North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways
Overview | |
---|---|
Locale | Wales |
Dates of operation | 1877–1916 |
Successor | Welsh Highland Railway |
Technical | |
Track gauge | 1 ft 11+1⁄2 in (597 mm) |
Length | 12+1⁄2 miles (20.1 km) |
The North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways (NWNGR) was a railway company that planned to build a number of inter-connected
Routes built
The company completed construction of two lines, The first, opened in 1877, was approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) long, running south-east from a junction with the London and North Western Railway's Caernarfon to Afon Wen branch at Dinas Junction, to Bryngwyn. There were intermediate stations at Tryfan Junction and Rhostryfan. From Bryngwyn, a shallow incline climbed the northern flank of Moel Tryfan. From the top of the incline a number of quarry tramways connected to the Alexandra quarry, Moel Tryfan quarry, Fron quarry, Braich quarry and Cilgwyn quarry.
The second line was opened in stages, and completed in 1881. It connected
Routes planned
The line from Dinas Junction to Rhyd Ddu was built, with a short branch from Tryfan Junction to Bryngwyn, and operated, but this was just a small part of the grand scheme for a network of narrow-gauge railways spanning much of northern Wales. The North Wales Narrow Gauge Railway was intended to run from Caernarvon via Beddgelert to Portmadoc (where it would link with the
1. To extend from a Junction with the Portmadoc, Croesor & Beddgelert Tram Railway Company's proposed line to Beddgelert, thence to Pen-y-gwryd via Nant Gwynant involving reversing spirals of 2 chains radius. Thence to Capel Curig and Bettws-y-Coed.
2. From Bettws-y-Coed, following alongside the route of Holyhead-London road to a point three miles west of Corwen.
3. From end of Railway No. 2 into Corwen, terminating behind the standard gauge railway station of the Great Western Railway.
North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways (Extensions, &c.) Act 1885 | |
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Act of Parliament | |
Text of statute as originally enacted |
An act of Parliament, the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways (Extensions, &c.) Act 1885 (
A further part of the scheme was the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways (General Undertaking) which planned a route from Porthmadog to Beddgelert, where it would meet the Rhyd Ddu-Beddgelert extension. From there the line would travel via Capel Curig to Betws-y-Coed. A further branch would have extended the line from Betws-y-Coed to Corwen via Cerrig-y-Drudion where the railway would meet the planned Ruthin and Cerrig-y-Drudion Railway.
A short, separate line from Pwllheli (adjacent to the Cambrian Railways' terminus of that period) to Porthdinllaen was also proposed.
The General Undertaking was authorised by Act of Parliament in 1872 but officially abandoned in 1876. The section from Porthmadog to Beddgelert was eventually completed by the Welsh Highland Railway as part of its construction, and utilised parts of the Croesor Tramway and the aborted Portmadoc, Beddgelert and South Snowdon Railway (PBSSR) works.
South Snowdon
There are two locations which have been called South Snowdon. One is Rhyd Ddu and the other is the South Snowdon Quarry in the Nant Gwynant Pass and this was the original intended destination of the Portmadoc, Beddgelert and South Snowdon Railway. That company later applied for and received a light railway order to build from Beddgelert to Rhyd Ddu and commenced construction on that section around 1906. All the known photographs of the station at Rhyd Ddu taken prior to 1914 show a station nameboard SNOWDON.
History
The company was formed in 1871, and authorised by the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways Act 1872, to build "certain railways in the counties of Carnarvon and Merioneth" and to raise £216,000 in capital. In 1871, the company appointed
By 1876, £66,000 had been raised in capital, the whole amount authorised to pay for the "Moeltryfan Undertaking", but the company needed further capital and applied to Parliament for a second act in April that year. This second Act allowed the company to abandon its "General Undertaking", which would have extended the line to Bettws-y-Coed and beyond.[2] By December of that year, Spooner reported that all but 3 miles (4.8 km) of the line had been built and was "nearly ready to open to traffic" and that mineral traffic would commence immediately.[3]
The line from Dinas Junction to Tryfan Junction and on to Bryngwyn was opened in 1877. In 1878, a branch was built from Tryfan Junction to Snowdon Ranger and this was extended to South Snowdon (later renamed Rhyd Ddu) in 1881. In 1884, the company began the process of relaying the track, upgrading from iron rails weighing 35 lbs per yard, to steel rails weighing 41.5 lbs per yard. At the October 1887 board meeting of the company, a proposal to extend the line from Dinas Junction to Carnarvon was passed unanimously.[4] This extension was never built.
In 1900, the railway company was granted permission for an extension of the main line from South Snowdon to Beddgelert. This was the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways (Beddgelert Light Railway Extension) Order, which allowed the extension to be built under the Light Railways Act 1896. This extension was not built.
In 1905, the
In 1914, a combined committee of several local authorities applied for a
Locomotives
Name | Builder | Type | Date | Works number | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Snowdon Ranger | Vulcan Foundry | T
|
1875 | 739 | |
Moel Tryfan | Vulcan Foundry | T
|
1875 | 738 | |
Beddgelert | Hunslet | ST
|
1878 | 206 |
Mainly worked the Bryngwyn branch. Scrapped 1906. |
Russell | Hunslet | T
|
1906 | 901 | Ordered by the Portmadoc, Beddgelert and South Snowdon Railway, paid for by the North Wales Power & Traction Co Ltd, for the NWNGR and later became part of the Welsh Highland Railway stock. |
Gowrie | Hunslet | T
|
1908 | 979 | Single Fairlie locomotive; sold in 1918 to the Government,[10] most likely the Ministry of Munitions.[11] Sold later in 1918 to railway contractor J.F. Wake, where Gowrie was rebuilt. Supplied with spare parts in 1924, and scrapped after 1928. |
Palmerston
|
George England | ST+T
|
1867 | unknown | Loaned by the Ffestiniog Railway between May 1876 and July 1877 to assist in the construction of the NWNGR.[12] |
See also
- British narrow-gauge railways
- British narrow-gauge slate railways
- Slate operations on the WHR
References
- ^ "The North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways". North Wales Chronicle. 11 November 1871.
- ^ "North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways". North Wales Chronicle. 15 April 1876.
- ^ "North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways". North Wales Chronicle. 16 December 1876.
- ^ "North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways". North Wales Chronicle. 1 October 1887.
- ^ "General News". Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser. 19 June 1905.
- ^ "North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways". Cambrian News. 25 March 1910.
- ^ "General News". Sevenoaks Chronicle and Kentish Advertiser. 29 April 1910.
- ^ Johnson, Peter (2017). Festiniog Railway: The Spooner Era and After 1830 - 1920. Pen & Sword Books Limited.
- ^ John Keylock; Michael Bishop (December 2009). "Two into One will go". Welsh Highland Heritage (46).
- ^ "North Wales Narrow Gauge Railway". Locomotive News and Railway Notes. 24 May 1919.
- ^ "The life of "Gowrie"". Welsh Highland Heritage Journal. 38. December 2007.
- ^ Quine, Dan (2013). The George England locomotives of the Ffestiniog Railway. London: Flexiscale.