Mud and mountains

After three days on the Ffestiniog we turned our attention to the Welsh Highland Railway. It was fascinating to see just how different the landscapes were on the ride up to the peak at Rhyd Ddu, with a completely different set of photographic opportunities. The weather was still erratic, but it had been alot wetter in the build up to our arrival…

A slow moving low pressure system last week dumped a heck of a lot of water on Snowdonia, resulting in heavy flooding at Plas Y Nant, with photos in the local press showing the track submerged. Thankfully, the damage was fully repaired in just a few days and we could enjoy three days of photo charters on the line followed by a chill-out day riding the line to Waunfawr for a pub lunch.

NGG 16 No.130 with a SAR freight train at Porthmadog

Although the most serious outcomes of the heavy rainfall had been addressed, the ground was completely saturated. Water was still running off the mountains in freshly formed streams when we arrived for our first shots. Inevitably, this meant that the terrain was quite treacherous with gloopy mud on the most heavily trod sections of the footpath we followed. Some effort had been made to shore up the path, but its effectiveness was limited.

I found this out at first hand, sinking to well above boot level on my first attempt. I feared I would lose both boots but somehow managed to extricate myself, thickly coated in mud but otherwise fine. Others sank even further, going knee deep into the mud while the lucky few seemed to glide across. It was a lottery whether there was anything solid below the mud you stepped on!

None of this mattered. The spectacle was worth any of the modest difficulties we faced and appreciated all the more in the knowledge of all the work that the railway had put in to get the track sorted and to provide such an incredible feast for our eyes.

Over the four days we spent on the line we were treated to the spectacle of Ex South African Railways NGG 16 Class Garratt No. 87 (2-6-2+2-6-2); Ex Tasmanian Government Railways K class Garratt K1 (0-4-0+0-4-0); and Ex South African Railways NGG16 Class Garratt No. 130 (2-6-2+2-6-2) hauling freight and passenger consists over the summit. And that’s before we get on to the Double Fairlies and the veteran Welsh Pony (1867), the first of the Large England class locos, which only returned to steam in June 2020.

The sight of these magnificent locos working trains on the horse shoe curves at Rhyd Ddu was quite something with the incredible backdrop of the Llyn Cwellyn reservoir, the mountains beyond and those distinctive blue-grey slate heaps. The view from the old sea wall at the other end of the day was equally arresting, with the mountains looming large and some pretty vibrant rainbows on top of that.

Ex South African Railways NGG 16 Class Garratt No. 87 hauls a freight train towards Rhyd Dhu

On the wettest of our days on the Welsh Highland Railway we enjoyed a series of runpasts on the old incline and cutting before Nantmor station, as well as around the Bryn-Y-Felin bridge. The riverbanks here proved another treacherous spot, with one chap emerging sopping wet from the river. Thank goodness loco cabs are great places to dry clothes!

I thoroughly enjoyed my time on the Welsh Highland Railway, so thank you to all the volunteers who keep this impressive operation going and for making our visit to the railway such a pleasure.

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Finding the light on the Ffestiniog

Our first day on the Ffestiniog Railway provided a bit of everything, from the delights of a first introduction to the extraordinary Double Fairlie locomotives (double ended articulated locomotives with two fireboxes) to the stunning beauty of the Snowdonia National Park in autumn. I began to understand why some of my fellow photographers have been coming here year after year.

Small England class loco “Prince” hauls a passenger service over the Dduallt spiral

At the first location, a private halt known as Campbell’s Platform, a rainbow capped an already stunning shot of our train coming round the curve with a mountain backdrop. Although this was only the first shot of the charter, many of the photographers thought this was destined to be the shot of the trip, having never seen anything like this in many years of coming here. An instantaneous round of applause for the charter organiser followed and I can tell you that I have never seen a reaction quite like that.

Now, I’d like to show you the shot but the truth is I simply failed to notice the rainbow grow in intensity and go wide enough to capture it in its full glory. It’s the photographic equivalent of firing a shot far over the bar rather than knocking in the ball for an easy penalty. I tend to remember the shots I miss more than the ones I took successfully, so this one will be haunting me for years!

The price exacted from the weather gods for such photographic gold was an afternoon of utterly dismal weather as the heavy rain that had dropped on us intermittently through the morning now swept in for a more prolonged stay. Nevertheless, no-one walked away without at least one shot they could be happy with. I hope I managed to redeem myself by the end of the day.

I guess we must have cut a mad sight, standing on the hillside getting drenched and waiting for that break in the clouds that would deliver the light we needed. It takes some skill to judge when to call the train for a runpast in such tricky conditions, but today it worked out every time – though sometimes only by the finest of margins.

Our journey continued, though initially only at a sheep’s trot. A trio of plucky lambs had managed to find their way onto the lineside and our train had to chase them up the hillside for a little way until we reached a point where they could escape. Finally, we made it to the end of the line at Blaenau Ffestiniog, where one of the unexpected delights would have to be the spicy Kurdish pasties on offer from Model Bakery, an extraordinary enterprise established by a former rocket scientist!

Timing was once again spot on. The rain was unrelenting and as we made our way back down the line we saw the raging streams and waterfalls that the surfeit of water had created. It is no wonder that there have been further reports of flooding in Wales. Although that seemed like a lot of water we soon discovered that our second day consisted of rain, rain and more rain.

Finally, the third day offered up some superb weather (and a bit more rain) that allowed us to really take advantage of the incredible scenery around the Tanygrisiau reservoir. At the end of three days of sometimes challenging photography it felt like it was only right to celebrate with a pint of the superb local Welsh Steam Ale from Purple Moose Brewery. Maybe with a pint or two more to follow that…

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Steam in Snowdonia

It has been a while since I have had a fix of live steam action but that should be well and truly addressed over the next twelve days as I join a tour of some of the amazing narrow gauge railways in Wales. At the heart of the trip will be a seven day spell on the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways.

I have long wanted to visit the Ffestiniog Railway having marveled at the astonishing pictures published in Steam Railway magazine but somehow never managed to squeeze a trip into my schedule until now. I jumped at the chance to join a photo charter on these inter-connected lines and find out exactly what I had been missing out on.

Small England class loco “Prince” (1863) hauls a passenger train towards Tanygrisiau on the Ffestiniog Railway

A bit of background first, the 13.5 mile long line used by the Ffestiniog Railway today was built to serve industry, connecting the slate quarries in the mountains at Blaenau Ffestiniog with the harbour at Porthmadog. For an industrial line it is blessed with an incredible array of natural beauty spots. You have it all from lush forests to striking mountains. It’s not hard to see how it gained its second life as a tourist railway.

To avoid having to double the line (providing track in both directions) the engineers settled on an ingenious solution: a double ended articulated steam locomotive with two fireboxes. The Double Fairlies must have made quite an impression when they were first introduced and still have that wow factor today.

The Welsh Highland Railway between Porthmadog and Caernarfon is a more remarkable revival still, with the persistent efforts of supporters bringing back to life a line that closed to passengers in 1936. The efforts to restore the 25-mile line finally paid off with the re-opening of the first section in 1997. The line was extended section-by-section until it was completed in 2011, linking up with the Ffestiniog Railway with a neat connection that runs along the streets of Porthmadog.

As is often the case with photo charters our tour falls outside the main tourist season to give us the full extent of the line to play with, without the worry of having to dodge service trains. The conditions are highly likely to be challenging, but with some super autumnal colours and a bit of luck with the weather, this could be spectacular…