October - Intercity Railway Society

Days Out - 2
Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways 5-7 th Sep 2011 by Andy Woodcock:
I decided to go to North Wales to achieve my second aim of 2011 to travel the full length of the Welsh
Highland Railway (WHR). The best way was to travel to and stop in Porthmadog. The hotels in the
town are not cheap but this was offset by being able to avoid parking charges of £7.50 a day. I
travelled out on the 5 th via Llandudno Jnct and on to Blaenau to catch the Ffestiniog Railway (FR) to
Porthmadog. Officially this year the rover ticket allows you 50% off on both railways but some on train
staff are still using last year’s free travel on the FR. On the FR two Fairlies, ‘Blanche’ and ‘Linda’ were
in use. Stock was seen at Minfford and Boston Lodge.
In Porthmadog there had been heavy rainfall which continued overnight. In view of the weather I
booked in to my hotel and returned to the railway’s Spooners Bar. It makes a substantial contribution
to the railways finances. Alcohol is cheaper than in town and the meals are excellent value as
evidenced by plenty of customers including public, enthusiasts and railway staff after work, the latter
being a good advert. One interesting feature of the Bar is ‘Princess’ an 0-4-0STT in one corner, ed !!
Tuesday 6 th was my day on the WHR with 2 Garratts in use. The day was reasonably dry and the ride
was well worth the money. The scenery was unbelievable with streams and rivers like torrents, fields
flooded with animals stranded on islands, cascading water down the hillsides, hilltops partly shrouded
in mist but with sun glinting through. Truly a memorable trip.
To travel the full line you need to be on the first morning train and the last one back at night. Other
trains stop and start at Pont except for a teatime diesel hauled shuttle in the high season only. The
train working is interesting. The train loco draws the train into the main station and when ready to
leave any available loco attaches at the rear and draws the train onto the Cob where it then detaches
and the train proceeds through the town. On return the same routine takes place.
On my trip due to heavy flooding including the
car park, the open top bus shuttle between Pont
and Porthmadog was cancelled (the details of
this service are not on the main train timetable
but hidden away on another page). Our bus
was replaced by a two coach train top & tailed
by 0-6-0DH ‘Criccieth Castle’ & Bo-Bo ‘Vale of
Ffestiniog’. Someone with a sense of humour
had made a notice ‘BUS REPLACEMENT
SERVICE’ for the cab of Criccieth Castle’ (see
photo right, from Andy Woodcock) which
amused us all.
O n arrival back in Porthmadog I walked to the
BR station and caught a Cl.158 to Minfford. I
was able to ride the FR back to town and check
locos etc I had seen. Then the teatime diesel
Shuttle to Pont and back. After this I retired to
Spooners Bar to eat and drink.
On Wed 7 th I decided to catch the bus to Bangor, in case the Conway Valley line was flooded, then
ride to Holyhead and then home. Noted on the way home was a Cl.66 loading stone at Penmaenmawr
plus 60071 on Warrington depot.
I went armed with an IRS stocklist, but the railway has an excellent stock book (A4size and 40 pages)
full of illustrations and detail. I only had difficulty in identifying just two items; a large steam loco partly
stripped in the yard at Dinas and further down the yard a small yellow diesel No 2. Lists show two ex