Visit the main railway station in Porthmadog. Closed in 1937, assets sold, track lifted, passengers a distant memory -- the Welsh Highland Railway was consigned to the scrap heap of history. It started life in 1872 as the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railway. In 1923 it was extended, and renamed the Welsh Highland Railway. It linked Porthmadog with the isolated villages of Nantmor, Beddgelert, Ryhd ddu and Waunfawr, before terminating, somewhat abruptly, at Dinas just short of Caernarfon.
Through the decades, the old trackbed slumbered but the tunnels and bridges were well made and defiantly stood the test of time. The railway preservation movement began, flourished, and finally focussed on the forgotten little line which had blended so perfectly with the idyllic scenery through which it ran. This was to be railway preservation's greatest challenge.
Take the opportunity to ride on the Welsh Highland Railway, which runs from Caernarfon to Rhyd Ddu and will run all the way to Porthmadog by 2009.The famous Ffestiniog Railway is rebuilding the line and the first three miles from Caernarfon to Dinas were opened in 1998, with an extension to Waenfawr opened in Sept. 2000. A luxury Pullman coach named Bodysgallen, which is the first of two to be completed, is already on the rails and has been sponsored by Historic House Hotels!
WELSH HIGHLAND RAILWAY
