The railway company is properly known as the "Festiniog Railway Company". The single
F spelling is in the official title of the company in the local act, the
Festiniog Railway Act 1832 (
2 & 3 Will. 4. c. xlviii), that created the railway. It is the oldest surviving railway company in the world (although not the oldest working railway – a record that goes to the
Middleton Railway, in Leeds), having been founded by the
act of Parliament on 23 May 1832 with capital mostly raised in
Dublin by
Henry Archer, the company's first secretary and managing director. Most British railways were
amalgamated into four large groups in 1921 and then into
British Railways in 1948 but the Festiniog Railway Company, like most narrow-gauge railways, remained independent. In 1921, this was due to political influence, whereas in 1947 it was left out of British Railways because it was closed for traffic, despite vigorous local lobbying for it to be included. Various important developments in the railway's early history were celebrated by the firing of
rock cannon at various points along the line. Cannon were fired, for instance, to mark the laying of the first stone at Creuau in 1833, the railway's opening in 1836, and the opening of the Moelwyn Tunnel in 1842. The passing of the later '''''' (
32 & 33 Vict. c. cxli) for the railway also saw cannon celebrations, but on this occasion, a fitter at Boston Lodge, who was assisting with firing, lost the fingers of one hand in an accident.
Horse and gravity operation The line was constructed between 1833 and 1836 to transport
slate from the quarries around the inland town of Blaenau Ffestiniog to the coastal town of Porthmadog where it was loaded onto ships. The railway was graded so that loaded wagons could be
run by gravity downhill all the way from Blaenau Ffestiniog to the port. The empty wagons were hauled back up by horses, which travelled down in special
'dandy' wagons. To achieve this continuous grade (about 1 in 80 for much of the way), the line followed natural contours and employed
cuttings and
embankments built of stone and slate blocks without mortar. Prior to the completion in 1842 of a long tunnel through a spur in the
Moelwyn Mountain, the slate trains were worked over the top via
inclines (designed by
Robert Stephenson), the site of which can still be seen although there are few visible remnants. Up to six trains daily were operated in each direction and a printed timetable was published on 16 September 1856 by
Charles Easton Spooner who, following his father, served as Manager and Clerk for 30 years. It shows departures from the Quarry Terminus (later referred to as Dinas, sometimes as Rhiwbryfdir or Rhiw) at 7:30, 9:28, 11:16, 1:14, 3:12 and 5:10. Trains waited ten minutes at the intermediate stations called Tunnel Halt, Hafod y Llyn and
Rhiw Goch. The fastest journey time from Quarry Terminus to
Boston Lodge was 1 hour 32 minutes, including three stops. From Boston Lodge, the slate wagons were hauled to and from Porthmadog harbour by horses. Up trains took nearly six hours from Boston Lodge to the Quarry Terminus and each train ran in up to four sections, each hauled by a horse and comprising eight empty slate wagons plus a horse dandy. This timetable gave a maximum annual capacity of 70,000 tons of dressed slate. Two brakesmen travelled on each down train, controlling the speed by the application of brakes as needed. At passing loops, trains passed on the right and this continues to be a feature of Ffestiniog Railway operation. There is evidence for tourist passengers being carried as early as 1850 without the blessing of the
Board of Trade, but these journeys would also observe the timetable. Hafod y Llyn was replaced by Tan y Bwlch around 1872. Dinas (Rhiw) Station and much of that branch is now all but buried under
slate waste; the rest of the Dinas branch line was removed about 1954–55. Occasional confusion arises because places named Hafod y Llyn Isaf and Dinas also exist on the
Welsh Highland Railway, albeit or more to the northwest of those on the FR.
Steam and gravity operation '' with passenger train at Porthmadog harbour station circa 1870 During the late 1850s it became clear that the line was reaching its operational capacity, while the output of the Blaenau Ffestiniog slate quarries continued to rise. In 1860, the board of the company began to investigate the possibility of introducing
steam locomotives to increase the carrying capacity of the railway. Although narrow-gauge steam locomotives had been tried before this, very few had been built to so narrow a gauge. In 1862 the company advertised for manufacturers to tender to build the line's first locomotives. In February 1863, the bid of
George England and Co. was accepted and production of the first locomotives was begun. The first of these locomotives,
Mountaineer was delivered to Porthmadog on 18 July 1863, followed a few days later by
The Princess. The original passenger coaches (some of which survive) were small four-wheeled vehicles with a very low
centre of gravity, which led to them being nicknamed 'bug boxes'. In 1872, the FR introduced the first
bogie carriages to operate in Britain, Nos 15 and 16, which were also the first iron-framed bogie coaches in the world and are still in service. The continuous
vacuum brake was installed in 1893. The line was fully signalled with
electric telegraph and
staff and ticket working. Electric Train Staff instruments were introduced in 1912 and they continue in use to the present day.
Decline of slate and development of tourism By the 1920s, the demand for slate as a roofing material dropped owing to the advent of newer materials and to the loss of the overseas trade during World War I. As a result, the railway suffered a gradual decline in traffic. In 1921, the Aluminium Corporation at
Dolgarrog in the
Conwy Valley bought for £40,000 (£ in ), a controlling interest in the FR and Henry Jack became chairman, the FR company's financial administration moving to Dolgarrog. Jack was also chairman of the new
Welsh Highland Railway. He was instrumental in getting government backing for its completion on the understanding that the FR and the WHR would be jointly managed from Porthmadog, with maintenance undertaken at Boston Lodge and with other economies of scale. In 1923, the FR line was joined to the WHR line at a station called
Portmadoc New. The Welsh Highland line was almost totally dependent on tourism, but this proved slow to develop for several reasons: two slumps in the early 1920s and early 1930s; the rise of road traffic including
charabancs; and the unreliability of the railway with its (even then) ancient carriages and increasingly decrepit locomotives. Light railway operation was being introduced on the FR and WHR to cut operating overheads. In 1923, to gain additional expertise in this, Colonel
H. F. Stephens was appointed as part-time engineer to both companies. Stephens became chairman and managing director of both companies in 1924. When the WHR was taken into receivership in 1927, Colonel Stephens was appointed as receiver for the WHR and financial administration of both companies moved to
Tonbridge in
Kent. The fortunes of the WHR, despite great efforts, failed to improve and it became
bankrupt in 1933. To protect their investments, the joint owners of both companies arranged for the WHR to be leased by the FR. However the WHR losses continued with the loss of the Moel Tryfan slate traffic in 1935, and it closed to passengers at the end of the 1936 season and to goods in 1937. The FR continued to operate its slate traffic, a workmen's train on weekdays throughout the year and a summer tourist passenger service. Ordinary passenger services ceased on the FR on 15 September 1939, shortly after the outbreak of World War II. The workmen's passenger service ran for the last time on Saturday, 16 September 1939. Slate trains were from then onwards operated three days each week but gravity operation was discontinued. Slate traffic ceased on 1 August 1946, apart from the section from Duffws to the North Western yard through Blaenau Ffestiniog town centre, which was leased on 7 October 1946 to the quarry owners. This provided the railway company, which retained the services of a resident manager at Porthmadog, with a small income throughout the moribund years. The original act of Parliament which permitted the building of the line made no specific provision for its closure or abandonment. Although the main line had ceased functioning, the company could not dismantle the railway, so the track and infrastructure were left in place. An amending act of Parliament could have been sought to repeal the old one, but the company did not have the money. However, without maintenance, the line soon became overgrown and unusable.
Restoration From 1949, various groups of rail enthusiasts attempted to revitalise the railway. In 1951, railway enthusiast
Alan Pegler was approached by friends to buy and clear the outstanding debt on the derelict Ffestiniog Railway, to enable its purchase. Lent £3,000 by his father, he and the volunteers obtained control of the company on 24 June 1954. In 1954, the
Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) built the
Ffestiniog Pumped Storage Scheme. This included a new reservoir, Llyn Ystradau which flooded a mile of the line north of the Moelwyn Tunnel. In 1972, after the second-longest court case in British legal history, the Festiniog Railway Company obtained compensation for the loss of its route. Two years later, the case influenced the writing of the
Land Compensation Act 1973. On 18 August 1954, Colonel McMullen of the
Ministry of Transport, Railways Inspectorate inspected the line from Blaenau Ffestiniog to Porthmadog, accompanied by Pegler, several directors and other supporters. Restoration began on 20 September 1954 when Morris Jones, the foreman fitter who had last worked for the railway in March 1947, rejoined the staff. Jones worked to complete the rebuilding of the locomotive
Prince which he had been working on when the railway closed. He was joined at
Boston Lodge works by two volunteers, Bill Harvey and
Allan Garraway. The completion of sixty years service with the FR by Robert Evans (for almost 25 years as Manager) was marked on 6 November 1954 and a special train was run from Minffordd to Porthmadog to celebrate the occasion and convey Evans, his wife, Alan Pegler (company chairman) and guests en route to a clock presentation ceremony. Evans continued in service as Manager until his retirement on 1 June 1955 when Garraway was appointed as Manager. The first public passenger train from
Porthmadog to
Boston Lodge ran on 23 July 1955.
Prince returned to service on 3 August 1955. After extensive boiler repairs, Double Fairlie
Taliesin returned to service on 4 September 1956. The passenger service was extended to
Minffordd on 19 May 1956, to
Penrhyn on 5 June 1957 and to
Tan-y-Bwlch on 5 April 1958. Increasing traffic put severe demands on the track – over had been reopened in four years. A long period of consolidation, rolling stock restoration and track renewal followed before the extension to
Dduallt on 6 April 1968. This extension was celebrated on 28 May 1968 by the re-introduction of the
Ffestiniog Railway Letter Service.
The Llyn Ystradau Deviation in the late 1950s/early 1960s. The replacement FR line is in the foreground. Between 1965 and 1978, the Ffestiniog Railway Deviation, a long diversionary route, was constructed between Dduallt and Tanygrisiau to avoid the
Ffestiniog hydro-electric power station and its reservoir (Llyn Ystradau). The Deviation (this is the conventional name for such railway works) was built mostly by volunteers. At the southern end is the Dduallt
spiral formation which is unique on a public railway in the United Kingdom. Including a bridge, it was constructed entirely by volunteers, and gains an initial height rise of in order (after a further of new volunteer-built railway and a new tunnel) to clear the flooded
track bed north of the former Moelwyn tunnel, which is plugged near its usually-submerged northern end. Between Dduallt and the old tunnel, parts of the old railway formation can be clearly seen below the new route. The new tunnel was constructed between 1975 and 1977 by three
Cornish tin mining engineers with a small team of employees. It had to be
blasted through a
granite spur of the Moelwyn mountain. The tunnel plant included stone crushing and grading equipment, which produced
track ballast and other aggregates from the spoil for use on the railway. Before it opened to rail traffic, the new tunnel had to be lined throughout its length with liquid cement reinforced with steel mesh in a process called '
shotcreting'. From 26 May 1975, and over two summers, a
pull and push service, officially called
The Shuttle, powered by diesel locomotive
Moel Hebog with carriage 110, was operated from Dduallt to
Gelliwiog, to enable tourists to experience the Deviation route before the new Moelwyn Tunnel was opened. North of the new tunnel is a long stretch of track along the west bank of the new reservoir. On 25 June 1977, full-length passenger trains first ran from Dduallt through the new tunnel to a now-dismantled temporary terminus known as
Llyn Ystradau. That station was alongside Llyn Ystradau but, because it was on Central Electricity Generating Board land without public access, passengers could not leave the station other than by train. The remaining section included some specialised engineering work at its summit () where the new line passes over the power station pipelines. This was followed by two public road crossings with automatic signalling, on the FR's only reverse or down gradient, to rejoin the old route in
Tanygrisiau station (), which was reopened on 24 June 1978. The largely volunteer group building the Deviation was officially called the Civil Engineering Group, but its members were popularly known (and are still remembered) as the "Deviationists", who completed an enormous task over 13 years.
Project Blaenau locomotive
David Lloyd George at
Blaenau Ffestiniog station The completion of the railway through to Tanygrisiau (height ) left the FR with just to go to its goal of Blaenau Ffestiniog (height ) but the complexities of reconstructing that unique but rather derelict urban section of narrow-gauge railway took a further four years. As well as of new track and its formation, which was the responsibility of the FR permanent way department and its volunteers, much other work needed to be done. Most of the work, like the deviation itself, was undertaken by volunteers who, in many cases, assumed full responsibility for the design as well as the execution of discrete projects, each under a volunteer project leader. There were four decrepit footbridges each needing to be demolished and rebuilt to the new FR
loading gauge. The decrepit steel bridge across the Afon Barlwyd required total replacement, with timber (Karri) beams using the original abutments and piers. The new deck is formed of old rails. Walls and fences throughout had to be repaired or replaced. These and the many other varied tasks formed Project Blaenau. One major task near Tanygrisiau was the responsibility of
Gwynedd County Council, which had at some time after 1955 taken advantage of the absence of trains to demolish one of Britain's lowest road-under-railway bridges. In early 1980, therefore, they replaced Dolrhedyn bridge and even managed to give it a few inches extra headroom for road vehicles. Civil engineering contractors were employed in conjunction with
British Rail and Gwynedd County Council for the new route with its bridges and roadworks and the new joint station on the former
Great Western Railway station site. British Rail commenced using the new station on 22 March 1982. Ffestiniog trains returned to Blaenau on Tuesday, 25 May 1982, thus marking the 150th Anniversary of royal assent to the Festiniog Railway Act 1832. The new joint station with
British Rail at
Blaenau Ffestiniog was officially opened on 30 April 1983 by
George Thomas, Speaker of the
House of Commons, who unveiled a plaque that records his visit. With the major project of track restoration to Blaenau finally complete, attention could be turned to other matters. More
Fairlie locomotives were built or restored and new carriages were built. At Minffordd, a new hostel was built for volunteers who support the permanent staff by working in every department of the railway. Stations were given new buildings, canopies and platforms, often replacing the previous temporary structures and improving the image of the railway for the future. After fully reopening in 1982 and carrying 200,000 passengers annually, the railway became the second largest Welsh tourist attraction after
Caernarfon Castle. Many saw this as the result of Pegler's drive and ability to inspire others with his unquenchable enthusiasm to fulfil his dream. Pegler, who remained fully involved with the railway until his death in 2012 as President, was appointed OBE in the
2006 New Year Honours in recognition of his contribution.
Welsh Highland Railway In 1988, the Festiniog Railway Company was involved in a controversial plan to stop the neighbouring Welsh Highland Railway (WHR) being rebuilt, as it was concerned at the effect a nearby heritage railway competitor could have on the FR business. The initial plan would have involved the FR Company buying the original track bed of the WHR from the old company's receiver and giving it to Gwynedd County Council, provided no railway-related developments were allowed on the land. This was greeted with dismay by the WHR (1964) Company, which had been attempting to preserve the line since the 1960s. This action may have delayed the start of rebuilding of the Welsh Highland Railway, although the alternative plan was dependent on the continued co-operation of Gwynedd County Council to ensure that the track bed was used solely for railway purposes. This was not guaranteed, as pressure from various groups who objected to the rebuilding of the railway was significant and it was the stated intention of the council to apply for an abandonment order on gaining the track bed. This would have left the track bed open for seizure by adverse possession ('squatters' rights') by farmers, use in other ways such as footpaths, road improvement schemes etc., as the statutory designation of the track bed as a railway would have been discontinued. Over the years, the presence of plans for footpaths and roads had indeed made it difficult for anyone wishing to rebuild the line. This led a group to form 'Trackbed Consolidation Limited' (TCL) and, after some detective work, TCL managed to trace and purchase shares and debentures in the original WHR company. They felt that an alternative plan was available, one where the original company could be brought out of receivership. It was originally the intent of TCL to provide the track bed to the WHR (1964) Company to rebuild the line, but they refused the offer. TCL were introduced to the FR and decided that the aims and objectives of TCL and the FR were similar thus, since 1988, the FR company has been totally committed to the reopening of the
Welsh Highland Railway. All TCL-owned shares/debentures were transferred to the FR on the condition that they would be returned if the railway was not built. The next few years were marked by protracted legal procedures before the assets of the old company could be transferred and before final consent to rebuild the railway was given. The first section from
Caernarfon to
Dinas, the Caernarfon Light Railway, was opened and operated by the FR from 11 October 1997. This section was not hampered by these extended legal procedures and was built with a
light railway order, as it was not part of the original Welsh Highland Railway route; the site of Dinas station had been sold off and thus was not part of the assets of the old WHR company. Other powers under a
Transport and Works Act Order enabled restoration to
Waunfawr in 2000 and to
Rhyd Ddu in 2003.
Hafod y Llyn was reached in 2009 and
Pont Croesor in 2010. By 2010, the tracks of the WHR and Ffestiniog Railway had been reconnected at Harbour Station, linking
Caernarfon to
Porthmadog and passenger services started in 2011. The completed Welsh Highland Railway or
Rheilffordd Eryri (its Welsh name) comprises parts of the former
London and North Western Railway (1867),
North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways (1877–81),
Portmadoc, Beddgelert and South Snowdon Railway and Welsh Highland (1922-3) Railway. The FR also links with the WHR (Porthmadog) at Pen-y-Mount Station, north of Porthmadog.
Rails Rails increased in weight and strength as traffic changed. • 16 lb/yd original rails for horse drawn operation • 30 lb/yd rails for early steam locomotive operation found to be too light. • 48.66 lb/yd rails for later steam operation ==Tourism and heritage==