Just came back from a tour of Welsh Narrow gauge.
Welshpool & Llanfair - great little railway with good buildings, and interesting (Hungarian ?) rolling stock. A very tidy operation. Great fun riding on the open end lobbies of their unusual carriages. Scenary is good but obviously not up to the standard of the more famous Welsh routes to the north.
Tallylyn - what a fun little railway. Everyone there was so enthusiastic and smiling, great stations that look authentic. Climbs steadily into the hills. Rolling stock is good as are the Locos. Really liked this one.
Ffestiniog - what an amazing route, one continuous grade from Blaenau to the sea at Porthmadog. Unusual double Fairlie locos, that have brilliant grip even on the steepest sections where they happily pulled 11 full carriages while I was there. Route has Britains only spiral. Good stations that look authentic, shares mainline terminus with NR at Blaenau. Big Disapointment was level of crowding on the day I went, when people were unhappy as they couldn't sit with friends etc. Far too many coaches were block-booked to coach tour companies. Pick a quieter time of year to really enjoy this classic journey.
Welsh Highland - Has amazing potential and could eventually be as good as Ffestiniog. Facilities at Caernafon are disappointing given its status and position next to the castle, with just portacabins for a ticket office and toilet and no platform shelter from the rain for passengers. Has those lovely Garratts which are amazingly large and powerful so really impressive when they accelerate. Carriages are quite large in great condition and there is an onboard toilet and trolley service. Sadly the day I went last week the journey had to be abandoned before the real scenery started due to apalling weather (In August
) which caused serious track flooding. However, as a consequence I got to ride on that rarest of things, a train with a Garratt at each end, when they sent the thunderbird loco to rescue us
so I will have to go back next year to enjoy the full
five hour round trip to Porthmadog.
Vale of Rheidol - Wow what a great line. Starts in Aberystwyth from the station that it shares with NR. The first few miles follow the river and are almost routine Welsh countryside. However, this soon changes and the line gets higher and higher and you look down into the valley that it follows. The wooded valley really is spectacular and the line in the last few miles seems to sit on a shelf of rock that meanders along the high sides of the valley. The views are among the best in the UK and it really shows what an Engineering feat this line is. Its terminus is at Devils Bridge, from which there is time to visit the falls at the Devils punchbowl before returning. The Locos are in the best condition of any that I rode on this week, and the line ran remarkably smoothly with hardly a jolt. The line has two slight problems. The views are often spoiled by the trees; they have recognised this and there is a promise that this is being addressed in their literature. Also the facilities at either end of the line may be authentic Great Western tin structures, but they are not really up to the volume of people who use this line so could do with being made a little larger, their website also recognises this as well and promises future improvements. This was my favorite narrow gauge journey by some margin and I find it unusual that it is often overshadowed by some of the others up country in Snowdonia. You should visit this one.
Snowdon Mountain railway - something a bit different and very tourist oriented. Has experienced significant extra demand since the new Snowdon visitors centre at the summit has been completed. I would recommend that you catch the first train of the day like I did and buy your tickets in advance (a long and painful phone call where you are kept on hold is needed, which took nearly an hour) however, this avoids the long queues on the day and possibly being turned away at peak times. Only about 50% of the trains are steam and they always ran full. They are also quite cramped so tall people need to think where to sit. The views are as you can imagine really good, although low cloud often obscures the summit and hence the views. The visitors centre is fine, modern and warm and serves decent drinks and has good loos. Wrap up warm as at the summit it was only just above freezing the day I went and the carriages are not heated, so you need two layers and a coat in summer. Parking is expensive at a fiver, and the journey itself is not cheap either, but I am glad that I made it.