European Railroad Discussion > Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Mid-Summer Gala

Last weekend the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railway held their annual mid-summer weekend gala. We were there on Friday and Saturday, sadly a commitment at home meant we missed Sunday. A great contrast in the weather, Friday was pretty awful, Saturday the complete opposite. On Saturday the railway rostered 14 steam locomotives and five diesels on an intensive timetable on both railways, culminating on Saturday night with a German bierkeller night at Tanybwlch station, the last train returning to Porthmadog at 21:45 (arr 22:20).

Here are some pictures

1: NG15 134 Kalahari on the Snowdonia Star service from Caernarfon to Porthmadog approaching Plas y nant halt. 134 was built in Belgium in the early 1950s by Société Anglo Franco Belge for service in what is now Namibia, before gauge conversion (2' to 3'6").
2: The same train on the approach to the summit at Rhyd Ddu. For the gala weekend some freight wagons were added and the train was double headed with Funkey diesel Castell Caernarfon (Caernarvon Castle)
3: Leaving Porthmadog Britomart and Linda with a short passenger set and the gravity slate wagons bound for Dduallt, where the slate wagons would run all the way back to Porthmadog by gravity.

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4: And here are the slate wagons and riders
5: Merddin Emrys the Ffestiniog's oldest double Fairlie on the 13:15 Porthmadog to Blaenau Ffestiniog leaving the final stop, Tanygrisiau. By this time most trains were running late, an intensive service on a single track railway was always likely to encourage delays.
6: Double Fairlie David Lloyd George arriving in Porthmadog with the vintage passenger set returning from Dinas on the Welsh Highland, it was about 55 minutes late.

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7: Felinheli and Baldwin diesel tractor Moelwyn on a mixed train shuttle to Rhiw Goch
8: Also at Harbour Station diesel Harlech Castle and England 0-4-0 Saddle Tank Prince.
9: Finally a look at the engine servicing facilities with Lynton & Barnstaple replica Lyd and Double Fairlie Merddin Emrys being prepared for their next duties, both were due to haul bierkeller revellers to Tanybwlch.

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Thanks, Nick, for the great show.  Gerry

Great set!  Love shot #3!

dwatry Wrote:
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> Great set!  Love shot #3!

Thanks, Britomart is one of a class of tank engines, of varying sizes, built by Hunslet of Leeds and predominantly used in quarries, mainly in North Wales. It was built in 1899 and spent its working life in a quarry in the Nantlle Valley in North Wales before being bought in the 1960s by a consortium of Ffestiniog members. It's too small for passenger service except at weekends like this. It's with a larger Quarry Hunslet, Linda, built in 1893 for 'mainline' service in Penrhyn Quarry. Linda and her sister, Blanche, hauled slates from Penrhyn Quarry to Port Penrhyn for export. Originally a 0-4-0ST Linda is now a 2-4-0 STT (Saddle Tank & Tender)

Great set of photos, Nick, in exceptional weather for Wales! #7 is excellent of the mixed, with what appears to be an Austin A40 on it.  Chris uk.

55002 Wrote:
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> Great set of photos, Nick, in exceptional weather
> for Wales! #7 is excellent of the mixed, with what
> appears to be an Austin A40 on it.  Chris uk.


Thanks Chris, the car on the well wagon changed during the day, there was an associated classic car rally in the Harbour Station car park.