The Welsh Highland Railway thread

[Born Acorn]

Some of you in #tycoon will know what the Welsh Highland Railway is, because I keep showing pictures all the time.

The Welsh Highland Railway is a heritage railway in North West Wales. It is owned and operated by the Ffestiniog Railway, which is a long established heritage railway.

It was first built in the 19th Century, and was extended in 1923. It did however, go out of business, and the tracks and some bridges pulled up for the war effort. However, the company, and the trackbed went into receivership and were never officially abandoned, so the trackbed could not be sold off.

Now, thanks to Millenium Commission, EU and Welsh Assembly Government funding, the Welsh Highland Railway is being rebuilt fully. When finished, it will connect with the Ffestiniog Railway (literally), creating 40 miles of narow gauge railway, the longest heritage railway in the UK, possibly even Europe?

As the trackbed has been eroded over 50 odd years, and bridges and infrastructure damaged by time, rebuilding isn't as easy as just laying track from A to B. The Welsh Highland Railways has some pretty unique features, including a couple of reverse curves (S bends), a bridge it shares with an adjacent road, a stretch through a narrow and somewhat rocky pass(with tunnels), a stretch through a town and a level crossing with a standard gauge part of the railway network.

There are two websites which post information on the Welsh Highland Railway very frequently, sometimes once a day. Here they are:

Official Construction Website
Barrie Hughe's Unofficial Construction News (may hurt eyes)

I just wanted to share this with you guys, as watching the WHR progress is a bit of a hobby of mine.

[TheGrew]

that sounds brilliant

[Bad Hair Day]

Oooh, I've travelled on that line. Highly enjoyable, even if the train was diesel hauled.

I've been watching the progress for a while. It's quite interesting.

[Born Acorn]

Here's an interesting website. It has free high resolution maps of the original railway from around 1918 (a few years before the full railway was opened) and the TWA (Transport and Works Act) maps from 97.

http://www.steven.harris.dsl.pipex.com/

[orudge]

I looked up the WHR and read quite a lot about it the other day when you mentioned it on IRC again... very interesting indeed. I'd like to take a trip on there one day.

[DJC]

Been on it last summer, and its a fantastic railway. I want to go back when they've finished it, beacuse then it'll be simply spectacular.

[Born Acorn]

Today, they opened an extension Northwards from the Southern base!

http://www.bangor.ac.uk/ml/whr/traethmawr07.htm

[Born Acorn]

The last week has been a week of tracklaying. They managed to take it right into and through Beddgelert, and through the first tunnel. However, one of the works trains that tried to make it through didn't quite make it without a bump!

Beddgelert Station
Beddgelert - Bryn y Felin (with that tunnel)

[orudge]

Oooh, a tunnel. I may have to see if I can take a trip down there sometime this summer.

TT-Forums field trip, anyone?

[EirikhO]

TT-Forums field trip, anyone?

Maybe when the TT-Forums Meeting is? like, the day after or something?

[orudge]

Hmm, well, if people could get to North Wales (I'm not sure where you'd stay or anything, if that were the case), then that's hypothetically possible, I guess!

[EirikhO]

Please, we dont have much about UG geographicks @ school. We only learn about the Atlantic and how to prononciate prononciaton and anti-oxitantion and all that kind of stuff.

[orudge]

Well, rough directions from Birmingham, by road...

Google Maps

You can get there by railway though, if I'm not very much mistaken.