Moel Tryfan was a narrow gauge steam locomotive built for use on the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways (NWNGRs) in 1874/5. The locomotive was an 0-6-4 T single Fairlie locomotive built by the Vulcan Foundry near Manchester. [1] It spent its entire working life on the NWNGRs and its successors the Welsh Highland Railway (WHR) and the Ffestiniog Railway (FfR).
The North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways built two 1 ft 11+1⁄2 in (597 mm) gauge railways, connecting Dinas Junction, near Caernarfon, with Rhyd Ddu, and Bryngwyn. Two identical locomotives were ordered from the Vulcan Foundry to work the new railway. They were built to Fairlie's patent for articulated locomotives and were designed by George Percival Spooner, son of Charles Eaton Spooner, the manager of the nearby FfR. [2]
The locomotives were the first 0-6-4 T s in the British Isles. They were named Moel Tryfan and Snowdon Ranger. Moel Tryfan was named after the local mountain where the slate quarries that provided most of the railway's commerce were located. The locomotives, built in 1874/5, entered service in 1877. In 1903, Moel Tryfan underwent a major overhaul (with new boiler and firebox) at Davies and Metcalfe in Manchester, a year after Snowdon Ranger. Despite these repairs, one of these two locomotives was dilapidated by 1908. On March 19, J C Russell, the Receiver and Manager, applied to the Chancery Court for authority to spend £1,300 to purchase a new locomotive (Gowrie delivered later that year). Russell's affidavit explained that it was "in place of one of the original locomotives which has been running since the Line was opened in August 1877. In spite of constant renewals and repairs one of the old Engines is quite worn out and the Engineer of the Company (Mr Aitchison) has informed me it is impossible to renew it except by rebuilding which is practically the same as acquiring a new Engine and that it would be less efficient, less powerful, and less economical in working than the proposed new Engine." Snowdon Ranger was photographed at Dinas on 23 June 1909 and new piston rings were ordered for the engine in September 1910 and Moel Tryfan in February 1911. In February 1914, GC Aitchison (who had taken over as Receiver and Manager following Russell's death in 1912) swore an affidavit saying there were three engines, two of which (Moel Tryfan and Russell) had "collapsed", needing money spent on them. The third engine he referred to was presumably Gowrie, which implies that Snowdon Ranger had gone (or at least been taken out of service). It has been recorded that the best components of both locomotives were amalgamated into a single maintainable unit (although there is no evidence that a ten-year-old boiler was retained as a spare). The frames from Snowdon Ranger (which were renewed by Hunslet in 1908) are said to have been placed under the superstructure of Moel Tryfan, with the combined locomotive taking the latter name. This evidence suggests a date for the demise of Snowdon Ranger of around 1912 or 1913. [3] However the hydraulic test of Moel Tryfan's boiler is recorded as being in 1917.
Following the closure of the NWNGRs, Moel Tryfan was stored in the locomotive shed at Dinas along with Russell . Of the two, Moel Tryfan was in the poorer condition, so when services were resumed as the WHR in July 1922, Russell performed the majority of the work. On 11th. November of that year, Moel Tryfan was taken out of service, only to be used in emergencies. [4] In order to operate the new railway efficiently, Moel Tryfan was sent to the Boston Lodge works of the neighbouring FfR for re-tubing in June 1923. It re-entered service but with the bogie frame cracking in September 1923, it was overhauled between January and April 1924 and was cut down in order to enable it to work on the Ffestiniog Railway, whose loading gauge was considerably smaller than the WHR's. This involved reducing the height of the locomotive's cab, funnel and dome. [5] Between April and mid-May, 1925 boiler repairs were also undertaken and the locomotive then re-entered service and continued in use until 1935.
In 1936 Moel Tryfan was dismantled at Boston Lodge for overhaul. The locomotive was stripped down to allow much needed repairs to its firebox and boiler. However repair work stopped in October 1936 and no further work was done on the locomotive. It was still in its dismantled state when the FfR closed in 1946. [6]
The remains of Moel Tryfan survived long enough to become part of the fleet of the restored Ffestiniog Railway in the early 1950s. However, by this time it was little more than a rusting hulk, and on 2 October 1954 it was towed to Porthmadog Harbour Station where it was cut up for scrap. The proceeds from the sales of the remains were used to fund the further restoration of the Ffestiniog Railway. The trailing bogie survived and was ultimately used to provide pony trucks for the locomotives Linda and Blanche when they were converted from 0-4-0 ST s into 2-4-0 ST+T s along with the bogie frame, one side tank sheet and the air receiver. [7]
The Ffestiniog Railway is a heritage railway based on 1 ft 11+1⁄2 in narrow-gauge, located in Gwynedd, Wales. It is a major tourist attraction located mainly within the Snowdonia National Park.
The Welsh Highland Railway (WHR) or Rheilffordd Eryri is a 25-mile (40.2 km) long, restored 1 ft 11+1⁄2 in narrow gauge heritage railway in the Welsh county of Gwynedd, operating from Caernarfon to Porthmadog, and passing through a number of popular tourist destinations including Beddgelert and the Aberglaslyn Pass. At Porthmadog it connects with the Ffestiniog Railway and to the short Welsh Highland Heritage Railway. In Porthmadog it uses the United Kingdom's only mixed gauge flat rail crossing.
The Porthmadog, Beddgelert and South Snowdon Railway (PB&SSR) was a 1 ft 11+1⁄2 in narrow gauge railway intended to connect Porthmadog with the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways link terminus at Rhyd Ddu. Although some of the line was constructed between 1901 and 1906, it never opened and eventually became part of the Welsh Highland Railway.
The North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways (NWNGR) was a railway company that planned to build a number of inter-connected 1 ft 11+1⁄2 in narrow-gauge railways across North Wales. The first two of these lines - jointly known as the "Moel Tryfan Undertaking" - were authorised by Act of Parliament 1872 and were built and opened in the 1870s. The original main line ran from Dinas Junction to Bryngwyn and opened in 1877. The second line was a branch from Tryfan Junction to South Snowdon, though shortly after opening, the company designated the Tryfan Junction to Bryngwyn section as the branch, and the Dinas Junction to South Snowdon section as the main line.
Russell is a narrow gauge steam locomotive originally built in 1906 for the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways (NWNGR), but most famously associated with the original Welsh Highland Railway (WHR), and now based at the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway in Porthmadog.
Porthmadog Harbour railway station in Porthmadog, Gwynedd, North Wales. It is the passenger terminus of two narrow gauge railways: the Ffestiniog Railway, which was opened in 1836 to carry dressed slate from the Quarries around Blaenau Ffestiniog to the sea port of Porthmadog, for export by sea; and the Welsh Highland Railway, incorporated in 1923, which ran to Dinas. After rebuilding in 1997-2011, the other terminus is at Caernarfon, in sight of the Castle.
Waunfawr is a station on the narrow gauge Welsh Highland Railway, which was built in 1877 as the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways Moel Tryfan Undertaking, to carry dressed slate to Dinas Junction on the London and North Western Railway. Passenger services ceased on 26 September 1936 and the station was reopened on 7 August 2000 following the reconstruction of the railway from Dinas to Waunfawr. The train services are operated by the Festiniog Railway Company.
Rhyd Ddu is a station on the narrow gauge Welsh Highland Railway, which was built in 1881 as the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways Moel Tryfan Undertaking to carry dressed slate to Dinas Junction on the LNWR. It has also previously been named both "Snowdon" and "South Snowdon".
Snowdon Ranger is a station on the narrow gauge Welsh Highland Railway, which was built in 1878 as the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways Moel Tryfan Undertaking, to carry dressed slate to Dinas Junction on the LNWR. The station was originally known as Quellyn Lake but was renamed after the path to the Summit of Snowdon popularised by, and named after, the local mountain guide, "The Snowdon Ranger", who went by that name for many years. Certainly the name "Snowdon Ranger" was in common use on company timetables from as early as 1879, and that of the adjacent Snowdon Ranger Hotel from at least 1869.
Dinas is a station on the narrow gauge Welsh Highland Railway, which was built in 1877 as the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways Moel Tryfan Undertaking to carry dressed slate for trans-shipment to the LNWR. Passenger services ceased on 26 September 1936 until which time Dinas had been a joint station, known as Dinas Junction with the LNWR and later the LMS. In 1951, British Railways closed their part of the station but the line through the station remained open until the line from Caernarvon to Afon Wen was closed in 1964. The trackbed was subsequently developed as the Lôn Eifion tourist cycle route.
Caernarfon Station is the northern terminus of the narrow gauge Welsh Highland Railway, located in the town of Caernarfon. It was opened on 11 October 1997 when the line was constructed from Dinas.
The restoration of the Welsh Highland Railway has a colourful and complex history. This article provides the modern history.
The Welsh Highland Heritage Railway is a short reconstructed heritage railway in Gwynedd, Wales. Its main station is in Porthmadog.
Bryngwyn railway station is a former station which was the terminus for passengers on the Bryngwyn Branch of the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways, and later the Welsh Highland Railway. Beyond the station, an incline climbed the slope of Moel Tryfan to serve a series of slate quarries. Those connected by tramways to the incline head included the Alexandra quarry, Moel Tryfan quarry, Fron quarry, Braich quarry and Cilgwyn quarry.
The original Welsh Highland Railway (WHR) owed its existence to the narrow gauge railways and tramways built to serve commercial slate traffic from slate quarries and other mineral extraction operations along its route.
Carnarvon Castle railway station was opened in 1856 by the narrow gauge Nantlle Railway near the foot of what is today the Allt Y Castell which slopes down to Caernarfon's harbour area. It was the line's northern terminus and was the closest of Caernarfon's ultimately five stations to the historic town centre.
Dinas station was built by the Festiniog Railway (FR). It was the first passenger station in Blaenau Ffestiniog, then in Merionethshire, now in Gwynedd, Wales. This station is not to be confused with Dinas some miles distant on the Welsh Highland Railway; nor is it to be confused with the Festiniog and Blaenau Railway's northern terminus in the centre of Blaenau Ffestiniog which was sometimes referred to colloquially as "Dinas".
Hugh Beaver Roberts was a solicitor, originally based in Bangor, Caernarfonshire who became an entrepreneur involved in the construction of narrow gauge railways and the ownership of slate quarries in North Wales during the second half of the 19th century.
Alexandra quarry was a slate quarry in North Wales, on the slopes of Moel Tryfan in north Gwynedd. It was part of one of the major slate quarrying regions of Wales, centred on the Nantlle Valley during the 19th and 20th centuries. Output increased when a connection to the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways branch to Bryngwyn was created. It closed in the late 1930s, but was subsequently amalgamated with the Moel Tryfan quarry, and production continued until the 1960s.