsau, Hettlingen, Illnau-Effretikon, Kyburg, Lindau, Neftenbach, Oberembrach, Pfungen, Rickenbach, Schlatt, Seuzach, Wiesendangen, Zell
, twintowns = Hall in Tirol (Austria), La ...
. The first locomotives cost £1,525 (equivalent to £ in ). Nos. 1 to 3 were delivered before the line was open and used on construction work. On at least two occasions, trials have been made on oil burners on Nos. 2 to 5, the latest being on No. 2 in the late 1990s.
For most of the time, the railway's steam locomotives have burnt
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when dea ...
. The requirement for the locomotives to have a hot fire burning efficiently for a solid hour has led to problems when best Welsh steam coal has not been readily available. During 1978 Nos. 2 and 8 ran with
oil burners. To hold the
fuel oil
Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil, marine fuel oil (MFO), bun ...
, a tank was fitted to the roof of each locomotive. The tanks were thin and followed the profile of the roof. In 2000, No. 2 was again fitted with an oil burner in an attempt avoid the increasing problems of obtaining suitable coal.
In 1922–23 a further three locomotives were delivered, becoming Nos. 6 to 8. Although similar to the first engines in terms of size and power, they have a different design. Again all were built by
Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
*Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
*Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
*Swiss Internation ...
of
Winterthur
, neighboring_municipalities = Brütten, Dinhard, Elsau, Hettlingen, Illnau-Effretikon, Kyburg, Lindau, Neftenbach, Oberembrach, Pfungen, Rickenbach, Schlatt, Seuzach, Wiesendangen, Zell
, twintowns = Hall in Tirol (Austria), La ...
.
When the boilers of Nos. 7 and 8 needed replacing they were withdrawn from service in 1990 and 1992 respectively, but no new boilers were bought. This is probably due to the extra expense of superheaters, and to the reduced need for steam locomotives after the introduction of the diesels. Neither is likely to run in the foreseeable future.
The railway first thought of using a diesel locomotive in the early 1970s, when a small four-wheeled diesel-mechanical locomotive built by
Ruston & Hornsby
Ruston & Hornsby was an industrial equipment manufacturer in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Lincoln, England founded in 1918. The company is best known as a manufacturer of narrow gauge railway, narrow and standard gauge diesel locomotives and also of ...
(their class 48DL) was bought second-hand from a quarry. It was intended to regauge it and use it as a yard shunter at Llanberis. It was sold to the
Llanberis Lake Railway
The Llanberis Lake Railway ( cy, Rheilffordd Llyn Padarn) is a narrow gauge heritage railway that runs for along the northern shore of Llyn Padarn in north Wales in the Snowdonia National Park. The starting point is the village of Llanberis a ...
in 1978 without being regauged or used on the SMR. It would have been the railway's only locomotive without pinions, and as such would have been of limited use – it is doubtful if it would have had sufficient grip on the grease covered rails to shunt a dead steam locomotive. This locomotive has since been dismantled and scrapped.
It was the mid 1980s before any effort was made to obtain a diesel locomotive that could work trains up the line. Between 1986 and 1992, four diesel locomotives were bought from the
Hunslet Engine Company
The Hunslet Engine Company is a locomotive-building company, founded in 1864 in Hunslet, England. It manufactured steam locomotives for over 100 years and currently manufactures diesel shunting locomotives. The company is part of Ed Murray & S ...
of
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
, to a design and specification jointly developed with the railway. These became Nos. 9 to 12. During the period between the building of No. 9 and No. 12 both the locomotive manufacturer and the diesel engine manufacturer changed their names, Hunslet becoming Hunslet-Barclay and Rolls-Royce diesel engines being sold to Perkins.
In 1995 three identical railcars built by HPE Tredegar (successor to
Hugh Phillips Engineering
Hugh Phillips Engineering of Tredegar, Wales, were specialists in the manufacture of steam locomotive valves and controls.
In 1982 they were involved with refurbishment of the Great Western Railway heavy goods steam locomotive No. 2857; rebori ...
) were delivered. These were designed to run as either two- or three-car multiple unit trains. When all three were coupled together, they were the maximum length of a train that could fit into the platforms and passing loops.
List of motive power
Hybrid locomotives
![Glaslyn No 14 on low loader 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/Glaslyn_No_14_on_low_loader_2.jpg)
On 13 August 2019, the railway announced that it had ordered two new battery-diesel hybrid locomotives from
Clayton Equipment for introduction at the start of the railway's 2020 season, at a cost of
£1.1 million. The intention was that the diesel generator on the new locomotives would be switched off on the downhill runs, with regenerative service braking used to recharge the battery to provide power for the next ascent. This method of operation meant that the locomotives' engines, which comply with
Euro V
The European emission standards are vehicle emission standards for pollution from the use of new land surface vehicles sold in the European Union and EEA member states and the UK, and ships in EU waters. The standards are defined in a seri ...
emission standards, could be less powerful than those on the existing locomotives, thus providing maintenance and fuel savings, quieter operation, and lower emissions.
It was announced in February 2020 that the new locomotives were due to enter passenger service in May 2020. However, the launch was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.[ In 2022 both were returned to Clayton Equipment, having been deemed unsuitable for the SMR, by not generating sufficient energy when descending.][
]
Opening day accident
First train
The public opening was on Monday 6 April 1896. A train was run from Llanberis to the summit to check that no more boulders had come loose; it is thought the locomotive was No. 2 ''Enid''. On its return to Llanberis, locomotive No. 1 ''Ladas'' departed with two carriages on the official first train. Shortly afterwards, No. 2 ''Enid'' departed with a second public train. All went well on the ascent, except that mist and cloud was covering the top of the mountain and extending down to about the level of Clogwyn Station.
At a little after noon, ''Ladas'' with the two carriages started back down the mountain. About above Clogwyn, where the line runs on a shelf formed across a steep drop, the locomotive jumped off the rack rail, losing all braking force and accelerating down the track. At first it remained on the running rail and the driver tried to apply the handbrake, but with no effect. Realising that the train was out of control, the driver and his fireman jumped from the footplate.
''Ladas'' ran about after losing the rack rail before hitting a left-hand curve. Here it derailed and fell over the side of the mountain. The two carriages accelerated to a speed at which the automatic brakes were triggered (). These brakes brought both carriages to a stand safely. One of the passengers, Ellis Griffith Roberts of Llanberis, on seeing the driver and fireman jump from the locomotive did likewise. Falling to the ground, he sustained a serious injury to his leg, which later had to be amputated, and he died.
Second train
In derailing, locomotive No. 1 had broken the telegraph lines used to signal between stations. Some versions say that the wires had touched as they were hit and made a signal that was mistaken for the 'line clear' signal, while other versions say that so long a time had passed that the people at the summit assumed that the telegraph system had failed. Whichever is true, the other train left the summit on its descent.
In spite of the line speed and a man being sent back up the line to warn the second train, it did not stop before reaching the point where No.1 had lost the rack rail; exactly the same thing happened, with No. 2 losing the rack rail and accelerating out of control. This time, however, the line was blocked by the carriages of the first train; No. 2 hit these with some force, causing the carriages of the first train to drag their brakes and run away down the line, and causing the locomotive to drop back onto the rack rail and stop safely. The carriages from the first train rolled down the line to Clogwyn station, where they became derailed.
Locomotive No. 1 was recovered and taken back to Llanberis.
Inquiry
It was revealed during the inquiry that the locomotive on a ballast train had lost the rack in January 1895 a little lower down the line. Details are not recorded, but it is likely that the locomotive dropped back onto the rack and was not badly damaged.
After hearing all the evidence, it was decided that the weather had caused a freeze–thaw action which had led to settlement in the ground. Another contributory factor was the construction work being carried out during poor weather, and then not being checked for settlement when the weather had improved. The settlement was sufficient to twist the tracks and reduce the contact between the rack (on the track) and the pinion (on the locomotive). The weight and speed of the train did the rest. The damage caused by the first derailment made the second almost inevitable.
Recommendations
The first recommendation was that the maximum load for the locomotives be reduced to the equivalent of carriages. These led to a further carriage being bought that was smaller and lighter than the others. From then on, only this carriage was used, with one of the originals, for two-carriage trains.
The second recommendation was that a gripper system be installed (see Gripper rail). This required extra rails to be added to the rack rail and a mechanism to be fitted to the locomotives and carriages.
See also
* Llanberis Lake Railway
The Llanberis Lake Railway ( cy, Rheilffordd Llyn Padarn) is a narrow gauge heritage railway that runs for along the northern shore of Llyn Padarn in north Wales in the Snowdonia National Park. The starting point is the village of Llanberis a ...
* 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 railways ...
* 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 ...
* List of wind-related railway accidents
High winds can blow railway trains off tracks and cause accidents.
Dangers of high winds
High winds can cause problems in a number of ways:
* blow trains off the tracks
* blow trains or wagons along the tracks and cause collisions
* cause carg ...
References
Sources
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Further reading
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External links
Snowdon Mountain Railway official site
{{Coord, 53.0998, -4.1045, display=title, format=dms, name=Snowdon Mountain Railway, Llanberis
Mountain railways
800 mm gauge railways in Wales
Railway stations in Great Britain without road access
Railway companies established in 1894
Railway lines opened in 1896
Rack railways in the United Kingdom
Heritage railways in Gwynedd
Llanberis
Heritage railways in Snowdonia
1896 disasters in the United Kingdom