Construction The idea of a railway to the summit of Snowdon was first proposed in 1869, when Llanberis was linked to Caernarfon by the
London & North Western Railway. In 1871 a Bill was put before Parliament, applying for powers of
compulsory purchase for a railway to the summit, but it was opposed by the local landowner, Assheton-Smith of the
Vaynol Estate, who thought that a railway would spoil the scenery. After much persuasion, Assheton-Smith ultimately gave his assent to the construction of a railway to the summit, By April 1895 the earthworks were 50% complete, a sign of the effort put into the construction work as much as of the lack of major earthworks along much of the route. All tracklaying had to start from one end of the line, to ensure the rack was correctly aligned; so although the first locomotives were delivered in July 1895 very little track was laid until August, when the two large viaducts between Llanberis and Waterfall were completed. Progress up the mountain was then quite rapid, with the locomotives being used to move materials as required. Despite the harsh climate the first train reached the summit in January 1896. As the fencing and signals were not then ready, the opening was set for Easter. The line was opened at Easter 1896. In anticipation of this, Colonel Sir
Francis Marindin from the Board of Trade was asked by Fox to make an unofficial inspection of the line on Friday 27 March. This included a demonstration of the automatic brakes. He declared himself satisfied with the line, but recommended that the wind speed be monitored and recorded, and that trains stopped when the wind was too strong. On Saturday 4 April, a train was run by the contractor consisting of a locomotive and two coaches. On the upper section, the descending train hit a boulder that had fallen from the side of a cutting and several wheels were derailed. The workmen on the train were able to rerail the carriage and the train continued.
Opening day accident The railway was officially opened on Monday 6 April 1896, and two trains were dispatched to the summit. On the first return trip down the mountain, possibly due to the weight of the train, locomotive No. 1
L.A.D.A.S. with two carriages lost the rack and ran out of control. The locomotive derailed and fell down the mountain. A passenger died from loss of blood after jumping from the carriage. After a miscommunication the second downward train hit the carriages of the first, with no fatalities. An inquiry concluded that the accident had been triggered by post-construction
settlement, compounded by excess speed due to the weight of the train. As a result of the inquiry's recommendations the maximum allowed train weight was reduced to the equivalent of 1½ carriages, leading to lighter carriages being bought and used on two-carriage trains. A gripper system was also installed on the rack railway.
Pre-war The railway reopened to Hebron on Saturday 26 September 1896. On 9 April 1897 the line re-opened to Clogwyn. By June the trains were again reaching the summit. This time there were no incidents and the train service continued. On 30 July 1906 a wagon broke loose and ran into a train, injuring one passenger, the driver and guard. Traffic was suspended for several hours. In 1910 there were reports of
vandalism on the line. A man named William Morris Griffiths who had climbed Snowdon to see the sunrise, placed a stone on the rail and sitting on it, slid down the track at speed. Someone put a boulder on the line behind him and pushed it down, and it struck Griffiths in the back, he somersaulted off the line and died a few hours later. The manager of the railway also reported that crowds of visitors were breaking down fences, pulling up gradient posts, throwing down wires and interfering with the railway bed. In 1936 it was reported that the railway carried 30,000 people to the summit during the season. Passengers were still carried during the
Second World War. The
Western Mail for 12 May 1943 reported that two trains per day would operate from Llanberis (at 1.15pm and 4.00pm) and people could still book to stay at the summit hotel. However, this appears to have been just propaganda, as the summit was closed for military purposes from 1942 until the end of the war.
Post-war Normal service resumed in 1946. The shortage of coal led to the railway attempting to burn old army boots as fuel. The
British Railways Llanberis–Caernarvon line closed to passengers in 1962. In 1983, the summit buildings were transferred to the ownership of Gwynedd County Council. A share issue was made in 1985, primarily to raise money to purchase the first two diesel locomotives. Between 1986 and 1992 the railway company was involved with the airfield and aviation museum in
Caernarvon.
Centenary As part of the centenary celebrations the railway held an enthusiasts' weekend in September 1996. This was one of the few occasions when the public were allowed to visit the railway's workshops. Scrap pinion rings were also sold as (rather large) souvenirs. From this time the locomotives were painted in differing liveries, but by 2005 this practice had ended.
Summit building project In 2006 the
Snowdon summit café was demolished and construction of a new visitor centre was started. While this construction was taking place passenger trains terminated at Clogwyn, but the line and a works train was still used to transport workers and materials to the project. On some days, however, the train could not reach the summit and the workers had to walk down to Rocky Valley. was officially opened by First Minister
Rhodri Morgan on 12 June 2009.
Rescue work In 2015, after the
coastguard rescue helicopter was unable to reach the summit, the railway was used to carry
mountain rescue teams to the summit of Snowdon to rescue a 17-year-old girl who had collapsed due to an
asthma attack while sheltering from wind gusting up to . The railway was then used to carry the girl and rescuers to the foot of the mountain, where she was transferred to an ambulance. ==Route==