The Llanberis Lake Railway
The Railway Today
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Elidir passes under
Vivian Arch |
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Dolbadarn built in 1922
by the Hunslet Engine Co. |
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Thomas Bach with
Snowdon in the background |
The Llanberis lake railway lies along the northerly shore of Llyn Padarn, a
picturesque lake having, at its southern most end, the well known Snowdonia town
of Llanberis. The railways headquarters (at which almost all journeys start
and finish) is located in the Padarn Country Park at Gilfach Ddu, an area across the valley
from the town of Llanberis which boasts tracts of unspoilt woodland and a
range of tourist attractions related to the slate industry. Also at Llanberis
is the Snowdon Mountain Railway Britain's only
Rack railway.
The railway itself is a 2' gauge line of approximately 2 1/2 miles length.
Trains are normally steam hauled and the passenger stock has been built on site
by the Padarn Lake Railway themselves, while this stock is not the most
comfortable, it is more than adequate for the forty minute trip. The journey
extends in both directions from Gilfach Ddu first into the town (via a new extension
opened in 2003) the returning and running along the lakeside. The journey can
be broken at Cei Llydan where the spectacular views available from the
railway can be enjoyed at leisure. Snowdon and the lesser mountains dominate
the view but the lake itself and the town of Llanberis across the valley add to
the scenic splendour.
Three historic Hunslet locomotives work the traffic on the line (augmented by
diesels in emergency or for works trains). These tiny locomotives have all seen
service in the Dinorwic Quarries where they once hauled short trains of slate
wagons at all levels of the quarry.
This railway still retains an element of an industrial purpose. Just to the
south of the terminus is a large tunnel mouth with a gate house and security
post, beside a concrete out fall into the lake. This is all that can be seen of
one of the modern industrial wonders of Wales, if not the World. Through this
tunnel access is gained to a massive hydroelectric power station built inside
the mountain. There are miles of tunnels here, some carrying roads and some
water, some simply housing machinery. The main turbine and generator chamber is
said to be the largest underground chamber ever excavated by man. From this
incredible place the power goes by underground cable housed in a tunnel which
runs alongside the railway, there is also a pumping station here which draws
water from the lake to cool the tunnel. When maintenance of the cable, tunnel
or pumping station is required it falls to the railway to provide transport for
men and machines. The public can go on a bus tour of the power station starting
from the 'Electric Mountain' exhibition in Llanberis.
History and Origins
It would be easy to dismiss this railway, built in 1970-71 as a modern tourist
railway with no historical perspective but a look at the history of the area
shows that it would also be quite inaccurate.
Any traveller through the spectacular pass of Llanberis inevitably notices the
contrast between the rugged natural landscape on the west of the road and the
odd, blue grey, terraced mountains on the Dinorwic side of the valley. As most
would guess the eastern side of the pass is a man made landscape of awesome
scale, all the more so when it is remembered that the vast majority of the
slate quarrying which produced it predated modern machinery and was produced
using hand tools and gun powder.
Commercial Quarrying of slate began at Dinorwic in the early 1800s with the
product being shipped around Wales and England by sea. Of course Dinorwic is
many miles from the sea and the first part of the journey was by packhorse. In
common with other quarries railways came into use and eventually two systems
were used by the Quarry company. 2' gauge railways were laid in each level of
the quarry and connected by rope worked inclines between the levels, these
railways were worked by dozens of small steam locomotives, mainly saddle tanks
supplied by Hunslet of Leeds. To transport the slate from Dinorwic to the sea a
4' gauge railway was built running from the quarry to Y Felinheli, the harbour
here is still known as Port Dinorwic to the confusion of the less historically
aware visitor to the area.
An unusual, but not unique, feature of the system was the avoidance of double
transhipment of slate between 2' and 4' gauge vehicles the laden 2' gauge
trucks were loaded, four to a wagon, onto special transporter wagons for
transport over 4' gauge metals. As a matter of interest on the now long gone
Leek and Manifold Light Railway standard gauge wagons were carried on narrow
gauge transporter wagons.
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| Hunslet Locos in Dinorwic Quarry |
Transporter wagons at Padarn |
When the quarry closed in 1969 Llanberis was already a thriving tourist town
and in an effort to assist the changeover of the Llanberis economy from slate
driven to tourist driven the idea of a tourist railway was pursued. In a neatly
symmetrical arrangement men who had lost there livelihood in the quarry were
employed to dismantle much of the (now unneeded) 2' gauge equipment in the
quarries and transport it to the (now disused) 4' railway track bed by the
shores of the lake and there to build the Lake Railway, more or less as it
exists today.
Although the railway is not a preserved railway in the sense that it is not the
right gauge or type of equipment for its location (or not in the right place)
it does commemorate both the 2' gauge tracks in the quarries and the 4' railway
to the sea. The railway and the other exhibits of Padarn Country Park (which
includes the National Slate Museum) make a worthwhile monument to the 3000 men
who once worked the quarries, albeit one that can never rival the spectacle of
the quarry workings laying open the side of the Elidir mountain just to the
south.