Welsh Highland Railway

Welsh Highland Railway
Rheilffordd Eryri (Welsh)
LocaleWales
TerminusCaernarfon and Porthmadog
Commercial operations
NameWelsh Highland Railway Company
Built byNorth Wales Narrow Gauge Railways (NWNGR), Welsh Highland Railway
Original gauge1 ft 11+12 in (597 mm)
Preserved operations
Operated byFestiniog Railway Company and Welsh Highland Railway Limited
Stations13 on WHR/RhE and 3 on WHHR
Length25 miles (40.2 km) and 0.75 mi (1.2 km)
Preserved gauge1 ft 11+12 in (597 mm)
Commercial history
Opened1922
Closed1937
Preservation history
1961Welsh Highland Railway Society formed
1964WHR Society reformed as Welsh Highland Light Railway (1964) Limited
1980WHR Limited line opened for passenger service
1990FR Co. became involved
11 October 1997WHR (Caernarfon) opened from Caernarfon to Dinas[1]
7 August 2000Reopened – Dinas to Waunfawr[2]
18 August 2003Reopened – Waunfawr to Rhyd Ddu[3]
7 April 2009Reopened – Rhyd Ddu to Beddgelert[4]
21 May 2009Reopened – Beddgelert to Hafod y Llyn[4]
27 May 2010Reopened – Hafod y Llyn to Pont Croesor
4 January 2011Reopened – Pont Creosor to Porthmadog Harbour
19 February 2011First through public passenger trains between Porthmadog and Caernarfon
Welsh Highland Railway
Caernarfon
Bontnewydd
Dinas
Braich | Moel Tryfan
slate quarries
Alexandra (Crown) | Fron
slate quarries
Bryngwyn
Rhostryfan
Tryfan Junction
Waunfawr
Bettws Garmon
Salem Halt
Plas-y-Nant
Snowdon Ranger
Rhyd Ddu
Pitt's Head
Hafod Ruffydd Halt
Meillionen
(forest campsite)
Beddgelert
Goat Tunnel (T1)
Aberglaslyn Tunnel (T2)
Aberglaslyn Tunnel (T3)
The Long Tunnel (T4)
Nantmor
Hafod y Llyn
Hafod Garregog Halt
Croesor Junction Halt
Ynysfor Halt
Pont Croesor
Portmadoc New (1933)
Cambrian Line
to Pwllheli & Shrewsbury
(
Cae Pawb
crossing
)
Portmadoc New (1923)
Britannia Bridge
over Afon Glaslyn
&
Level Crossing
AOCL
Porthmadog Harbour
Detailed diagram
This is not intended as a route map as defined
by outside sources; rather, is intended to show
as much trackwork, current and historic, as
possible.
headshunt
Caernarfon
Bontnewydd
Dinas North Works sidings
Dinas
Dinas South Works sidings
Braich│Moel Tryfan SQ
Alexandra (Crown)│Fron SQ
Bryngwyn
Rhostryfan
Tryfan Junction
(derelict station building)
Bryngwyn Branch
Waunfawr
Bettws Garmon
(derelict station building)
Hafod-y-Wern SQ branch
Plas-y-Nant
Snowdon Ranger
Glanrafon SQ sidings
Rhyd Ddu
Rhyd Ddu Works sidings
Pitt's Head
Summit Cutting
Meillionen
Beddgelert
Goat Tunnel
Tunnel 2
Tunnel 3
Tunnel 4
Nantmor
Hafod y Llyn
Afon Glaslyn & others
Pont Croesor
Pen-y-Mount
Tremadog Road
Cambrian Crossing
(Network Rail)
Harbour Station
(FR)

The Welsh Highland Railway (WHR; Welsh: Rheilffordd Eryri) is a 25-mile (40.2 km) long, restored 1 ft 11+12 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 34-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.

  1. ^ "Rebuilding the Welsh Highland Railway Phase 1: Caernarfon to Dinas, 1997". Retrieved 3 September 2011.
  2. ^ "Rebuilding the Welsh Highland Railway Phase 2: Dinas to Waunfawr, 1999/2000". Retrieved 3 September 2011.
  3. ^ "Phase 3: Waunfawr to Rhyd Ddu, 2000-3 Opening Day, August 18th 2003". Retrieved 3 September 2011.
  4. ^ a b "The WHR Project: Phase 4 – Completing the Welsh Highland Railway". Retrieved 1 March 2009.
  5. ^ Boyd (1972), pages=283


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