FFestiniog Railway
For the second day in Snowdonia we went to Porthmadog to take a trip on the Ffestiniog Railway, as a kid my mum used to take me to lots of heritage railways, so I thought there was nothing more appropriate than to do the same thing with her 30 years later!
There is actually two railways that terminate at the harbour station in Porthmadog - the Ffestiniog Railway, and the Welsh Highland Railway, both of which operate very beautiful, steam narrow-gauge locomotives.
Both railways start at the same station, but head off in entirely different directions, collectively covering 40 or so miles through the Snowdonia National Park. The WHR heads north, some 25 miles to another harbour town of Caernarfon, and the Ffestiniog heads East into the slate mining town the railway is named after, where I spent the previous day.
Back in the heyday of this slate industry in this area, this railway was used to bring the slate down from the mountain, where it could be loaded onto ships, or standard gauge train lines, to be distributed around the country, and around the world.
You may have noticed something peculiar about this train, and that the engine is double ended! This is a single locomotive with 2 boilers and 2 sets of driving bogies, one facing in either direction with the cab and firebox in the middle. This type of train is ideal for railways such as this, where there is no means of turning the engine around at the end of the line, it just disconnects from the carriages, and reconnects at the far end - its always traveling forwards!
The trip to Ffestiniog and back is roughly a 3 hour round trip, stopping and multiple stations along the way, and with a pause at Ffestiniog for half an hour or so for you to have a look around and get a drink, we had a standard ticket using 3rd class carriages, which are finished really nicely, the upholstery design is made up of the railways initials, and the tables feature the map of both railways. Dogs are also welcome on board for the price of £3!
The journey through the mountains is really wonderful, especially so in the summer months when all the trees are green, its a great way to break up a few days of hiking, where you want to just sit, relax, and take in the scenery.
Once we returned on the train to Porthmadog, we made our way to Caernarfon by car, and caught some glimpses of the Welsh Highland Railway locomotive heading north through the hills.
