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Ffestiniog Railway

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Railway transport

                             Ffestiniog Railway
                Two trains passing at Tan-y-Bwlch, ca. 1900
                                  Location
   Place       Wales
   Terminus    Porthmadog
                           Commercial Operations
   Name        Ffestiniog Railway Company
   Built by    Ffestiniog Railway Company
   Gauge       1 ft 11^1⁄[2] in (597 mm)
                            Preserved Operations
   Operated by Ffestiniog Railway Company
   Stations    11
   Length      13.5 miles
   Gauge       1 ft 11^1⁄[2] in (597 mm)
                             Commercial History
   Opened      1836
   Closed      1 August 1946
                            Preservation History
   1954        Restoration started at Boston Lodge works 20 September 1954
   1955        Reopened to Boston Lodge 23 July 1955
   1956        Reopened to Minffordd
   1957        Reopened to Penrhyn
   1958        Reopened to Tan-y-Bwlch
   1965        Start of the Deviation construction work
   1968        Reopened to Dduallt
   1974        Restoration of Rhiw Goch passing loop
   1977        Reopened to Llyn Ystradau
   1978        Reopened to Tanygrisiau
   1982        Reopened to Blaenau Ffestiniog

   The Ffestiniog Railway (in Welsh Rheilffordd Ffestiniog) is a
   narrow-gauge heritage railway, located in North West Wales. It is a
   major tourist attraction mainly within the Snowdonia National Park.

   The railway is about 13.5 miles (21.5 km) long and runs from the
   harbour at Porthmadog to the slate mining town of Blaenau Ffestiniog.
   The line travels through spectacular mountainous scenery and is single
   track with passing places. The track gauge is 1 ft 11^1⁄[2] in
   (597 mm). The first part of the line runs along a mile-long embankment
   called "the Cob", which is the dyke of the Traeth Mawr " polder". The
   Cob was built between 1807 and 1811 by William Madocks and in addition
   to its land reclamation function in conjunction with sluice gates at
   the Britannia bridge, serves also as a roadway (since 1836 this has
   been at a lower level on the landward side) and a bridge across the
   Afon Glaslyn. Tolls were charged with a tollgate at Boston Lodge until
   2003, when the rights were purchased by the National Assembly for
   Wales. 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.

History

   The railway company is properly known as the "Festiniog Railway
   Company", and this contemporary anglicised spelling is still the
   official title of the company as defined by the Act (2 William IV
   cap.xlviii) that created the railway. It is the oldest surviving
   railway company in the world, having been founded by the Act of
   Parliament on 23 May 1832 with capital mostly raised in Dublin by Henry
   Archer, the company's first secretary and managing director. Most
   British railways were amalgamated into four large groups in 1921, and
   then into British Railways in 1948, but the Festiniog Railway Company,
   in common with 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.

Horse and gravity operation

   The line was constructed between 1833 and 1836 to transport slate from
   the quarries around the inland town of Blaenau Ffestiniog to the
   coastal town of Porthmadog, where it was loaded onto ships. The railway
   was graded so that loaded wagons could be run by gravity 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 employs cuttings and
   embankments built of slate blocks without mortar. Prior to the
   completion in 1844 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) which can still be seen.
    Porthmadog, Gwynedd
   Home of
   the Ffestiniog Railway
   Image:WalesGwynedd.png
   Image:Red_Dot.gif

   Up to six trains daily were operated in each direction, and a printed
   timetable was published on September 16, 1856 by Charles Easton Spooner
   who, following his father, served as Manager and Clerk for 30 years. It
   shows departures from the "Quarry Terminus" (at that time Dinas
   Junction) at 7:30, 9:28, 11:16, 1:14, 3:12 and 5:10. Trains waited ten
   minutes at the intermediate stations called "Tunnel", "Hafod Llyn" and
   "Rhiw Goch". The fastest journey time from Quarry Terminus to Boston
   Lodge 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, but these journeys
   would also observe the timetable.

Steam and gravity operation

   In October 1863 steam locomotives were introduced, to allow 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, Hafod-y-Llyn and
   Penrhyn. Trains passed only at Hafod-y-Llyn (from 1872 Tan-y-Bwlch).
   When passenger services started, the practice was for locomotive hauled
   up trains to consist of passenger carriages, followed by loaded general
   goods wagons, followed by empty slate wagons. Down trains were run in
   up to four separate (uncoupled) portions: loaded slate wagons, goods
   wagons, passenger carriages and finally the locomotive running light.
   This unusual and labour intensive method of operation was short lived
   and eventually the 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 were
   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 Duffws including stops at Minffordd, Penrhyn,
   Tan-y-Bwlch, Dduallt (request), Tanygrisiau, Blaenau (LNWR) and Blaenau
   (GWR). Speeds in excess of 40 mph were then normal .

   The original passenger coaches (some of which still survive) were small
   four wheeled vehicles with a very low centre of gravity. In 1872 the FR
   introduced the first bogie carriages to operate in Britain. The
   continuous vacuum brake was installed in 1893. The line was fully
   signalled with electric telegraph and staff and ticket 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
   in 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 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 and
   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 and this proved slow to develop.

   To gain additional expertise in light railway operation which was being
   introduced on the FR and WHR to cut operating overheads, Colonel H. F.
   Stephens was in 1923 appointed part-time as 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 in Kent. The
   fortunes of the WHR, despite great efforts, failed to improve and it
   became bankrupt in 1933. In order to protect their investments, the
   joint owners of both companies arranged for the WHR to be leased by the
   FR, but the WHR losses continued and it closed 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 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. However,
   without maintenance it soon became overgrown and unusable.

Restoration

   From 1949, various groups of rail enthusiasts attempted to revitalise
   the railway. Eventually, on 24 June 1954 a group of volunteers funded
   by Alan Pegler purchased the company to run it as a tourist attraction,
   and gradually restored the line to working order. This was not helped
   by a decision by the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) in
   1954 to build the Ffestiniog Pumped Storage Scheme, including the Tan y
   Grisiau reservoir (Llyn Ystradau), which flooded part of the northern
   end of the line. The Festiniog Railway Company was able to obtain
   compensation in 1972, after the second-longest legal battle in British
   legal history, having taken eighteen years and two months. Two years
   later, as a result of the case, the British Parliament passed the Land
   Occupancy Act 1973.

   On 18 August 1954, prior to commencing the restoration, in an
   inspection, the first of many, Colonel McMullen of the Ministry of
   Transport, Railways Inspectorate, accompanied by Alan Pegler, several
   directors and other supporters walked the line from Blaenau Ffestiniog
   to Porthmadog. The work of restoration began on September 20, 1954 when
   Morris Jones, the foreman fitter who had last worked for the railway in
   March 1947, rejoined the staff to complete the rebuilding of the
   locomotive 'Prince' on which he had been engaged when the works closed.
   He was joined at Boston Lodge works by two volunteers, Bill Harvey and
   Allan Garraway . November 6, 1954 marked the completion of sixty years
   service with the FR of Robert Evans (for almost 25 years as Manager)
   and a special train was run (with difficulty) from Minffordd to
   Porthmadog to celebrate the occasion and convey Mr Evans, his wife,
   Alan Pegler (Company Chairman) and guests en route to a clock
   presentation ceremony . Mr Evans continued in service as Manager until
   his retirement on June 1, 1955 when Allan Garraway was appointed as
   Manager.

   The first public passenger train from Porthmadog to Boston Lodge ran on
   July 23, 1955. Prince returned to service on August 3, 1955 and,
   following extensive boiler repairs, Taliesin, then the latest of the FR
   Fairlie articulated engines, returned to service on September 4, 1956.
   The passenger service was extended to Minffordd on May 19, 1956, to
   Penrhyn on June 5, 1957 and to Tan-y-Bwlch on April 5, 1958. Increasing
   traffic was putting severe demands on the track - over seven miles had
   been reopened in four years. A long period of consolidation, rolling
   stock restoration and track renewal followed before the extension to
   Dduallt on April 6, 1968. Extension to Dduallt was celebrated on May
   28, 1968 by the re-introduction of the Ffestiniog Railway Letter
   Service.

The Llyn Ystradau Deviation

   Tanygrisiau reservoir seen from the deviation. The original route of
   the Ffestiniog Railway is beneath the waters in the foreground
   Enlarge
   Tanygrisiau reservoir seen from the deviation. The original route of
   the Ffestiniog Railway is beneath the waters in the foreground

   Between 1965 and 1978, the Ffestiniog Railway Deviation, that 2½ mile
   long diversionary route was constructed between Dduallt and Tanygrisiau
   in order to avoid the works of Tanygrisiau hydro-electric 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). It was
   constructed with its bridge entirely by volunteers and gains an initial
   height rise of 35 feet in order (after a further mile 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 normally submerged
   northern end. Parts of the trackless former route can be clearly seen
   below the new route between Dduallt and the old tunnel.

   The new 310 yard long 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 spur of the Moelwyn mountain. The
   tunnel plant included stone crushing and grading plant to produce track
   ballast and other aggregates from the spoil for use on the railway.
   Following completion the new tunnel first had to be lined throughout
   its length with liquid cement reinforced with steel mesh in a process
   called 'shotcreting'.

   A pull and push service officially called The Shuttle and powered by
   diesel locomotive Moel Hebog with carriage 110 was operated from
   Dduallt to Gelliwiog from 26 May 1975, during two summers, to enable
   tourists to experience the Deviation route in advance of the opening of
   the new Moelwyn Tunnel.

   North of the new tunnel is a long stretch along the west bank of the
   new reservoir. Full-length passenger trains first ran from Dduallt
   through the new tunnel to a temporary terminus known as Llyn Ystradau
   (now dismantled) on 25 June 1977. This station was alongside the
   Tanygrisiau reservoir, but passengers could not leave the station other
   than by train as it was on Central Electricity Generating Board land
   without public access.

   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,
   during a fall in height to rejoin the old route in Tanygrisiau station,
   which was reopened on June 24, 1978.

   The largely volunteer group building the Deviation was officially
   called the Civil Engineering Group, but its members were popularly
   known as and will always be remembered as the Deviationists that
   completed an enormous task over 13 years.

Project Blaenau

   Steam engine 'Mountaineer' at Blaenau Ffestiniog station.
   Enlarge
   Steam engine 'Mountaineer' at Blaenau Ffestiniog station.

   The completion of the railway through to Tanygrisiau left the FR with
   just one and a half miles to go to its goal of Blaenau Ffestiniog but
   the complexities of reconstructing that unique but very derelict urban
   section of narrow gauge railway took a further four years. As well as
   1½ miles 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.
   The primitive railway bridge across the Afon Barlwyd required total
   replacement but in similar form. 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 and Gwynedd County Council for the new route with its bridges and
   roadworks and the new joint station on the former Great Western Railway
   station site. British rail commenced using the new station on March 22,
   1982. Ffestiniog trains returned to Blaenau on Tuesday, May 25, 1982,
   thus marking the 150th Anniversary of Royal Assent to the Festiniog
   Railway Act of 1832. The new joint station with British Rail at Blaenau
   Ffestiniog was officially opened on April 30, 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.

Welsh Highland Railway

   In 1988 the Festiniog Railway Company was involved in a highly
   controversial plan to stop the neighbouring Welsh Highland Railway
   being rebuilt. The plan would have involved the Company buying the
   original track bed of the Welsh Highland Railway from the old company's
   receiver and giving it to Gwynedd County Council, as long as no
   railway-related developments were allowed on the land. This, and other
   actions, 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 council to assure 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.

   Since 1990 the Festiniog Railway Company has been totally committed to
   the reopening of the Welsh Highland Railway. This required 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 to Dinas was opened and operated by
   the FR on October 11, 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 and the site
   of Dinas station had been sold off and thus was not part of the assets
   of the old WHR company.

   Restoration to Waunfawr was completed in 2000 and to Rhyd Ddu in 2003.
   Reconstruction of the remaining section through to Porthmadog is in
   progress from both ends. Track has already reached the Beddgelert
   Forest and works are in evidence as far south as Bryn-y-felin.

   The completed Welsh Highland Railway, or Rheilffordd Eryri (its Welsh
   name), will comprise parts of the former London and North Western
   Railway (1867), North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways (1877-81), Portmadoc,
   Beddgelert and South Snowdon Railway and Welsh Highland (1922-3)
   Railway. In 2009 the Ffestiniog Railway intends to reconnect with the
   rebuilt Welsh Highland Railway at Harbour Station, linking Caernarfon
   to Porthmadog. The FR will also link with the WHR (Porthmadog) at
   Pen-y-Mount Station, north of Porthmadog.

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" 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 mainly from The EEC (National Programme of Community Interest
   for the promoting of tourism in Dyfed, Gwynedd and Powys); in 1995 a
   grant of £500,000 to promote work in Blaenau Ffestiniog and in 1998 a
   Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £375,000 for the constuction of
   workshops to facilitate the restoration of historic vehicles .

Rolling stock

Stations and halts

   The Ffestiniog Railway route, 2006
   Enlarge
   The Ffestiniog Railway route, 2006
   Station Place Image Opened Closed Distance from Porthmadog Notes
   Porthmadog Harbour Porthmadog 1865 Open 0 Junction with the original
   line from across the Britannia bridge (see note at the end of this
   table)
   Pen Cob Halt Boston Lodge Aerial view of Boston Lodge 1956 1967 70
   chains opened 19 May 1956 used regularly only until 5 November 1957.
   Boston Lodge Boston Lodge 1928 Open 1 mile 5 chains (1.71 km) temporary
   terminus 23 July 1955 to end of 1955 season.
   Minffordd Minffordd (near Portmeirion) 1872 Open 2 miles 5 chains (3.31
   km) Joint station with the Cambrian Line. Temporary FR terminus 19 May
   1956 to end of 1956 season.
   Cae Ednyfed Minffordd (near Portmeirion) 1836 1863 2 miles 7(?) chains
   There were stables here between 1836 and 1863 and this was a horse
   stage station. The cottages at the north-east end of the station were
   part of the stables complex.
   Pen y Bryn Halt Penrhyndeudraeth 1957 1967 2 miles 63 chains opened 20
   April 1957 used regularly only until 5 November 1957.
   Penrhyn Penrhyndeudraeth 1865 Open 3 miles 8 chains (4.99 km) temporary
   terminus 20 April 1957 to 5 November 1957.
   Rhiw Goch Rhiw Goch 1836 Open 4 miles 16 chains (6.76 km) Passing loop
   for horse-drawn trains until 1863. Re-instated as a passing loop for
   use by passenger trains in 1975. Closed as a passing loop afer the 1988
   Gala, although trackwork retained for Engineering Trains. Signal Box
   recommissioned in 1997. In 2006 rebuilding work commenced on the
   signalbox, as the 1970's building has become life expired.
   Plas Private Station Tan y Bwlch 1865 c. 1920 6 miles 2 chains (9.70
   km) used only by the Oakeley household at Plas Tan y Bwlch.
   Plas Halt Tan y Bwlch 1963 Open 6 miles 19 chains (10.04 km) opened 31
   May 1963.
   Hafod y Llyn Tan y Bwlch 1836 1873 Approx. 7 miles 5 chains (11.3 km)
   used for passing slate trains until 1865 and as passenger station 1865
   to 1873.
   Tan-y-Bwlch Tan y Bwlch 1873 Open 7 miles 35 chains (11.97 km)
   temporary terminus 5 April 1958 to 5 April 1968.
   Coed y Bleiddiau Coed y Bleiddiau 1865? Open Approx. 8 miles 40 chains
   (13.7 km) private platform serving Coed y Bleiddiau cottage which is
   only accessible by rail or footpath.
   Campbell's Platform Y Dduallt 1968 Open 9 miles 7 chains (14.62 km)
   Private halt serving Plas y Dduallt, a 15th Century Welsh Manor House.
   Dduallt Moel Dduallt 1880? Open 9 miles 44 chains (15.37 km) temporary
   terminus 6 April 1968 to 24 June 1977.
   Tunnel South loop Moelwyn Mawr 1842 c1865 Approx. 10 miles (16.1 km)
   (on former track alignment) used for passing horse drawn trains and
   early steam trains.
   Tunnel Halt Moelwyn Mawr 1920's? 1939 10 miles 60 chains (17.30 km) (on
   former track alignment) at the northern end of the old Moelwyn tunnel.
   Gelliwiog Moel Dduallt 1975 1977 10 miles 32 chains temporary terminus
   of push-pull shuttle trains from Dduallt 26 May 1975 to 24 June 1977.
   Llyn Ystradau Tanygrisiau reservoir 1977 1978 Approx. 11 miles 30
   chains (18.3 km) temporary terminus 25 June 1977 to 23 June 1978.
   Tanygrisiau Tanygrisiau 1866 Open 12 miles 10 chains (19.51 km)
   temporary terminus 24 June 1978 to 24 May 1982.
   Dinas Blaenau Ffestiniog 1865 1870 13 miles 30 chains (21.52 km) (on
   branch from current line) the original northern terminus, opened 6
   January 1865. From the opening of Duffws in 1866 until the closure of
   Dinas in 1870, alternate trains ran along the Dinas and Duffws
   branches.
   Blaenau Ffestiniog (LNWR) Blaenau Ffestiniog 1881 1939 13 miles 25
   chains (21.42 km) ‘Stesion Fein’ (narrow station) - transit station for
   LNWR/LMS.
   Blaenau Ffestiniog (GWR) Blaenau Ffestiniog 1883 1939 13 miles 50
   chains (21.93 km) (on a different alignment) joint station with GWR.
   Terminus from 31 May 1931 until 1939.
   Duffws Blaenau Ffestiniog 1866 1931 13 miles 60 chains (22.12 km) (on a
   different alignment) only alternate trains ran to Duffws until 1870
   when Dinas was closed to passengers. Terminus until 1931.
   Blaenau Ffestiniog Blaenau Ffestiniog 1982 Open 13 miles 50 chains
   (21.93 km) current terminus; joint station with British Rail ( Conwy
   Valley Line) opened 25 May 1982; roughly on site of Blaenau Ffestiniog
   (GWR) station listed above.

   Note: A different zero point was formerly used in Porthmadog (see
   below), and the Deviation between Dduallt and Tanygrisiau added half a
   mile to the line. Mileages have therefore changed. The old mileage to
   the Duffws terminus, the original start of the line, was 13 miles 32
   chains (21.57 km).

   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 datum point for all pre-1954 mileage calculations. The line over
   the bridge also connected with the Gorseddau and Croesor Tramways and
   was used by Welsh Highland Railway passenger trains from from 1923 to
   1936. The line over the bridge was last used in 1958.

Train operation since 1955

Infrastucture

   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 was installed at Tan-y-Bwlch in 1986.

   As of the 1988 season, in part due to the challenges in maintenance of
   the top end points at Dduallt, and the planned automation of Minffordd,
   Dduallt and Rhiw Goch were 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
   instruments and the signal heads were removed, although the loop could
   still be used as a refuge for engineers trains.

   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
   has gone well and work is scheduled to be done during the closed season
   of 2006/7. Preparation work, including pouring extensions to the
   foundation slab, have been carried out during summer 2006.

   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 re-opened 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. However the trackwork (apart for the siding off the Up Loop)
   remained in situ. In June 2002, the loop was once again used to
   run-round trains 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 are now in use on the Isle of Man Railway. 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 Electronic Token System (ETS)
   using a mixture of miniature and large train staffs, under the overall
   of the Duty Controller based at Porthmadog.

   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

   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 also is responsible for the Train Operation on the
   Welsh Highland Railway between Caernarfon and Rhyd Ddu.

Images

   Double Fairlie Merddyn Emrys with train

   Double Fairlie Earl of Merioneth at Tanybwlch

   At Blaenau Ffestiniog

   Historic coaches, including 1897-built ex-Lynton and Barnstaple Railway
   no 14 (centre) at Tanybwlch

   Taliesin shunting the vintage train into the old Boston Lodge
   locomotive shed

   Merddin Emrys at Porthmadog

   Taliesin and train crossing Cei Mawr

   Linda approaching Blaenau Ffestiniog station
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ffestiniog_Railway"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
