| Welsh Highland Railway Rheilffordd Eryri (Welsh) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Locale | Wales |
| Terminus | Caernarfon and Porthmadog |
| Commercial operations | |
| Name | Welsh Highland Railway Company |
| Built by | North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways (NWNGR), Welsh Highland Railway |
| Original gauge | 1 ft 11+1⁄2 in (597 mm) |
| Preserved operations | |
| Operated by | Festiniog Railway Company and Welsh Highland Railway Limited |
| Stations | 13 on WHR/RhE and 3 on WHHR |
| Length | 25 miles (40.2 km) and 0.75 mi (1.2 km) |
| Preserved gauge | 1 ft 11+1⁄2 in (597 mm) |
| Commercial history | |
| Opened | 1922 |
| Closed | 1937 |
| Preservation history | |
| 1961 | Welsh Highland Railway Society formed |
| 1964 | WHR Society reformed as Welsh Highland Light Railway (1964) Limited |
| 1980 | WHR Limited line opened for passenger service |
| 1990 | FR Co. became involved |
| 11 October 1997 | WHR (Caernarfon) opened from Caernarfon to Dinas[1] |
| 7 August 2000 | Reopened – Dinas to Waunfawr[2] |
| 18 August 2003 | Reopened – Waunfawr to Rhyd Ddu[3] |
| 7 April 2009 | Reopened – Rhyd Ddu to Beddgelert[4] |
| 21 May 2009 | Reopened – Beddgelert to Hafod y Llyn[4] |
| 27 May 2010 | Reopened – Hafod y Llyn to Pont Croesor |
| 4 January 2011 | Reopened – Pont Creosor to Porthmadog Harbour |
| 19 February 2011 | First through public passenger trains between Porthmadog and Caernarfon |
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The Welsh Highland Railway (WHR; Welsh: Rheilffordd Eryri) is a 25-mile (40.2 km) long, restored 1 ft 11+1⁄2 in (597 mm) narrow gauge heritage railway in the Welsh county of Gwynedd, operating from Caernarfon to Porthmadog, and passing through a number of popular tourist destinations including Beddgelert and the Aberglaslyn Pass. At Porthmadog it connects with the Ffestiniog Railway and to the short Welsh Highland Heritage Railway.[a] In Porthmadog it uses the United Kingdom's only mixed gauge flat rail crossing.
The restoration, which had the civil engineering mainly built by contractors and the track mainly built by volunteers, received a number of awards. Originally running from Dinas, near Caernarfon, to Porthmadog Harbour,[5] the current line includes an additional section from Dinas to Caernarfon. The original line also had a branch to Bryngwyn and the slate quarries around Moel Tryfan, which has not been restored. (This branch forms a footpath "rail trail", the lower section of which has been resurfaced and supplied with heritage notice-boards.)
There is also the 3⁄4-mile (1.2 km) long Welsh Highland Heritage Railway which runs from Porthmadog along the trackbed of the former Cambrian Railways exchange siding and connects to the WHR main line at Pen-y-Mount junction.
- ^ "Rebuilding the Welsh Highland Railway Phase 1: Caernarfon to Dinas, 1997". Retrieved 3 September 2011.
- ^ "Rebuilding the Welsh Highland Railway Phase 2: Dinas to Waunfawr, 1999/2000". Retrieved 3 September 2011.
- ^ "Phase 3: Waunfawr to Rhyd Ddu, 2000-3 Opening Day, August 18th 2003". Retrieved 3 September 2011.
- ^ a b "The WHR Project: Phase 4 – Completing the Welsh Highland Railway". Retrieved 1 March 2009.
- ^ Boyd (1972), pages=283
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