Russell returns to Rhyd Ddu
First stage of Welsh Highland 100th anniversary celebrations.
THE 100th anniversary of the reopening of what had been the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railway between Dinas and
Rhyd Ddu (then called South Snowdon), which was in the process of being rebuilt as the Welsh Highland Railway (WHR), was suitably marked over July 30/31.
Star of the show was Welsh Highland Heritage Railway’s (WHHR) Hunslet 2-6-2T Russell, the only surviving original Welsh Highland steam locomotive. It worked on the WHR between Waunfawr and Rhyd Ddu for the first time since 1937 – it ran between Dinas and Waunfawr during a 2000 visit when this section was officially reopened.
Russell hauled WHHR heritage carriages including the original WHR Buffet Car No. 10 and Gladstone Car No. 8 with services, based around a re-creation of the 1922 timetable, between Dinas and Rhyd Ddu, shared with Ffestiniog Railway’s England 0-4-0STT Palmerston, which worked on construction of this section of the line (then the
North Wales Narrow Gauge Railway) in 1876 and again in 1922 (from Dinas) when the railway (becoming the WHR) was extended from Rhyd Ddu southwards to Porthmadog, also hauling heritage carriages.
Russell steaming on what are now Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railway (Ff&WHR) metals was not only historically significant but represented an important preservation era step forward with the Ff&WHR safety management system now incorporating the use of air braked trains on its line. When Russell visited the Ff&WHR in 2019 to run between Porthmadog and Beddgelert it did so under a specific line possession – such a possession is no longer required.
A bonus for the centenary weekend visit was that having arrived at Dinas in advance of the event it was turned on a low-loader and ran smokebox towards Rhyd Ddu, as it appears in historic photographs during its time in original WHR service. After the event, it returned to its
WHHR home with the smokebox still facing Porthmadog and will remain facing in this direction for the 2023 WHR100 events marking the 100th anniversary of the WHR opening through to Porthmadog. Provisionally set for June 23-25, these celebrations will focus on the southern end of the WHR.
The July 30/31 event centred on Dinas where Hunslet 0-4-0ST Hugh Napier provided footplate rides while Garratt NG/G16
No. 87 operated shuttle services between Dinas and Caernarfon.
At WHHR’s Porthmadog line, Motor Rail 2197/1923 visited from the Moseley Railway Trust collection. This is the only known surviving internal combustion loco employed during construction of the original
WHR. It appeared working a demonstration construction train and will stay at WHHR for the 2023 anniversary celebrations. Bagnall 0-4-2T Gelert handled WHHR passenger trains.