Porthmadog Gwynedd Wales - It wasn't easy to find Paul Lewin, the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railway General Manager, on the platform of Porthmadog's Harbour station.
 
Despite being over six feet tall Paul was not easy to spot after a busy train from Blaenau Ffestiniog had arrived and its passengers were thronging the station.
 
A couple of phone calls tracked him down to the F&WHR control room where he was supervising the shunting of the Ffestiniog train in order to make space for another inbound train from Caernarfon.
 
Paul later confirmed passenger numbers on the two popular narrow gauge railways have surged ahead this summer.
 
The Ffestiniog Railway, which first opened in 1836, offers visitors and railway enthusiasts trips along a 14 mile line from Porthmadog to Blaenau Ffestiniog.
 
The Welsh Highland Railway is younger, but longer, and offers its passengers a spectacular 26 mile ride through the heart of Snowdonia to Caernarfon.
 
Both were built to service the slate industry in the late nineteenth century and Paul described both lines as "living history".
 
He said, "In the year to the end of June Ffestiniog Railway traffic income was up 14 percent on 2012 and Welsh Highland Railway is up 20 percent. We've run a couple of 11 car trains to Caernarfon because of the increased demand. One train left Porthmadog with 270 passengers and picked up more passengers on the way. It was slightly too long for the loop (at Caernarfon) and we needed a pilot engine to release the train engine."
 
During the past few months railway officials have staged publicity events at several well known locations.
 
The tour started in March when Princess, the line's first steam locomotive dating from 1863, was displayed at London's Paddington station for six weeks.
 
The loco has also visited Dublin, an appropriate location as much of the money for the building of the original Ffestiniog Railway came from Irish investors.
 
Earlier this month another loco celebrating its 150th anniversary, Prince, and a four-wheeler carriage gave rides on a specially laid track for visitors to the Shrewsbury Flower Show which attracted between 50,000 and 60,000 visitors last weekend.
 
Paul added, "The visit followed the success of last year's static exhibit of ex-Penrhyn Quarry locomotive Linda which is now undergoing trials on the Ffestiniog Railway after its conversion to coal firing."
 
Prince went straight from Shrewsbury to London Olympia, where it was on display at the Great British Beer Festival in conjunction with Porthmadog brewers Purple Moose.
 
The event attracted more than 55,000 people spread over five days.
 
"It's a process which we have been doing for several years in pushing the name of the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railway out there into the public eye. By staging an exhibition in popular places we hope people will stop and have a chat, learn about our railways here in the top left hand corner of Wales, and decide to come and visit to see the real thing in action. The result is that we get the passengers and the area around Caernarfon, Porthmadog, and Blaenau Ffestiniog get the footfall of people," he said.
 
Paul has been General Manager of the F&WHR for the past 10 years and acknowledged the railway is in a stronger financial position now than when he took up the post.
 
But he was quick to stress the turnaround was due to the hard work of all staff, directors, and the many hundreds of volunteers who help run the railway.
 
"We have been able to accomplish a great amount of work in the past decade. The biggest challenge we have overcome is completing the reopening of the Welsh Highland Railway from Rhyd Ddu to Porthmadog," he said.
 
Outside Paul's office at Harbour Station work is continuing on re-modelling the layout to allow Ffestiniog trains to operate alongside WHR trains.
 
"At the moment we can only handle one train at a time and we have had to devise a way of working which is not ideal. We have extended the Cob using 25,000 tons of rock and after allowing it to settle built a new wall, a new signal box and relay room, and now have just the platform to lay. We'll do that work over the winter and the new station layout should be ready for service next summer," he said.
 
Another major project is the development of the station and slate quay area of Caernarfon.
 
Paul hopes to find out in the next few weeks if government funding has been granted for its redevelopment.
 
Paul's involvement with the Ffestiniog Railway began when he began volunteering as a teenager.
 
He worked his way up from fireman to driver and has a keen interest in the engineering works at Boston Lodge.
 
Lyd, one of the locomotives in use of the line, was built by Paul and his friends.
 
"The works is one of the great unseen successes. We have a skilled workforce which keeps everything working and we're taking on work from outside," he said.
 
As General Manager Paul has found himself asked to undertake other duties.
 
He is a director of the Heritage Railway Association which lobbies Parliament and a member of the Welsh Government's Tourism Sector Panel.
 
Eryl Crump.