Welsh Highland Line Reopening
[photo: Ffestiniog Railway]
With four bank holidays and a royal wedding all within a few days, the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways’ The Spring Thing brings together events and activities around both stretches of railway between 22nd April and 2nd May.
The Ffestiniog itself has of course been open for tourist traffic for many years, but 2011 sees the final stretch of the restored Welsh Highland line brought into regular service. After a handful a special services in 2010 there was a limited opening at half term week in Feb 2011 while the Ffestiniog main line was interrupted for construction of a new bridge for the Porthmadog by-pass road. Now the full summer daily service through Snowdonia commences on April 20th.
The Rheilffordd Eryri / Welsh Highland Railway is Snowdonia’s newest railway. Trains start their spectacular 25 mile scenic journey from beneath the castle walls at Caernarfon. The trains - hauled by the world's most powerful narrow gauge steam locomotives - climb from sea level to over 650ft on the foothills of Snowdon, before zig-zagging dramatically down the steep hillside to reach Beddgelert, nestling in the heart of the National Park, then through the magnificent Aberglaslyn Pass and on to Porthmadog.
As the longest narrow gauge line the Welsh Highland is powered by a fleet of coal-fired South African NG Beyer-Garret locos. New carriages have been built in the FR's Boston Lodge works, including a new Observation Pullman Carriage which entered service in 2009. This was named Glaslyn by Her Majesty the Queen when she visited the railway in early 2010.
For timetables etc check out the two railways' combined website.