Welsh Highland Railway

[eMeS]

We had a very enjoyable day two weeks ago when we travelled from Porthmadog to Caernarfon & back. As the brochure promises, the scenery is excellent, and we enjoyed good service from the railway staff.

One aspect I noticed is that where trains passed, the passing took place as though we were on continental roads i.e. Going to Caernarfon, the train to Porthmadog passed us on our left hand side, looking to Caernarfon - (west of us).

 

[RPM]

We had a very enjoyable day two weeks ago when we travelled from Porthmadog to Caernarfon & back. As the brochure promises, the scenery is excellent, and we enjoyed good service from the railway staff.

One aspect I noticed is that where trains passed, the passing took place as though we were on continental roads i.e. Going to Caernarfon, the train to Porthmadog passed us on our left hand side, looking to Caernarfon - (west of us).

Right hand running is a traditional Ffestiniog thing so it was natural they would follow this convention when rebuilding the Welsh Highland.

 

[507 001]

We had a very enjoyable day two weeks ago when we travelled from Porthmadog to Caernarfon & back. As the brochure promises, the scenery is excellent, and we enjoyed good service from the railway staff.

One aspect I noticed is that where trains passed, the passing took place as though we were on continental roads i.e. Going to Caernarfon, the train to Porthmadog passed us on our left hand side, looking to Caernarfon - (west of us).

Glad you enjoyed it!

Right hand running is one of those things that the reason behind it has been lost in the mists of time! Nobody has ever been able to explain it to me!
Tanygrisiau on the fr used to be left hand running due to sight lines for signals etc, and then it was realised that actually RH running would be better!
There have also been suggestions converting Beddgelert to LH running because of the difficulty in dispatching up (port bound) trains.
Again glad you enjoyed the trip!
Rob
(WHR guard)

 

[fsmr]

What is the situation now with the original WHR at Porthmadog, do they run as a separate group or are they all one now? I visited some years back before the line joined up?

 

[RPM]

There is a connection with the WHHR at Pen y Mount which is normally locked out but it has been used on occasion for special WHHR services to Pont Croesor.

Back in the early 1990s the WHHR (or WHR 1964 Co as they were then) were offered the opportunity to become the supporting society behind the FR Co's rebuilding of the line. They were so outraged by the FR's bid for the trackbed that they flatly refused to take on that role. This was understandable but, in retrospect deeply regrettable. Despite the superb heritage work they do they are now forever sidelined.

 

[fsmr]

There is a connection with the WHHR at Pen y Mount which is normally locked out but it has been used on occasion for special WHHR services to Pont Croesor.

Back in the early 1990s the WHHR (or WHR 1964 Co as they were then) were offered the opportunity to become the supporting society behind the FR Co's rebuilding of the line. They were so outraged by the FR's bid for the trackbed that they flatly refused to take on that role. This was understandable but, in retrospect deeply regrettable. Despite the superb heritage work they do they are now forever sidelined.

so they are in effect a short branchline then, I thought they had a section of the trackbed up to Aberglasyn so all trains down to PM had to travesre over it
All a bit messy then by the sounds of it
Must get up and ride on it one day

 

[eMeS]

Thanks for all your replies. May I ask another question.

Last year only the first and last trains of the day on the WHR started & finished at Porthmadog Station, and a bus service was necessary at other times. This year, there's apparently no need for the bus service. Was this a restriction imposed by the local authority, or something more subtle/operational?

---
I know the WHR can't do anything about it, but I do wonder what sort of LA planning department allowed a rusty corrugated iron roof to be in the direct line of sight of Caernarfon Castle on leaving the train at Caernarfon! (OK, I expect the roof has been there some time, but it somewhat spoils the image of where the Prince of Wales took his oath.)

 

[PaxVobiscum]

Thanks for all your replies. May I ask another question.

Last year only the first and last trains of the day on the WHR started & finished at Porthmadog Station, and a bus service was necessary at other times. This year, there's apparently no need for the bus service. Was this a restriction imposed by the local authority, or something more

The Porthmadog bypass opened (twice!) in October 2011. This may have reduced the traffic across Brittania bridge enough to let all Caernarfon trains run through to the Harbour station without causing unacceptable traffic congestion.

 

[WestRiding]

I do hope some effort will be made to run through trains from ffestiniog to canarfon, with ffestiniog stock of course

 

[eMeS]

The Porthmadog bypass opened (twice!) in October 2011. ...

Thanks for that - sounds like a sensible explanation.

I think we'll be visiting the area again, particularly as we've now found what seems like a more enjoyable route. From Shrewsbury, instead of following the A5 through Llangollen, we took the quieter and picturesque route via Knockin, and Bala, eventually getting to Porthmadog via The Cob.

 

[507 001]

It was a little more simple than that, basically it was (wrongly) assumed that there wasn't enough time in between Ffestiniog services to Allow a whr train to be turned around, it was later realised that this was a pretty obvious mistake and a shuttle service (usually formed by a shortened FR set and a diesel) ran between port and pont croesor. This only ran on yellow and red days iirc, on other days a "crew bus" (usually vale of Ffestiniog) would run to take the guard and loco crews to port when they brought a train into pont croesor, they would be replaced by a crew from port.
The bypass did help, it meant we could get into port quicker, but it wasn't the main reason. Unfortunately I think there was a certain amount of politics involved!