Welsh Highland Railway announces competition to celebrate centenary
THE narrow gauge Welsh Highland Railway has launched a series of activities and events that will culminate in a celebration of the centenary of its opening next year.
At the heart of the year-long project will be a competition sponsored by Mortons Media (publisher of The Railway Magazine and sister title Heritage Railway) for the best piece of original research on the history of the WHR and its predecessor, North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways, including the personalities and customers involved.
The competition will be judged by historians Dr Dafydd Gwyn and Gareth Haulfryn Williams, and the winner will receive a cash prize of £500.
Line origins
The origins of what is today’s Welsh Highland Railway go back 145 years to September 1877, when North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways opened a 1ft 11½in gauge three-mile line from Dinas Junction, on the LNWR main line, to Bryngwyn. Its primary purpose was for the transportation of slate, although there was a passenger service to two intermediate stations at Tryfan Junction and Rhostryfan.
In 1881, a five-mile second stage was completed southwards from Tryfan Junction to Rhyd Ddu. Between these two were four stations: Waunfawr, Betws Garmon, Plasy-Nant, and Snowdon Ranger, which was also named Quellyn
Lake during its history.
The railway struggled financially and passenger services ceased in 1916 before it was sold in April 1920 to the Aluminium Corporation of Dolgarrog, which already owned other narrow gauge lines in the region. Two years later, the railway was incorporated into the Welsh Highland Railway, and the seed was sown for a new chapter in the line’s existence.
In June 1923, the line was extended 12½ miles further south from Rhyd Ddu to Porthmadog, completing the through link to the LNWR at Dinas 22 miles to the north. In 1927, however, the line went into receivership, although reintroduced passenger services continued until 1936 and freight traffic until the following year.
The line lay dormant for several years until much of the rolling stock was sold and most of the track lifted during the Second World War.
Revival
Revivalists formed the Welsh Highland Railway Society in 1961 and eventually set up an operating railway close to the original trackbed in 1980. The goal of returning to the original line, however, proved to be as elusive as ever, with years of false starts and frustration.
Eventually the Ffestiniog Railway became involved and the line was reopened in stages. This included in November
1997 a new 2½-mile section between Dinas and Caernarfon, while the final link into Porthmadog was opened to passenger traffic in February 2011.
Nick Booker, chairman of the Welsh Highland Railway Heritage Group, said: “On behalf of the railway’s centenary celebrations committee, I am extremely grateful for the sponsorship of our research competition by Heritage Railway and its sister publication The Railway Magazine.
“We hope that the submissions will shed further light on the complex history of the railway, the area it served, and the many individuals involved in its planning, construction and operation, and of course its demolition and ultimate restoration.
“It is noteworthy that Heritage Railway and The Railway Magazine have over the years played an important role in reporting on the story of the Welsh Highland and its predecessors. We look forward to them continuing to do so, and reporting on a worthy winner to our competition in June next year.”
The project, which is also being supported by the WHR Society, the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway, and the Ffestiniog Railway, is now open for the registration of interest to submit an entry, and the deadline for submitting entries (of between 3500 and 10,000 words) is February 28, 2023.
Full details of the rules, including on what criteria the two judges will base their decision, may be obtained from nick.booker@ welshhighlandheritage.co.uk