Virtual Railfan Tour UK - Ffestiniog Railway (part two)

 Riding the oldest operating steam locomotive in the world

Double Fairlie David Lloyd George at Boston Lodge 7 July 2018

Linda on Cae Mawr embankment  27 May 1975
Neil Kearns has kindly supplied the above two pictures of the Ffestiniog Railway. He also pointed out that the dropping of the double Ff in the railway name was due to a parliamentary error - the clerk felt that Ff was a drafting error and changed it to F.
Neil has also pointed out that the signal box at Rhiw Goch (not Coch)  is equipped with an ex London & North Western Railway frame and an Individual Function Switch (IFS) panel. With those strange catches on the levers I knew it wasn't a Great Western frame. Incidentally Rhiw Goch translates to Red Hill in English.

Today we continue our journey on the Ffestiniog Railway via Tan y Bwlch and Ddallt to the terminus at Blaenau Ffestiniog.

Our first stop is at Tan y Bwlch where I am going to indulge in some nostalgia. This is a picture I took of a double Fairlie then named "Taliesin" at Tan y Bwlch in 1958.  The line was only open as far as here and I walked up and spent the afternoon clearing the track under the supervision of the ganger, Will Jones. Will's wife Bessie was the TyB station mistress for many years

I took this picture on 18 September 1961. The same locomotive is now named "Earl of Merioneth" and the driver was Bill Hoole a retired top link driver on the Great Northern line out of Kings Cross



But this is the star of today's trip. "Prince" is one of the original Ffestiniog locomotives built in 1865. Paul and I were on a Behind the Scenes Tour in 2017. The scheduled locomotive for our special train was single Fairlie "Taliesin" but this was needed elsewhere so we were "forced" to have "Prince"! I was delighted.



Not only did we ride behind the oldest operating steam locomotive in the world but the small party took turns to ride the footplate/cab.



There's not a great deal of room for a third person and I had to spend most of the time in the tender but I had a good view and put on one shovelful of coal.

The next place of interest is Ddallt.  The original line was built on a direct route which was cut by a lake for a pump storage scheme while the line was closed.  After a great deal of thought it was decided to by-pass the lake by building a spiral loop at Dduallt then tunneling through the mountain to regain the former line before Tan y Grisiau. Green is the new line, black is the abandoned line.
Single Fairlier Taliesin at Dduallt station

Beginning to climb the loop

Crossing over the line

Climbing towards the tunnel


Climbing the loop at Ddallt

We arrive at Blaenau Ffestiniog where Prince takes water.  There is a close connection with main line trains to Llandudno here


There is time to admire this veteran

Blaenau Ffestiniog has changed immeasurably in recent years. In the 1960s and 1970s it was surrounded by dull grey abandoned slate quarries. The rhododendrons have now taken over so the grey quarry faces have been replaced by green and purple vegetation..


On an earlier special working we went into a siding where participants were allowed to take the regulator/throttle of Taliesin and they pulled Mountaineer, currently out of ticket, out of a shed for us to photograph.


Mountaineer in operating condition at Porthmadog in May 1992

There was also the opportunity to take a close look at a double Fairlie which had experienced problems with a broken steam pipe.

So I will leave you at Blaenau Ffestiniog to take the special back to Porthmadog and tomorrow we will take a look at some interesting items in the area.

In the observation car going back to Porthmadog

















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