THIS week’s Nostalgia takes a look at the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railway in Gwynedd.
The line dates back to the 19th century, with the line constructed between 1833 and 1836 to transport slate from the quarries around the town of Blaenau Ffestiniog to the coastal town of Porthmadog where it was loaded onto ships.
The empty wagons were hauled back up by horses, which travelled down in special 'dandy' wagons.
Up to six trains daily were operated in each direction, which gave a maximum annual capacity of 70,000 tons of dressed slate.
Two brakesmen travelled on each down train, controlling the speed by the application of brakes as needed.
Tourist passengers were carried on the line as early as 1850, despite not having the blessing of the Board of Trade.
In 1860, the board of the company began to investigate the possibility of introducing steam locomotives to increase the carrying capacity of the railway.
In February 1863, the bid of George England and Co. was accepted and production of the first locomotives began.
The Ffestiniog became the first narrow-gauge railway in Britain to carry passengers in 1865.
By the 1920s, the demand for slate as a roofing material dropped owing to the advent of newer materials and to the loss of the overseas trade during World War I.
As a result, the railway suffered a gradual decline in traffic.
The Welsh Highland Railway (WHR) became bankrupt in 1933.
To protect their investments, the joint owners of both companies arranged for the WHR to be leased by the Ffestiniog Railway.
However, the WHR losses continued with the loss of the Moel Tryfan slate traffic in 1935, and it closed to passengers at the end of the 1936 season and to goods in 1937.
Ordinary passenger services ceased on the Ffestiniog Railway on 15 September 1939, shortly after the outbreak of World War II.
The workmen's passenger service ran for the last time on Saturday, 16 September 1939.
Slate trains were from then onwards operated three days each week but gravity operation was discontinued, with slate traffic eventually ceasing on 1 August 1946.
The railway was restored with the help of various groups of rail enthusiasts, who cleared the outstanding debt on the derelict railway to enable its purchase.
The first public passenger train ran on 23 July 1955, before fully reopening in 1982.
Carrying 200,000 passengers annually, the railway became the second largest Welsh tourist attraction after Caernarfon Castle, and remains popular to this day.
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