Ffestiniog Railway

Listen first. A short, sharp whistle cuts across the harbour. Then comes the slow, heavy breathing of a small steam engine at rest. There is a smell of coal smoke, warm oil and salt water, all mixed together. Under your feet, the platform at Porthmadog Harbour station sits just above the boats. Across the water, the mountains of Snowdonia rise grey and green. This is where the Ffestiniog Railway begins its climb inland.

Look at the track. The rails sit very close together, just under two feet apart. That is far narrower than the main line railways of Britain. The carriages are low and compact, and the engines look almost like toys until you stand next to one and feel the heat. That narrow gauge was not chosen for charm. It was chosen because the line had to wind through steep, rocky country where a wider railway would have cost a fortune.

The reason for all this effort was slate. In the hills around Blaenau Ffestiniog, some twenty kilometres inland, quarries were cutting slate on an enormous scale. Roofs across Britain and far beyond were covered in Welsh slate. Moving it was the problem. Before the railway, slate came down the valley by cart and by small boat on the river. The process was slow and costly. A railway to the coast was the answer.

The company behind the line was formed by an Act of Parliament in 1832. Here is the first surprise. That company still exists today. It is often described as the oldest surviving railway company in the world. You may notice it writes its own name with a single f, as the Festiniog Railway Company, an older spelling. The railway itself uses the Welsh spelling, with a double f, which is how the town's name is written today.

The line opened in 1836, and at first it had no engines at all. The route was laid out on a steady, gentle slope from the quarries down to the sea. Loaded slate wagons simply rolled downhill under gravity, with brakemen riding on them. Horses then pulled the empty wagons back up the hill. And on the way down? The horses rode too. They travelled in special wagons called dandy wagons, eating from a feed bag while the train coasted towards the harbour.

Steam engines arrived in the 1860s. Many engineers doubted that locomotives could work on such a narrow track. The Ffestiniog proved them wrong. One of those first engines, called Prince, still survives. Soon after, the railway began carrying passengers as well as slate. It became a pioneer for narrow gauge passenger travel. Engineers from other countries came to see it, because a cheap, narrow railway could open up mountain regions all over the world.

The second surprise is a strange-looking engine. Watch for a locomotive that seems to have two fronts, with a chimney at each end. This is a double Fairlie, named after the engineer Robert Fairlie. It is really two engines joined back to back, with the driver and fireman in the middle. The design gave great power on tight curves. Trials of this type on the Ffestiniog in 1870 drew visitors from many nations. The railway still builds and maintains these engines in its own workshops.

Now turn towards the long, straight embankment leaving the station. This is the Cob. It was built in the early nineteenth century by William Madocks, a landowner and developer. He wanted to reclaim the marshy estuary for farmland. The town of Porthmadog takes its name from him. The railway runs along the top of the Cob, so the first stretch of your journey has water on one side and reclaimed land on the other, with mountains ahead.

At the far end of the Cob stand the Boston Lodge works. This is the railway's engineering heart. For well over a century, engines and carriages have been built and repaired here. From the train, you may catch a glimpse of sheds, stacked parts and perhaps a locomotive under repair. It is a working yard, not a museum. The skills used here, from boiler work to woodwork, are kept alive by staff and volunteers together.

The slate trade did not last forever. Demand fell in the twentieth century. Passenger trains stopped in 1939, and the line closed completely in the 1940s. Rails rusted and trees grew between the sleepers. Then, in the 1950s, a group of enthusiasts set out to bring it back. Volunteers cleared the track by hand. Trains returned to Boston Lodge in 1955, and step by step the line crept back up the valley.

One obstacle seemed impossible. A hydroelectric scheme had flooded part of the old route under a new reservoir. So volunteers built a new route around it, known as the Deviation, over many years of hard work. Near Dduallt station, the line loops right over itself in a full spiral to gain height. It is the only railway spiral in Britain. Trains finally reached Blaenau Ffestiniog again in 1982, almost three decades after the revival began.

As you ride inland, the scenery changes. First come open estuary views, then oak woodland, then rock cuttings and long views across the valley. The train clings to the hillside, and the curves are tight enough that you can often see your own engine from the carriage window. At the top, Blaenau Ffestiniog is surrounded by huge grey slate tips. They are a reminder of why this line was built at all. Here at Porthmadog, the Ffestiniog also shares the station with the Welsh Highland Railway, which runs north towards Caernarfon.

Before you go, stand still on the platform for a moment. Notice the small details. There is the polished brass on the engine, the crew checking the oil, and steam drifting across the harbour water. Every piece of this railway was nearly lost, and much of it came back through patient, unpaid work. When the whistle sounds again, look towards the Cob and the mountains beyond. That is the same view the slate wagons rolled towards, nearly two centuries ago.