Opened in 1923, the Welsh Highland Railway was formed by the merger of several much older railways: the Croesor Tramway , the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways , and the Portmadoc, Beddgelert and South Snowdon Railway .
The Croesor Tramway had been opened in 1863. It was purely horse
drawn, carrying mainly slate traffic. It extended from
Portmadoc
to the slate mines surrounding Croesor
village. The dubious fortunes of the slate industry always kept
the Croesor Tramway in a perilous financial position. The Tramway
crossed the Cambrian Coast main-line railway (originally the
Aberystwyth & Welsh Coast Railway) on the level.
Unfortunately, this level crossing was another contributory factor
in the Tramway's commercial failure and the subsequent commercial
failure of the Welsh Highland Railway. Although it predated the
Cambrian, the Croesor Tramway had to pay an annual rent to the
Cambrian for use and maintenance of the crossing - normally the
reverse would have applied. In the 1920s, the rent was equivalent
to the total railway wage bill for six weeks.
The North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways (N.W.N.G.Rly) had been
opened in 1877. It ran from Dinas Junction, near Caernarvon, to
Rhyd Ddu
near Snowdon. An additional branch line to
Bryngwynserved the slate quarries around
Rhostryfan
. As its name implies, the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways had
been planned to be one of a network of narrow gauge lines through
western Snowdonia. Most of this network never came to fruition.
In 1902, the Portmadoc, Beddgelert and South Snowdon Railway
(P.B.& S.S.Rly) set about completing the next section of the
North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways network, namely the section from
Rhyd Ddu through Beddgelert
to
Portmadoc
. All of the major engineering work was completed, but legal
complications always beset the project. The onset of the Great War
in 1914 led to its abandonment.
After the Great War, the project was revived, largely as a means
to offset the severe unemployment of the time. Finally, in the
summer of 1923, the Welsh Highland Railway was able to pull its
first passenger trains through the mountains. It operated very
much in partnership with the neighbouring Ffestiniog Railway,
which shares the same gauge of 600mm (1' 11 5/8")
. However, it was never a commercial success - a Receiver was
appointed in 1927, and closure finally came ten years later.
The assets were scrapped, and most of the track was lifted in 1941. That would have been the end of it, but for a dedicated group of enthusiasts who, in 1961, formed the Welsh Highland Railway Society. During the '70s, land was been purchased on the old slate exchange sidings in Porthmadog, and the rebirth of the Welsh Highland Railway started. Track was laid and rolling stock acquired, culminating in new passenger services from 1980, and the return to service in 1987 of the famous narrow gauge locomotive Russell .
Many difficulties stood in the way of rebuilding the line through the mountains of Snowdonia, but at last, in 1997, work started on the Welsh Highland Railway Project. Caernarfon is now linked through Dinas (formerly Dinas Junction) and Waunfawr to Rhyd Ddu (a distance of 12 miles), thus restoring the former N.W.N.G.Rly.
Now that southward construction has passed half way, the northward extension of the existing Welsh Highland Railway in Porthmadog is well underway ( more ). The following years will see the project completed by the rebuilding of the former P.B.& S.S.Rly, connecting Rhyd Ddu through the picturesque National Park town of Beddgelert to link up with the head of steel extending northward. A further plan exists to rebuild the link across Porthmadog town to join with the Ffestiniog railway too. Then the Welsh Highland Railway will be complete, once more!