Rheilffordd Ffestiniog

I think I confused a couple of people. When I say 'I'm still in North Wales', I should really say that my blog is still in North Wales; term has not yet ended here and I'm firmly stuck at home & work for another 4 weeks. The current pics are from last year. I began by telling a story about Yr Wyddfa and then just continued in Wales, which is a place I love!

My blog (and me in my head) is still firmly on the Blaenau Ffestiniog Railway which, after crossing the Cob and passing the engineering works at Boston Lodge, turns away from the sea and follows the line of the Afon Goedol, climbing steadily as it goes.

In total, the track climbs over 700 feet along its thirteen and a half mile length, including turning a complete spiral at Dduallt, purely in order to gain height. For a lot of its distance, the railway clings to the edge of the mountainside but towards the top, it passes through a number of short tunnels.

The railway is mainly single track, but the stations at Minffordd, Tan-y-Bwlch and Tan-y-grisiau allow up and down trains to pass. Tan-y-Bwych is also a water stop for up trains.

Just before the terminus at Blaenau Ffestiniog is the village of Tan y grisiau, with the hydro-electric power station fed by the waters of Llyn Ystradau. This was constructed in 1957 by the Central Electricity Generating Board and the creation of the lake caused the flooding of part of the railway track.

When the Ffestiniog Railway Company restored and re-opened the line, a deviation had to be built to skirt the shores of the lake. The line of the old trackbed is still visible, disappearing into the water and re-emerging to approach the mouth of the now plugged Old Moelwyn Tunnel.

'Tan y grisiau', is Welsh for "below the steps"; the steps being the stepped slate mine workings up the side of the mountain. On Christmas day 1918, the mine workings collapsed. Disaster was avoided only because all of the village were in chapel. An hour earlier, there would have been many hundreds of miners crushed under the fall of rocks.  

Approaching Blaenau, slate built Welsh cottages crowd the line, their gardens adding a little splash of colour to a very grey, slate dominated landscape...

and waterfalls tumble down the steep hillsides within a few feet of the carriages...

until the train reaches the top of the line.

If you are particularly interested in steam railways, especially the narrow gauge variety, you may like to look at the Rheilffordd Ffestiniog website.

And if you ever visit Wales, I would strongly recommend a ride; though you my prefer to park in Bleanau and travel downhill first. There's more to do during a stop off in Porthmadog.

Welsh Highland

It doesn't always rain in Wales. This is last year and the same campsite as the flooded picnic area. The mountain is called The Elephant. If I look carefully, I can see the resemblance.

The Elephant was the view from the front door of our tent. This was the view from the back...

The railway is the Welsh Highland, which claims to have the most powerful 2' gauge steam locomotives in the world.  It currently runs 23 1/2 miles from Caernarvon to Pont Croesor, snaking around the foot of Snowdon and over the Aberglaslyn Pass; but the intention is to open the last section of track down to Porthmadog and link up with the Blaenau Ffestiniog Railway, thus creating a 40 mile journey through some spectacular countryside in and around the Snowdonia National Park.

I loved having the railway so close, but I must confess that, as the guy ropes of our tent were right up against the foot of the barbed wire fence, the early morning train sounded like it was going to drive straight through our inner and it was just a tad disconcerting when we were listening while lying in bed :)