Welsh Highland Railway
Travelling in style
29 March 2025
We’re treating ourselves to something special today -
a return trip from Caernarfon to Porthmadog on the
Welsh Highland Railway, on the ‘Seren Eryri’ - the
‘Snowdonian Star’. Special enough in itself, we’ve
put the icing on the cake by booking ‘Gold Service’
First Class seats in the Pullman observation carriage
Gwyrfai (named after the river whose valley the line
follows for the climb up to Rhyd Ddu).
Inevitably, and as will be seen from the photos, the
weather wasn’t very kind to us. It stayed dry until we were about to
leave Porthmadog, and rained most of the way back to Caernarfon (the
only rainy day in a three-week spell of clear blue skies...). So the very
scenic journey - it’s certainly a spectacular ride - on the way out
became an atmospheric return journey, with steam dramatically
swirling around almost continously on the long climb from the coast.
Our locomotive was Beyer-Garratt no. 130, built by
Beyer Peacock in 1951, one of the fleet of these
huge (for 2’ gauge) locomotives brought from South
Africa to operate the WHR. What good fortune that
they became available! No. 130 was clearly master
of its task, handling our lengthy train with apparent
ease. Their size makes an interesting comparison
with the Fairlie double engines of the Ffestiniog.
Geoff’s Rail Diaries
One such arrived shortly before we were due to
leave (I don’t remember which one, and it was
getting wetter by the minute, so no photo).
I’d mentioned the pre-WW2 WHR, and its
predecessors, to my wife - and the remarkable
survival of Russell, now a resident of the Welsh
Highland Heritage Railway at Porthmadog. I should
have had my camera at the ready - as we passed the
WHHR’s station at Pen-y-Mount, there he was,
apparently just arrived from their own Porthmadog terminus. As I write,
Russell is enjoying his last day in steam for some time, before a
temporary retirement for overhaul.
As we passed once more through the rocky Aberglaslyn Pass, I thought
back to a day, well over 50 years ago, when I walked along the WHR
trackbed, beside the river and through the tunnels. We were told, at
the time, that there was no chance that trains would
ever run along here again. How fortunate we are!
As with all good things, our journey came to its end
(why do return journeys seem shorter?) back at
Caernarfon, where the rain was little more than
drizzle. A couple more photos, then that’s it for
today. What a great day it’s been!
Link: Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways
