The History of the Welsh Highland Railway
The Welsh Highland Railway (Light Railway) Company was formed in 1922. The WHR
took over the existing North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways and the Portmadoc,
Beddgelert and South Snowdon Railway Company who, between them, ran railways
over much of the line which was to become the Welsh Highland Railway and had
powers to construct the remainder.
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A train enters the tunnel in the
aberglaslyn pass circa 1925 |
Finance was raised from a mixture of local council and Government sources to
the tune of just short of £70,000 and work commenced in March 1922. The company
had to undertake major refurbishment and upgrade work on the existing railways
as well as construction of 8.25 miles of new track. Once finished the line was
22 miles long running from Dinas to Portmadoc and continuing through the town
itself with a section of line laid down the high street to reach the harbour
and connect to the Ffestiniog Railway's Harbour Station.
In its early years the only locomotive in good condition was a very over worked
Russell and locomotives were borrowed from the Ffestiniog when needed. In 1923
Colonel Stephens (a larger than life character involved in Light Railways all
over Britain) became locomotive superintendent and purchased Baldwin No. 590 an
American built ex war department locomotive, providing some welcome relief for
Russell.
The railway never attracted the level of traffic which would have made it
profitable and In 1927 was taken into receivership. The line struggled on under
the receiver but underwent steady decline until, on 1st July 1934, the railway
passed into the control of the Ffestiniog for a nominal sum in the hope of
keeping it open.
For a time the railway had a brief resurgence as the Ffestiniog management
invested in improvements, sadly these were inadequate or cosmetic and the
Railway closed completely in 1937.
You may also like to visit the pages within this site which describe the railway today:
The Welsh Highland Railway (Caernarfon)