Q2 2014 £4.00

Your railway adventures

New look for Porthmadog

The National Trust’s castle

From a

Distance

This page: A snow-capped Moel Ysgyfarnogod seen from Porthmadog Harbour Station on New Year’s Day.

Front cover: A Welsh Highland train makes its way through the Aberglaslyn Pass.

Back cover: Driver Paul Ingham and fireman Tesni Jones wait to leave for Caernarfon.

Welcome to the Top Left Hand Corner of Wales, where

train travel is just a little bit different. With the Ffestiniog

and Welsh Highland Railways stretching for 40 miles across

the Snowdonia National Park, you can experience the

magnificent scenery whilst savouring the magic of train

travel as it used to be, with gleaming steam engines,

comfortable carriages, friendly staff and just a hint of magic.

2014 sees the opening of the new £1.3 million station at

Porthmadog Harbour. At long last the town finally has a

station worthy of the unique 40 miles of railway between

Blaenau Ffestiniog and Caernarfon.

And by this time next year, plans for an all-new station at

Caernarfon should be well advanced.

Never a dull moment...

Running in

the family

Like father like daughter.

Earlier this year, Dave and Emily High became the

first father & daughter team to drive and fire a steam

locomotive on the Ffestiniog Railway in North Wales.

Civil engineer Dave has been volunteering on the

railway for 35 years and qualified as a driver 25

years ago when he relocated from Cumbria.

He also played a major role in the construction of the

Welsh Highland Railway, being the project manager

for the Porthmadog Cross Town Link.

Daughter Emily, 18, has just qualified as a fireman

and is studying for her A-levels at Coleg Meirion

Dwyfor in Dolgellau.

Away from the railway, she won a first at Crufts in

the ‘Heelwork to Music’ category in the Young Kennel

Club section with her Papillon Anton for the second

year in a row.

Dave’s son William also works on the footplate on

the Ffestiniog Railway.

Dave and Emily are pictured in charge of Linda, built

in Leeds in 1893.

Station

to Station

A deserted Harbour Station in December 1960. Inset: The The same scene 54 years later.

Porthmadog Harbour Station first opened for

passengers on January 6th, 1865, two years after

the introduction of steam locomotives.

When the Welsh Highland Railway was opened

throughout between Caernarfon and Porthmadog in

2011, the shortcomings in the station design

became clear - a single platform for both railways

and the need for a pilot locomotive to shunt both

arriving and departing WHR services meant a

radical rethink was needed to provide a vastly-

improved customer experience.

And so it was that a £1.3 million project was

started after the end of regular daily services in late

2011 to produce a completely new layout fit for the

demands of the 21st Century. 40,000 tons of rock

was used to widen the Cob at the Porthmadog end

to make room for two new platforms.

The work continued over the winters of 2012 and

2013, the new station opening for business on

Saturday March 22nd 2014.

Read on for details of how it was done...

Wider still

and wider

November 2011 saw the arrival of the heavy

contractor’s plant that would be used to place some

40,000 tons of rock from nearby Minffordd Quarry

to widen the first 250 metres of the 200 year-old

Cob embankment.

A haul road was constructed across the tracks in

Harbour Station to enable both lorries and trains to

use the station, although to avoid disruption, the

bulk of the lorry movements were scheduled for

times when no trains were running.

The stone dumped to form the widened

embankment was then faced with large boulders

forming a layer of rock armour on the seaward side.

The rock was laid on geotextile sheet to prevent

sand from filling the spaces between the stones.

Each block was painstakingly placed - as seen on

the right - to ensure that the finished armour stone

was locked together like a giant 3D jigsaw.

The large surface area presented to the waves

dissipates energy far more effectively than a smooth

stone wall and greatly increases the structure’s

robustness in heavy seas.

Opposite top: the view on December 1st 2012.

Below: Three months later.

Winter 2011-12

In November 2012, the second winter of work on

the Cob widening project began. After almost a year

of settlement, the fill material was levelled off and

work to remove the original wave wall and replace it

with a new one began.

The original, built in the 1930s, proved to be rather

more resilient than expected and had to be cut into

sections and then attacked with the most powerful

excavator on site.

Meanwhile, the new wave wall was taking shape on

the seaward side of the site and was completed on

Tuesday November 19th.

The Wall Winter 2012-13

With the new wave wall complete, work started on

the foundations of the new signal box and its

associated relay room. The buildings utilise a steel

girder frame in order to make them capable of

withstanding wind speeds of over 100mph.

This was put to the test the following winter when

the completed buildings withstood the first

hurricane to hit North Wales in living memory.

Before service trains started in March, new points

were delivered from Prices’ of South Wales and

were installed in the FR main line. Once in place,

work could then begin on laying what would

become the new FR and WHR platform roads, the

original FR main line becoming the WHR loop.

Despite bitterly cold weather, the track gangs

continued to work with the mountains of

Snowdonia forming a magnificent background.

Work continued throughout the summer and by

the time the 2013 season was drawing to a close,

the far end of the platform and half the FR and

WHR platform roads were in place, ready for the

big push over the winter of 2013-2014 when the

entire layout would be lifted and replaced before

trains started again in March.

Failure was not an option...

Working on

the Railroad Winter 2013-14

After the last trains of 2013 had run, the task of

lifting the entire layout of Harbour Station, building

the new platform and relaying the track began.

On January 16th the last lengths of rail from the

old station are visible bottom left and the signal box

and relay room are being commissioned. From left

to right, the old FR main line has been partially

lifted, the kerbs are in place for the WHR and FR

platform roads and the yard crossover is in place,

along with five road, nearest to the sea. The new

station has four sidings compared with the previous

five, but the amount of space available is greater.

Note how the rock armour, in place for only two

years, is weathering to match the original part of

the Cob embankment.

In the first three months of 2014, more than 150

volunteers worked tirelessly to get the new station

ready for the first public trains on Saturday March

22nd. The remaining few lengths of rail remaining

from the old layout were removed, signals were

erected and connected and the new track laid.

Meanwhile, contractors were busy finishing the

platform and its block paving and constructing the

new beer garden outside Spooner’s, complete with

its elegant glass windbreak.

Then, suddenly, everything came together. Despite

hurricanes, snow and rain, the track was complete;

the signalling system signed off; and the platform

completed. Three winters of hard work had paid off

and the new station was ready for trains.

As the railway’s chairman, John Prideaux,

commented: “Rebuilding and resignalling Harbour

has been an ambitious project involving a huge

number of volunteers, staff and excellent local

contractors. It called on skills more usually

associated with the national network than with a

heritage railway. Completing such a complex project

on time and despite adverse conditions reflects huge

credit on everyone involved.”

The Final

Countdown Spring 2014

One of the key features of the new station is the beer garden providing much-needed additional seating

space for the popular Spooner’s pub and restaurant and a great location for relaxing and enjoying the view

on those balmy summer evenings.

Inset, station designer Stuart McNair enjoys a well-earned cup of tea in his new creation.

On a rather grey Saturday March 22nd 2014, public service trains were able to use the new Harbour

Station for the first time. Although missing some final detailing - such as the decorative finials on the

signal posts - the station not only opened on schedule, but on budget. Over the final winter’s activity,

from November to March, over 7,500 man hours work was provided by volunteers.

Above, on the opening day, can be seen a Ffestiniog train for Blaenau Ffestiniog on the left, with a Welsh

Highland service on the right. Below, the sun has finally put in an appearance as Garratt 138 waits at

the head of its train, having just arrived from Caernarfon.

Two Trains

Running

In the late 19th century the sugar cane industry

was taking off in the tropical north of Queensland

in Australia. Dense rainforest along the coastal

strip was being cleared and replaced by fields of

sugar cane. The Colonial Sugar Refining Company

(CSR) of Sydney built or purchased a chain of sugar

mills along the Queensland coast from 1882.

Many miles of two foot gauge tramways were built

to carry sugar cane and firewood to the mills and

raw sugar away to market. Motive power was

provided by a growing fleet of tank engines, many

built in Leeds by John Fowler.

The company’s eyes also turned towards the Pacific

islands of Fiji, some 2,000 miles to the east. This

large archipelago, which was then part of the

British Empire, enjoyed a similar climate to

Queensland’s coast. There was plenty of rain and

sunshine to ripen good crops of cane. There was an

attractive case for investment in sugar production.

Between 1882 and 1903, Colonial Sugar Refining

built new mills at four coastal locations in Fiji.

Lautoka Mill was the largest, built on the west

coast of the principal island, Viti Levu. CSR

acquired estates along the coast which were later

made available for purchase by tenant farmers.

Most cane producing land was held on long-term

lease from the native Fijian owners. A network of

two foot gauge tramways linked the sugar cane

fields with the mills. At its height the main line

tramway system of the two principal mills stretched

southwards from Lautoka mill for some 82 miles

along the west coast of Viti Levu to Kavanagasau,

beyond the Sigatoka River. Northwards along the

coast from Lautoka, it was almost 30 miles to

Rarawai mill and a further 25 miles to the

terminus. As a condition of building the line to

Sigatoka, CSR was obliged to provide a free

passenger service for local people. It ran the round

trip between Rarawai and Kavanagasau twice

weekly, a distance of 111½ miles each way.

The early operations were capably handled by

compact tank engines, but for the line to the

Sigatoka River, under construction from 1910 to

1914, larger locomotives were required. In 1911,

Hudswell Clarke of Leeds built a powerful new tank

engine for Rarawai Mill. CSR requested further

development of this type to produce engines that

would be able to do the round trip between Lautoka

and Na Savu Savu on the new Sigatoka line, a

distance of 82 miles, without refuelling, hauling up

to 260 ton trains on the inward journey. ►

David Payling looks at the fascinating history of a locomotive which will be in regular use on the Welsh Highland Railway this year, more than 10,000 miles from its original home in Fiji. Engineers at the Statfold Barn Railway have restored the loco to pristine condition for its visit to Wales.

◄ Hudswell produced a design that solved the

problem for the next 50 years. The new engine had

a six-wheeled chassis with a wheelbase just five feet

six inches long. This would allow it to negotiate the

sharp curvature of the sidings in the mill yards.

A large, powerful boiler was fitted to cope with the

heavy loads. The tender design allowed plenty of

coal and water to be carried. To help keep the crew

cool, the cab was as open as possible and the roof

was double skinned to promote air circulation.

A balloon stack chimney was fitted, equipped with a

spark arresting core to minimise spark emissions.

Although attempts have been made to have some

sugar cane industry locomotives burn cane waste

(bagasse), its calorific value is very low, totally

inadequate for the hard work of cane haulage in Fiji

and Queensland. The Hudswell engines were

therefore coal fired. Our engine was the first to be

built to the new design (Hudswell Clarke No.972 of

November 1911).

It was the first of a batch of three, and their success

was such that a total of 35 similar engines were

eventually built for CSR mills in Fiji and

Queensland. Lautoka received the initial batches of

these engines and subsequently operated the

largest fleet of them.

The initial eight locos were followed by three of an

enlarged design in the inter-war years and a final

pair after World War II. They were stationed at the

mill and at Cuvu, 64 miles to the south,

interchanging loads at Na Savu Savu.

No.972 was originally fitted with a boiler with a

round-topped firebox, but this was replaced with a

larger-capacity boiler with a Belpaire firebox after

the Second World War.

The Hudswells worked hard day and night through

the crushing season in the second half of each year,

steadily hauling long trains of cane, the ends of the

stalks dragging along the dirt and throwing up

clouds of dust. Innumerable times each season

these reliable workhorses, sporting bright

paintwork and polished brass, hauled their rakes

past the gate of Nadi airport where today the

international traveller glimpses Fiji’s sugar cane

trains for the first time as their coach bumps across

the track en route for the resorts of the Coral Coast.

The first mainline diesels arrived in Fiji from

Australia in 1955, and as there were no local coal

supplies in the islands, dieselisation proceeded

apace over the next ten years. The redundant steam

locomotives were, for the most part, scrapped.

No.972, being the doyen of its class, was luckier. It

was stored at Lautoka mill from 1958. There,

matters might have rested, but for the decision of

the Fiji Sugar Corporation in 1978 to celebrate the

75th anniversary of the mill opening. The engine

was overhauled, and put back into use on a

ceremonial train of dignitaries to Lautoka Mill. ►

No 11 with a train of dignitaries at the opening of the new bulk sugar store at Lautoka Mill on 5th January 1979

◄ Later, a local tourist venture, the Coral Coast

Railway Company (above), was formed to run

tourist trains, using the cane railway tracks in the

Cuvu area. No.972 was to be the motive power, but

not as a steam engine. In 1985, it was taken from

the mill and a 65hp diesel engine with hydraulic

transmission was placed in the tender. The inner

firebox was cut away to make room for a gearbox

which powered the locomotive’s rear axle via a

chain. To give clearance for the chain, a large slot

had to be cut out of the front of the outer firebox.

The Coral Coast Railway laid No.972 aside,

preferring to use smaller Simplex diesel locomotives

for haulage. It was sold and brought to Britain in

2011. Its ownership passed to the Statfold Barn

Railway where it was hoped that it could be

restored to working order. When the locomotive was

stripped for assessment, it was realised that

restoration would present a major challenge.

The boiler repairs would include major attention to

both the barrel and fire box. The barrel was so

corroded that one section would require complete

replacement, together with the whole of the smoke

box. Also, the modifications made for the Coral

Coast train’s chain drive would need to be made

good. This would require fabrication of a complete

new inner firebox, together with repair of the large

slot cut in the outer box.

When the wheels and axles were removed major

frame cracks were found. These ran from the

axlebox horns towards the top of the frames. In at

least one place the frame had parted into two

pieces. The many fittings and pipe work in the cab

and on the chassis were largely absent.

Fortunately, Statfold Barn is home to the Hunslet

archive which contains not only the records and

drawings of the Hunslet Engine Co. but also the

surviving records and drawings of the many

locomotive builders absorbed by Hunslet, such as

Kerr Stuart, Avonside, Manning Wardle, Kitson,

Robert Stephenson and Hawthorn and others.

Fortunately, the Hudswell Clarke collection of more

than 21,000 steam engineering drawings is

amongst the survivors. After lying fallow for some

years the Hudswell drawings had recently been

catalogued and indexed by the volunteer staff. This

made it possible to find all 80 of the drawings used

to construct No.972 in 1911. The boilersmiths,

engineers and fitters at Statfold therefore had

substantial information to guide the restoration

which now began.

The fire box and boiler repairs were completed and

pressure tested, and the boiler insured. The

cracked main frames have been re-aligned and

welded repairs made. The whole chassis has been

stiffened and strengthened. This was achieved by

the replacement of its running plate with one of a

thicker section.

The balloon stack was problematical because its

anti-spark core proved not to have been supplied by

Hudswell, but by a local Australian engineering

company. No drawings for it were therefore

available. Eventually the locomotive was completed.

It is now equipped for train air braking, as used at

Statfold Barn. It also has a vacuum ejector and

valve to make it suitable for use on other railways,

including the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland.

On May 2nd this year, Fijian High Commissioner

His Excellency Mr Solo Mara visited Porthmadog to

name the locomotive, pictured right being presented

with a replica name plate by general manager Paul

Lewin and Statfold Barn’s Graham Lee.

Although these railways are some 10,000 miles

away from its own home lines in Fiji, the loco’s

sturdy build and large, powerful boiler should

stand it in good stead in the Welsh mountains.

David Payling wishes to thank John Browning (Brisbane,

Queensland) for help with factual content in the text, and for

editorial support. He also thanks his many friends and colleagues

at Statfold Barn for their assistance.

When the Royal Mail wanted to celebrate the

Classic Locomotives of Wales with four new

stamps, they naturally turned to the F&WHR.

The new stamps complete a series of four which

began with England in 2011, followed by Scotland

in 2012 and Northern Ireland in 2013.

The stamps pay tribute to the workhorses of

Welsh railways in the Classic Locomotives stamp

set. The F&WHR and the Welshpool & Llanfair railway were chosen as the launch locations.

Please

Mr Postman

Fireman Dan Jones and driver Richard Hanlon pose with Blanche for the launch photographs.

Hunslet 589 Blanche stars on the 78p stamp and

the loco was lined up in the same position

featured in the photograph on the stamp, taken 50 years earlier, wearing the very same Y Cymro

(The Welshman) headboard.

Blanche is one of more than twenty Ffestiniog and

Welsh Highland steam engines - some of them

more than 150 years old - that still pull trains

through 40 miles of glorious scenery in the heart

of the Snowdonia National Park

Summer Holiday

While most passengers choose the

comfort of our modern carriages, those

seeking an authentic taste of travel on the

original Welsh Highland in the 1920s can

ride in the ‘Summer Coaches’, Carriages

23 and 24.

The former is a lovingly-restored original

1894 North Wales Narrow Gauge Railway

carriage, while 24 is an identical replica,

built in our own workshops in 2002.

The attention to detail extends to original

pattern curly-spoked wheels, although as

a nod to today’s passenger expectations,

we have fitted glazed doors for those rare

occasions when it rains.

Inset shows the unglazed carriage 26 at

Harbour Station in 1963.

I Can See

Clearly Now

The views from the Ffestiniog Railway are

justly world-famous, but the ideal growing

conditions of Snowdonia mean that nature can

quickly make it rather difficult to see the wood

for the trees.

This winter, a large-scale programme of tree

clearance means that many of the vistas have

been restored to their former glory, as typified

by this view of an FR train passing Llyn Mair,

just above Tan y Bwlch.

It is hard to imagine that this beautiful lake is

artificial, but it was constructed on the orders of

William Oakeley, owner of Plas Tan y Bwlch, as

a 21st birthday present for his daughter Mary.

Today, the lake provides hydro-electric power to

the Snowdonia Study Centre located in

Oakeley’s erstwhile family seat.

The Sun

Goes Down

The town of Porthmadog lies in the shadow of

Moel y Gest, the rocky outcrop at the end of a

ridge once dotted with granite quarries.

The quarries are long since closed, but traces of

the inclines down which the rock was carried

can still be seen.

Whilst small by the standards of Snowdonia,

Moel y Gest comes into its own each evening as

the sun sets.

In the foreground is the fresh water of the Afon

Glaslyn, help back by the mile-long Cob

embankment, providing not only a road and rail

link between the old counties of Merioneth and

Caernarfonshire, but a haven for wildlife.

I can see

for miles

One of the things for which the Ffestiniog Railway is

justly famous is the stunning views of the Dwyryd

Valley to be had from the trains.

Over the years, nature conspired to obscure these as

tree growth gradually covered the slopes below the

railway, but an outbreak of Ash Dieback meant that

over the winter of 2013-2014, many trees were felled

and the view restored.

Here, Merddin Emrys heads a train with the village of

Maentwrog and Plas Tan y Bwlch - once the home of

the slate quarrying Oakeley Family - in the distance.

Southbound

Train

Approaching the mid point of the line at Rhyd Ddu, a Welsh Highland train climbs away from Llyn

Cwellyn, the lake that provides sparkling clear drinking water to Caernarfon.

On the right lie the slate waste heaps of the old quarries the railway was originally built

to serve which have now become as much a part of the landscape as the

mountains and lakes of Snowdonia.

Valley Road

Looking like a model, a Welsh Highland train

heads through the Aberglaslyn Pass.

Trains slow down to walking pace through the Pass

to enable passengers to appreciate the splendour of

what National Trust members have voted the most

scenic spot in the UK.

There is a road through the Pass, but you’d be

crazy to miss the opportunity to see it at its best

from the comfort of one of our trains.

The Welsh Highland has only been open throughout

since 2011, but already the railway has blended in

and become part of the landscape.

Indeed, the Fisherman’s Path between the railway

and the Afon Glaslyn stands out more in this

picture of the Aberglaslyn Pass than the sixty ton

steam locomotive and its ten car train.

In the distance can be seen the imposing peaks of

Moelwyn Mawr and Moelwyn Bach.

Daring

Adventures

From the outset, rebuilding the Ffestiniog

Railway was an adventure like no other. Where

else was there a chance to roll your sleeves up

and rebuild a railway which had inspired the

construction of similar lines in every corner of

the world?

Four decades later, many of those original

volunteers along with a new generation,

returned to North Wales to embark on a new

adventure: the rebuilding of the longest

heritage line in the UK, the Welsh Highland.

As General Manager Paul Lewin says: “We

often try to answer the question: just what is it

that makes people so passionate and become

so strongly attached to our railway?

“Perhaps the answer is the sense of adventure

that we feel as we take part. For some that can

be building a stretch of new line; for others it

can be financial support for something that

will enhance the scene and for many the

opportunity to work with new friends at the

heart of the adventure.

“Many of our standard gauge counterparts rely

on nostalgia for times gone by to encourage

volunteers and supporters. With those folk

who remember steam on British Rail becoming

increasingly rare, they have to look afresh how

they can encourage people to get involved.

“For us things are very different. We could

never really appeal to nostalgia that much and

we don’t try to. Whether we consciously know

it or not, we focus on the adventures and

camaraderie to be enjoyed now. But, most of

all, the real reason to be here centres around

the people you meet and the friends you make.

“As we enter the Diamond Jubilee of the

preservation era, the temptation is concentrate

on the events of 60 years ago.

“But what we should be doing is using our

stories of adventure to inspire the next

generation. We must also take the time to

ensure that when we do encourage people to

join us and support us that we make them feel

part of the team.”

A selection of personal reminiscences of working on the railway. Many more adventures can be found on our website.

Will Jones came from Waunfawr and was on the construction gang that built the WHR

in 1922-23. He was appointed Porter in Charge of Tan y Bwlch station in 1924 and lived

there with his wife Bessie (the 'girl station mistress'). Will became the leading expert on

narrow gauge permanent way and taught many of the post-war revivalists how to lay

and fettle track. He became a full-time employee at a weekly wage of £7. He died in

1981 and is buried alongside his wife at Bettws Garmon Church, close to the WHR.

“I remember one time when I was up at Buarth Melyn above the long tunnel with Griffith Griffiths the

Permanent Way Inspector to look at some of the track. When we had finished we had to walk down to Tan

y Bwlch and we were thinking we'd have to walk over the hill above the tunnel, but when we got to

Moelwyn there was still smoke in the tunnel from the down train which had been a bit late.

As the trains passed at Minffordd, we though it would be safe enough to walk through; it was a bit wet you

know, but we were used to it. Well, when we were about half way through there was a sudden noise and it

was black at the bottom end of the tunnel, and we realised that with the down train being late they'd

passed at Tan y Bwlch and here was the up train.

We tried to shout to the stoker, but there was too much noise and he couldn't hear us, so I jumped in the

only hole there was at the side of the tunnel, and Griffith Griffiths jumped in on top of me. I was thinner

then, but I was never so nearly squashed in my life, and we both breathed out hard as the train came to

us. I could feel Griffith Griffiths being pulled by all the door handles, and it was a long train with a double

engine too.

As soon as it was past we took breath and fell a-coughing for the the smoke from the engine. We were

gasping all the way to the bottom of the tunnel, and when we got there, never did you see such a pair of

chimney sweeps.

And Griffith Griffiths was a great fat man with round stomach, and look, all his waistcoat buttons were

pulled off him.”

Joe Scott: I was first introduced to the Ffestiniog

Railway by Eileen & Neil Clayton, who are active

volunteers on the railway. My first involvement with

the railway was sitting in their garden from the age

of two and watching the trains pass by from my

pram. My mum tried to take me down to Black

Rock beach for a change, but apparently I preferred

to watch the trains.

I started volunteering on the railway in 1996 on

Kid’s Week when I was just 6 years old. I’d travel

down to Boston Lodge in the morning on the works

train, do half a day’s work, and then go off for a

train ride in the afternoon.

Half a day’s work was an instruction rather than a

choice until I was a little older, and I undertook my

first full Kid’s Week in 2001. One of my first jobs on

the railway was painting the notice board for

Boston Lodge Halt, this was one of the more

glamorous jobs believe it or not.

In 2003, I started becoming a more active

volunteer. I started working within the Commercial

Department as a Buffet Steward and also a Booking

Office Clerk. In 2006 I was offered my first of many

seasonal contracts with the railway. Getting paid

for a hobby – great!

Challenge

In 2008, I fancied a new challenge and so I began

training as a Guard. I progressed through the

Operating Department over the years and in 2010

I qualified as a Controller, responsible for the

operation & safety of the 40 mile railway.

I have also made other contributions to the railway

including organising staff social events. These

events give something back to the volunteers who

give up their time to keep the railway running,

whilst at the same time raising extra money for the

Ffestiniog Railway Society.

I have also organised two photo charters, helping

keep the railway in the press and also provide an

additional income over the winter season.

I have gained a lot from my railway adventure

including friendship, essential skills, and a vast

amount of experience, all of which have helped me

in the outside world. In 2012 I decided to pursue a

career within the railway industry and started as a

Conductor for First TransPennine Express.

I have recently progressed into a new role as a Train

Service Controller, which means that I am now

responsible for traffic and resource management

across the TransPennine network and also for First

Hull Trains.

Emma Baxendale: I still remember my first day

volunteering at the railway. I was eight years old

and where we were going was a surprise. It didn't

disappoint. My first job was weeding the ground

frame flower bed in Port with Janet Towers.

I stayed in Penrhyn hostel in a red bunk bed.

Twenty years later, almost to the day, I lay in that

same bunk bed and thought about what had

changed - and what had not.

I've done many things at the railway over the years,

starting as a Parks & Gardens kid and doing all the

various things that included. Gardening, painting,

bush bashing, painting, helping to build the new

hostel, painting, the list goes on.

Kids’ Week was always the highlight of the summer,

with various cousins joining in as they became old

enough. I've moved round various departments,

starting with marketing with Eamon and Lou, then

moving on to working in the booking office and on

buffet cars (Mince says I taught him everything he

knows). Then I went to the works.

That was when the fun really began.

Messing about with slate wagons was really useful

for learning skills that the average girl doesn't really

get to do. Gas cutting, drilling holes in bits of metal

(I did a lot of that), cleaning engines, the odd bit of

firing and helping to build double engine tanks, not

to mention the joys of pylon paint (it doesn't come

out of your hair).

Life skills

An important part of all of this has been the friends

that I've made and the life skills I've picked up

along the way. Aside from the usual teenage

dramas, I have friends and acquaintances of all

ages and backgrounds, and some friends made for

life. I'm hard to offend and get on with most people.

While all of these things make for an interesting

and colourful CV (you've done what?!) it's certainly

the life skills bit that has helped me most in my

working life. Before I started volunteering at the

railway I was quite a shy little thing.

Being a P&G kid helped to bring me out of my shell,

and by the time I'd finished at Boston Lodge I was

hardly what you’d call shy.

I do believe that without this I wouldn't be doing

what I do today. I'd never have gone to university or

had the self confidence to even apply for most of the

jobs that I've had. I now work in the heritage

industry, something I've always wanted to do.

My passion for old things was certainly cultivated

by my time at the railway, and helped me fix on

what I wanted to do with my life - handy, as I'm not

particularly ambitious.

To me, it's also living proof that the past and the

'old' are also vital for the future and should not be

forgotten. The railway can be a bit of a rollercoaster,

but the ups always outweigh the downs.

While illness has got in the way of my volunteering

of late and I've moved on to the gentler, more

refined art of sign writing, there are important

things I've learned along the way - what goes down

always comes back up.

Even if you don't see your friends for long periods of

time they are always there. Girls can do anything,

and while the Linda is a fine machine, it would still

look better in blue...

Emma Baxendale and Daniel Ellis pictured in 2001.

Left: Elizabeth Griffiths, John Catchpole, Joe Scott,

Tim Puddephatt and Patience Eastwood in 2001.

Peter George: I first

became aware of the

Ffestiniog Railway

when I was three and

my father, a cleric,

returned from a weeks

volunteering. It was

something he had been

doing since the year of

my birth, having been

introduced to the railway by Howard Wilson, the

current society chairman's father-in-law.

At the agreed age of eleven I accompanied my father

on what was my first week’s volunteering on the FR.

I worked in the shops and car parks before moving

to Boston Lodge, qualifying as a fireman in 1976

and volunteering regularly until 1983.

I had four years earlier joined the Royal Air Force

as an Apprentice Engineering Technician. On

completion of my training, where I had been

blessed with plenty of leave, I had subsequently

been commissioned and in 1984 I started aircrew

training and opportunities for visiting the railway

became very rare indeed.

However training as aircrew was not without its

compensations and on a number of 'self planned

low level sorties' I transpired to devise a route with

maximum 'loiter' time over the railway at 250 feet.

It was during these that I did practice-bombing

runs on Garnedd Tunnel and my pilots took the

opportunity to practice strafing runs on FR trains.

However it was not the only time I over flew the FR.

My last flight as aircrew in the Royal Air Force was

in a maritime patrol aircraft on a practice in-flight

refuelling sortie off the Cornish coast involving a

transit down and back to our base in the North of

Scotland. Yet again reasons were provided as to why

we should include some low level transit as part of

the overall sortie. I have to say the view from the

Cob is magnificent but the view of the Cob from a

few hundred feet is equally stunning.

I worked with and for many people, some are still

around whilst others are no longer with us. My life

has been better for making their acquaintance for

many reasons, without the railway and its unique

engineering this would never have happened.

Married life and a civilian career further limited

opportunities to visit my favourite railway, but now

the children have grown up, I am a grandfather to

three grand daughters and my wife and I are now

lucky enough to be able to spend plenty of time in

North Wales as we count down on the fingers of

one hand the years to retirement and the luxury of

having the FR running past the bottom of the

garden of our retirement home.

Why would I go to such lengths to want to be near

the FR? Because I recognise the faces on the people

on the railway, some I have known for decades, and

I feel at home. It's a community, a railway

community, one we have already introduced to two

of our grand daughters and we look forward to the

time when they can take part in Kids’ Week just as

our elder daughter did.

And yes I think I do know who the bemused drivers

were on the engines and trains we strafed – to you a

much belated apology for the shock we must have

caused. But it was all jolly good fun and how many

other volunteers can claim to have done this?

Bob Battersby: In

1975 I read an article

about the Deviation in

the Sunday Times.

In those pre-Internet

days I rang the

contact number and

asked if, over the

Easter holidays, I

could come and take

part in what sounded like a fantastic project.

Taking the train from Surrey, I finally arrived at

Blaenau (via Crewe and Llandudno) and set off, as

instructed, round the back of the power station and

over the mountain.

Wearing my Belstaff jacket, PVC waterproof trousers

and lugging my mother's Norwegian rucksack the

trek seemed to go on forever. Finally, I crested the

final hill and saw the old army hut standing at the

end of the line.

I was met by Bunny Lewis, who handed me a shovel

and told me to find some mud. We proceeded to a

particularly large boulder upon which Bunny stuck

some explosive, packed it down with my mud and lit

the fuse. 'Start walking' he said, setting off briskly.

As the debris rained down I realised that I had

passed the first test - I was a 'Deviationist'. I stayed

up there for about ten days, during which we were

visited by one of the regular weekend groups from

Bristol and another from London.

During that visit I mainly worked with Romulus and

Remus, the pair of four wheel drive dump trucks,

on the footings for the station at Llyn Ystradau near

the new pumped-storage power station. ►

Tatiana Kotrikova: I am a volunteer on the

permanent way gang on the Ffestiniog Railway.

I commenced my studies at the Railway University

in Russia back in 2002 which really started my

passion for railways.

Since coming to the UK in 2007, I have worked for

several railway organisations including London

Underground, South West Trains and Network

Rail. I am currently a Project Manager for Colas

Rail in the Electrification Projects Division.

I first started volunteering on the Ffestiniog

Railway in 2010 while I was studying for my

Masters Degree in Construction Management and,

since graduating in October 2013, I am now able to

spend much more time working on the FR, which

I not only find very fulfilling, but also great fun.

◄ Particular memories are of the drain-destroying

curries, the cheap beer in the hut, 'gravitating'

down the line to catch the Sunday beer train and

staggering back up the line a few hours later.

The next year I returned with my girlfriend for

another stint. By then the Cornish tin miners where

progressing well with the tunnel and we spent our

time bringing out spoil and putting it through the

shaker to make ballast.

Each day we had to walk down to Dduallt to throw

sheep back over the sheep-proof fence to clear the

line. By some miracle, we suspected aided and

abetted by person or persons unknown, a handful

of sheep still appeared on the track every morning.

Each evening the miners would blast the tunnel -

the shock waves making everything in the hut rattle

before one of us would accompany them into the

tunnel to check that all the charges had gone off. I

don't think we had heard of Health and Safety then.

Happy memories of going to the pub in Blaenau in

the back of a Land Rover pickup and walking down

past Colonel Campbell's to the pubs in Maentwrog,

followed by the long walk back counting sleepers in

the pitch black and hearing the expletives in the

darkness as someone inevitably missed their step.

I finally got to travel the whole route in 1983 - the

Deviationists hut was long gone and most of my

hard work buried under concrete.

On 30th October 2010 the first train ran through

from Caernarfon to Porthmadog on the reopened

Welsh Highland Railway. To rebuild 25 miles of

narrow gauge railway shut for over 70 years was

quite an effort; to find the £26.5m to do it was more

like a miracle. The first 12 miles from Caernarfon to

Rhyd Ddu, completed in 2003, was difficult.

The worst aspect of the project to build the first 12

miles was the fact that the destination, though one

of the most splendid of mountainsides, was not the

one that people wanted to go to enough to sustain a

tourist railway. Only a mile or two away, at the top

of the summit of Snowdon, at an even bleaker

terminal, there were plenty of people who wanted to

go there! Down below, there was really only one

answer - to push on to Porthmadog.

The far-sighted Welsh Government, under Rhodri

Morgan, was prepared to support the extension.

Flagging numbers at Rhyd Ddu meant that it

needed to happen quickly. The Ffestiniog Railway

was not in a position to finance the restoration of

the remaining thirteen miles of railway. The first

estimate for the job was £10.8m and an offer of a

grant for half was made. £6m had to be raised

before any work could start. Miracles began with

£5m of the matching funding, promised from a

small number of people who wanted to see it

happen, and were prepared to support it

generously. Public donors were estimated to offer

£330k, if they could be persuaded to give, with the

balance to be found from the Ffestiniog and Welsh

Highland Societies and from volunteering, thus

achieving the gateway figure.

Extensive press coverage of the Welsh Highland

Railway restoration story greatly assisted the

launch of the appeal for funds, which raised £1m

in six months and thereafter increased steadily to

£2m. This exceeded the original estimate by seven

times. Of course the initial estimates for rebuilding

also rose throughout the project, eventually

reaching £15.2m, but the wide public support for

the project continued.

Firstly on such a big project, it was clear that as

money was short, if it wasn't essential then the

restorers did not build it. Thus the Welsh Highland

Railway reached Porthmadog as a 'basic railway'

and began service in October 2010 culminating in a

line through the streets of Porthmadog, joining the

Ffestiniog Railway part-way down the Harbour

Station Platform. It was not 'finished', but trains

could be run. However the job to be finished so that

the railway could be sustainable.

Any doubts about the wisdom of the extension

disappeared when in the month of April 2009,

7,000 people booked from Caernarfon to the newly

reopened Beddgelert Station, and this had grown to

70,000 in the first year, and reached 85,000 in

2011, with the two openings to Pont Croesor and

then Porthmadog.

In Porthmadog there was a need to shunt all Welsh

Highland trains from the Cob, back into

Porthmadog platform, and vice versa on departure -

this required a shunt engine, was very ponderous,

and meant that only one train could be in the

station at a time. So there was no connection

between trains, although they could run through.

This needed to be put right but again there was no

money. So in 2011 a new 'Phase 5' scheme was

launched, but this time to try to find the matched

funding for the rebuilding of Porthmadog Station.

A grant was made available for this important task,

this time from the National Station Improvement

Programme, and there was much raising ►

Diamonds

are Forever

◄ of eyebrows about why a little narrow gauge

railway outfit should get it. Of course, the traffic

handled at Porthmadog is more than at Llandudno

and is three times larger than Porthmadog

Cambrian Station. Steam Railway magazine readers

became subscribers to the scheme, which has

raised just under £1m - even during a recession.

Important PhD research at the University of Bangor

concluded that the two railways taken together

would offer £14m generated income to the local

economy each year. Since opening throughout, that

figure has gone up considerably – last year, the two

railways generated more than £25 million - £250 for

every man, woman and child in Gwynedd and

created around 350 additional jobs in the area on

top of the 85 directly employed full time staff. The

railways' income is ploughed back into the business

and provides the resources to buy the important

things that are needed, like new rails and sleepers.

Thus the grant of public and EU funds to restore

the Welsh Highland has amply repaid itself, and

will continue to do so.

Porthmadog Harbour Station opened in spring

2014, allowing Welsh Highland and a Ffestiniog

train to be handled at the same time. It is quite

splendid and is complete with signal box, and an

array of superb original style semaphore signals to

come. The whole site follows the Ffestiniog policy of

maintaining a traditional look but using new

technology to the full. So in the wooden signal box,

a reclaimed Westinghouse frame controls advanced

motor points, and electrically operated semaphores,

with LED lights in them for clarity and reliability.

First step

Rebuilding Porthmadog Harbour Station is only the

first step, as there are still other very important

things that the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland

Railways have to do in order to finish the job of

restoring both Railways and to make them

sustainable. Less beautiful by far than the new

Porthmadog semaphore signals, but arguably more

important as a source of income and satisfaction,

are comfortable and attractive booking, restaurant,

personal amenities and shop facilities. The grant

and the subscriptions may stretch to the

operational fabric of the station, but it still doesn't

cover the improvement works that need to be done

to serve the huge increase in visitor numbers.

The other two terminals at Caernarfon and Blaenau

Ffestiniog also demand attention. Caernarfon was

always a compromise. The whispered dreams of

those who want to see the standard gauge railway

restored from Caernarfon to Bangor are now voices

clearly heard. And why not? The passenger

numbers at Bangor Station have nearly doubled to

700,000 in a decade. A colossal 65% of visitors from

outside Wales visit a tourist railway, and 23% of

residents do as well! Historic properties attract 19%

of overseas visitors, so on those figures restoring

the railway link with Bangor sounds better value for

money. The F&WHR intends to invest in a better

offer at Caernarfon on the current site. Since the

arrival of the new railway, Caernarfon is no longer a

town with only one tourist attraction, and the

massive car park under the brooding walls of the

Castle houses ranks of cars whose passengers are

not taking up space on the roads of the National

Park.

At the other end of the 'empire', 40 miles away,

Blaenau Ffestiniog rail traffic at the station has

almost doubled since 2004, and there are prospects

for more to come, as there are many car-borne

visitors already on the doorstep enjoying the

famous Llechwedd Slate Caverns. An enhanced

narrow gauge station increases the likelihood of

increased patronage for two lines joined together as

an attraction on the Swiss scale of tourism, offering

comfortable steam train journeys though the

magnificent Welsh mountain scenery. ►

◄ This year marks the Diamond Jubilee of the year

in which Alan Pegler found the money needed to

gain control of the Festiniog Railway Company.

All the traditions that began sixty years ago thrive

today. The Ffestiniog has always been feisty, and

the tradition of young people volunteering on the

railways flourishes. Traffic is on the up.

Nice though the vintage carriages are - and the

Ffestiniog has some historic gems - today's

customers prefer to travel in corridor coaches.

At least 14 new cars are needed, and the build

programme has begun. The Ffestiniog Railway

Society has worked hard to support funding for one

car per year. The growing traffic demands a faster

rate than this. To be sustainable the railways must

have six train sets of modern carriages, ideally each

with a first class/Pullman observation car, and the

money needs to be found to build them.

In the summer, every day, three train sets operate

on the Ffestiniog, and two on the Welsh Highland.

This requires three steam locomotives on the

Ffestiniog, and two on the Welsh Highland. The

traffic on offer demands twelve car trains on the

Ffestiniog, and ten car trains on the WHR.

This is 'mainline' narrow gauge and there's nothing

quite like it in the world. It was thought that three

double Fairlie locomotives would never be needed

on the Ffestiniog: there are now three. Only they

can handle the heavy summer trains and if they are

not available, then it has to be double-heading.

Only South African Railways NGG16 Garratts can

handle ten-car trains up the 1:40 gradients on the

Welsh Highland, and those locos are averaging

15,000 miles a year each. If the WHR traffic keeps

growing, then three Garratts will be needed for

three train sets, every day: not two.

The importance of providing a robust and powerful

locomotive fleet is a core priority, one that everyone

has a delight in supporting. However, finding

somewhere to put them is another matter. The fleet

is expanding, and it has outgrown the facilities at

Boston Lodge. An NG/G16 is so huge that it cannot

fit in the existing sheds without removal of its

chimney! New locomotive sheds are vital and a plan

to build a new facility at Boston Lodge is underway,

but it needs funding. Likewise the depot at Dinas

has been expanded - but more is needed. Soon, a

powerful NG15 2-8-2 will join the fleet.

On the two railways 56 carriages are required daily.

There is a covered carriage shed at Boston Lodge for

12 cars. At Dinas another 18 cars sleep under

cover, however a third WHR train set makes a

drama into a crisis. Leaving carriages in the open at

Porthmadog exposes them to the sea air.

This reduces the overhaul time to approximately

ten years. At that rate the workshop will have to

deal with nearly seven carriages per year. Storage

under cover will increase the overhaul period to 15

years - four per year. Cover is essential for all.

Building new car sheds is therefore a priority, for

which the money must be found, in order for the

railway to remain sustainable.

The list of things that are needed is long but the

object is a railway that can sustain itself into the

future. The 40 mile railway is now a reality. To help

it to prosper and remain in being requires an

investment of some £8.45m over the next ten years

or so. This will allow all to 'Finish the Job'. It will

equip the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways

to handle the growth it needs to earn the money to

sustain itself. Here are the reasons for the Diamond

Jubilee Appeal for the new Ffestiniog Railway.

Who could possibly have known that what Alan

Pegler started with £3,000 in 1954 would lead to

such a dazzling success?

Gordon Rushton

Opposite: Coed y Bleiddiau, The Wood of the Wolves,

where legend has it the last wolf in Wales met its end.

The isolated house here is being restored as a luxury holiday

cottage, only accessible on foot or by rail.

Keeper of

the Castle

Penrhyn Castle, near Bangor, was originally a

medieval fortified manor house. The present

building was created between about 1822 and 1837

for George Hay Dawkins-Pennant, who inherited

the Penrhyn estate on the death of his second

cousin, Richard Pennant, who had made his

fortune from Jamaican sugar and local slate

quarries including Penrhyn.

Hugh Napier Douglas-Pennant, 4th Lord Penrhyn,

died in 1949, and the castle and estate passed to

his niece, Lady Janet Pelham, who adopted the

surname of Douglas-Pennant.

In 1951 the castle and 40,000 acres of land were

accepted by the Treasury in lieu of death duties

from Lady Janet. It now belongs to the National

Trust and is open to the public. Amongst Penrhyn's

many attractions is an industrial railway museum.

One of the Penrhyn Quarry locos was named Hugh

Napier after the fourth lord and started work at

Penrhyn Quarry in 1904. After 50 years of hard

work, it was deemed to be worn out and in 1954

was dumped on a siding awaiting its fate.

But somehow the loco escaped the scrapman's

torch and was given to Penrhyn Castle Industrial

Railway Museum in 1966.

Former quarryman Iorwerth Jones and the

curatorial team at Penrhyn Castle spent many

years gathering together all the missing parts

needed to return Hugh Napier to steam. He was

determined that the engine should be restored and

was behind several attempts to move things forward

over thirty years.

Sadly the extra effort he planned to put in to finish

the job when he retired never happened as he died

shortly after retiring.

But friends and supporters were determined that

his work would not be in vain and engineers at the

Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railway's Boston

Lodge Works were asked to finish the job started by

Iorwerth, the loco being delivered to the works in

July 2011. In 2012 Hugh Napier was back in action

after being blessed by the Bishop of Bangor

The diminutive locomotive is now based on the

F&WHR, where it is used for light duties and on

special occasions. Hugh Napier is also a roving

ambassador for the National Trust, visiting

locations around the UK.

The loco is pictured left on a visit to Penrhyn Castle

in August 2012.

Light my Fire

Amongst the locomotives at the Railway Museum

in Penrhyn Castle sits an engine that was

miraculously saved from being scrapped, was

lovingly restored and is the oldest surviving

locomotive in North Wales.

Built by Alfred Horlock’s marine engineering

company on the Thames in 1848, the Fire Queen's

duties were to haul slate wagons from the quarries

at Llanberis down to the top of the incline above

Port Dinorwic (Felinheli).

The wagons were then lowered down a steep incline

to the port, from where the slates were shipped all

over the world. Slates for use in mainland Britain

could also be transported by standard gauge

railway from 1850 onwards.

The engine ran on 4ft gauge track, and is built

without any frames, all the important parts being

bolted directly to the boiler. It looks more like a

traction engine than a railway engine. Coal and

water were carried in a tender which is a standard

gauge tender adapted for the four foot gauge.

Along with its sister engine Jenny Lind, (a famous

opera singer of the time), it was in service from

1848 until 1882 when more modern engines were

delivered and took over its duties.

Jenny Lind was unfortunately scrapped, but one of

the quarry owner’s daughters wanted to start a

small museum, so Fire Queen was put in a small

engine-shed in Llanberis. It was looked after there

by the quarry apprentices for many years, but as

the quarry’s fortunes dwindled so did the attention

given to the Fire Queen.

In 1963 an American museum wanted to buy the

loco, but Tom Rolt, founder of the Talyllyn Railway

Preservation Society, persuaded Sir John Smith,

the MP for Merioneth at the time, to buy the engine

because of its historical importance. This he did,

but it still lay in its little engine shed in Llanberis.

When the quarries were closed in 1969, a new home

had to be found for it. Fortunately the National

Trust’s Railway Museum at Penrhyn Castle was just

being formed, and Sir John Smith kindly agreed for

the locomotive to be loaned to the National Trust.

When the engine first arrived at the Castle it was in

a very sorry state after almost 70 years of neglect.

Since then the museum, assisted by many

volunteers, has lovingly repaired and repainted it to

bring it back to its former glory.

It is now part of a small but historically important

collection of locomotives and rolling stock in the

Penrhyn Castle Railway Museum.

The Museum is located in the stable yard next to

the Coffee Shop, along with a collection of model

engines and railway paraphernalia.

The Museum, stable yard, coffee shop and garden

are open daily all year round except Christmas Day

and offers a great experience for both the expert

and novice loco enthusiast.

For more information call 01248 353084

www.nationaltrust/penrhyncastle.org.uk

BH

IAC

TLC4 Design & Edit: Andrew Thomas Pictures: Ben Abbott, James King, Cătălin Munteanu, Chris Parry, Gilbert Roscoe, Eddy Reynolds, Alasdair Stewart, Andrew Thomas, Visit Wales, FR Archive

Published May 2014 by Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railway, Harbour Station, Porthmadog, Gwynedd LL49 9NF

ISSN 2047-024X 01766 516024 www.festrail.co.uk