European Railroad Discussion > Chester, England to Bangor, Wales and Snowdon Mountain Railway

Passenger rail services within Wales is primarily provided by Transport for Wales (TfW).
On July 10, the heat wave was on, and the trip began with a ride on the diesel-powered TfW shuttle from Chester, England to Bangor, Wales.
From Bangor, an intercity motorcoach headed south through Llanberis, which is the ground station for the Snowdon Mountain Railway.  (There is no all-rail route to get to the Snowdon Mountain Railway).
1. The TfW shuttle has just arrived at Chester, England from Holyhead, Wales, which is the ferry terminal for trips to Ireland.  We rode the shuttle west to Bangor.
2. The route to Bangor (and Holyhead) is the North Wales Coast Line, which borders the Irish Sea.  This is Colwyn Bay.
3.  This shows the Bangor station facing east. The TfW logo, a T in a red circle, somewhat resembles the MBTA T logo.

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From Bangor the intercity bus takes less than an hour to get to Llanberis.
4. Snowdon Mountain Railway shop area at Llanberis
5. Train service is every 30 minutes, and there are several meets along the way.  Each train is one engine and one passenger coach. The uphill trains hold the main while the downhill trains take the siding.
6. This is the view heading back down, toward Llanberis and Llyn Padarn/Llanberis Lake. The cloud shade provided a welcome couple minutes of (slightly) cooler temps. There is no a/c on the train and while the vents were open there was minimal breeze, and it was like riding in a terrarium.

Thx for looking 

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