Welsh Highland Railway
The Welsh Highland Railway is a 25-mile, 1 ft 11½ in narrow-gauge railway in north-west Wales, running through the heart of Snowdonia (Eryri) National Park between Caernarfon on the Menai Strait and Porthmadog on Cardigan Bay, where it connects with the Ffestiniog Railway. At 25 miles it is Britain's longest heritage railway, and the combined Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland operation provides 38 miles of through narrow-gauge running.
The line is the rebuilt and substantially extended version of the original Welsh Highland Railway, opened progressively from 1922 to a complex history that combined the earlier North Wales Narrow Gauge Railway, the Croesor Tramway, and the Portmadoc, Beddgelert and South Snowdon Railway. The original line closed in 1937 after consistent financial failure. The rebuild was undertaken by the Ffestiniog Railway from the 1990s onwards in a remarkable reverse-engineering project, opening progressively from 1997 (Caernarfon end) and 2003 (Beddgelert) before achieving through running from Caernarfon to Porthmadog in 2011.
The line is famously hauled by powerful NGG16 Beyer-Garratt articulated locomotives originally built for South African Railways, fully overhauled and bringing them back to almost the conditions for which the gauge was originally designed.
History
The original Welsh Highland Railway (1922) was a complex amalgamation of earlier narrow-gauge concerns intended to provide a through route through Snowdonia. It was always financially marginal and closed in 1937. After the line's closure, much of the trackbed was preserved through fortuitous local ownership. From the late 1980s onwards, the Ffestiniog Railway led an ambitious project to rebuild the entire line. The Caernarfon to Dinas section reopened in 1997, with progressive extensions to Rhyd Ddu (2003), Beddgelert (2009), and finally through to Porthmadog (2011), completing one of the largest railway construction projects in Britain since the Channel Tunnel.
Original line history
The line had several predecessor concerns: the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways (1877, Dinas to Rhyd Ddu / Snowdon Ranger), the Portmadoc, Beddgelert and South Snowdon Railway (intended but never completed), and the Croesor Tramway (industrial). These were combined in 1922 as the Welsh Highland Railway, but the through line through Beddgelert was always uneconomic. The line closed in 1937 with the rolling stock dispersed to other narrow-gauge concerns.
Stations and infrastructure
Caernarfon is the northern terminus, on the site of the former LNWR standard-gauge station. Beddgelert is the principal intermediate village, in spectacular scenery beneath Mount Snowdon. Pont Croesor is a flag stop at the RSPB osprey-watching site. Porthmadog Harbour is the southern terminus, shared with the Ffestiniog Railway.
Route and stations
Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors
Special events and operations
Events include the Snowdonia Star (gala weekends), dining trains (Pullman service), Driver Experience courses, and Santa Specials. The "WHR Quail" through journey from Caernarfon to Porthmadog is a 5-hour scenic experience, with the option to continue through to Blaenau Ffestiniog on the Ffestiniog.
Visitor information
Caernarfon is reached via TfW bus from Bangor (which has direct trains from London Euston via Crewe). Porthmadog is on the Cambrian Coast Line. Through-tickets are available from the national network.