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FFESTINIOG RAILWAY
William Slim
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  ⇧  Video  

Ffestiniog Bygones Weekend - A very impressive show put on during the pandemic, replacing the usual Victorian Weekend, the railway's fleet of George England and Penrhyn Hunslet steam locomotives, along with a Double Fairlie operated a regular service of vintage carriages from Porthmadog to Tan-y-bwlch, with a couple of trains continuing to Blaenau Ffestiniog for members each day, and goods trains shuttling to Rhiw Goch. Over the weekend two trains a day also ran through the Aberglasyn Pass to Beddgelert, plus a morning slate train ran to Dduallt, returning by gravity. The event saw the re-naming of Welsh Pony on Saturday at Dduallt. Also putting in an appearance was Baldwin 4-6-0T number 608. We see the locomotive running across the Cob with a coal wagon. The locomotive was due to work over the weekend as pilot locomotive for the Welsh Highland services, required as all trains where departing from platform 1 with platform 2 being used for overflow seating for Spooners.

Locomotives in the video

George England 0-4-0ST+T No. 2 Prince
George England 0-4-0ST+T No. 4 Palmerston
George England 0-4-0ST+T No. 5 Welsh Pony
Double Fairlie 0-4-4-0T No. 10 Merddin Emrys
Hunslet 2-4-0ST+T Blanche
Hunslet 2-4-0ST+T Linda
Hunslet 0-4-0ST Lilla
Baldwin 4-6-0T WD 608
Baldwin 2-4-0DM Moelwyn
 

  ⇧  Books  

Immortal Rails Volume 1

Peter Johnson.
2004
Rail Romances.
Hardcover.
224 pages, 8.6 x 10.8 inches, US$133.42 (Abe Books)

The story of the closure and revival of the Ffestiniog Railway 1939-1983.
 

Immortal Rails Volume 2

Peter Johnson.
2005
Rail Romances.
Hardcover.
224 pages, 8.6 x 10.8 inches, $143.35 (Amazon)

The story of the closure and revival of the Ffestiniog Railway 1939-1983.
 

Only two of the best books on the Ffestiniog Railway above are shown here but a search of Amazon Books found 43 titles about the Ffestiniog.
 

  ⇧  Corrections  

I would like to point out a number of photos in this article were used without naming the photographer who took them. The photo image files did not contain any reference to the photographer's name, consequently, there was no credit given with the photo as would normally happen when the photographer is known. My apologies if you have been offended. My posting to the Welsh Highland Group on Yahoo generated an immediate response to this article by Dan Crow. I wish to thank him for his comments which follow below:

I have a few corrections and comments about the Welsh Highland Railway story:
 
1. The first three George England locomotives to arrive were "Mountaineer", "The Prince", and "The Princess" in 1863. "Palmerston" arrived the following year in 1864.
 
2. The sentence:  "The Fairlies incorporation is but one of many things making the Ffestiniog Railway unique" isn't quite true - Fairlie locomotives ran on several railways around the world, not least Canada's Toronto Grey & Bruce Railway and the Toronto & Nipissing Railway. The Ffestiniog Railway wasn't even the first railway in Wales to use a Fairlie locomotive.
 
3. "1956, when steam service by Fairlie "Livingston Thompson" returned." - not true, steam service was initially provided in 1955 by the George England loco "Prince" (the name had changed from "The Prince").
 
4. "Slate was no longer the company's main source of revenue. Passenger fares on this intrepid line now contributed to company coffers" - is misleading. After 1955's revival slate wasn't just no longer the main source of revenue - there was *no* slate revenue from then on. Further, Passenger revenues were a substantial income for the company from 1865 onwards.
 
Dan Crow - 1 Nov 2009.
 

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