Gauge: 1ft 11½in (600mm)
Collection Objects
| Number | Railway | Object Type | Description | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TYWRM:WHR001 | Welsh Highland Railway | gauge scale | track gauge marked 23 1/2" from Welsh Highland Ry |  |
| TYWRM:WHR002 | Welsh Highland Railway | notice | notice; cast iron; 17" x 15"; marked "TRESMASU...TRWY ORCHMYN" |  |
| TYWRM:WHR004 | Welsh Highland Railway | notice | notice; 16" x 1'; marked "RHYBUDD....TRWY ORCHMYN" |  |
| TYWRM:WHR005 | Welsh Highland Railway | notice | Card carriage destination notice marked "BEDDGELERT" one side; "PORTMADOC" on reverse |  |
| TYWRM:WHR006 | Welsh Highland Railway | sign | enamel sign; WELSH HIGHLAND RAILWAY |  |
| TYWRM:WHR007 | Welsh Highland Railway | works plate | builder's plate marked "ROBERT HUDSON LTD. GILDERSOME FOUNDRY NR. LEEDS ENGLAND |  |
| TYWRM:WHR009 | Welsh Highland Railway | staff | train staff and tickets marked "WAENFAWR TO TRYFAN MACKENZIE AND HOLLAND; ENGINEERS; WORCESTER" |  |
| TYWRM:WHR010 | Welsh Highland Railway | staff | train staff marked "BEDDGELERT AND S.SNOWDON" |  |
| TYWRM:WHR012 | Welsh Highland Railway | sign | enamel sign; marked "NORTH WALES NARROW GAUGE RLY" |  |
| TYWRM:WHR013 | Welsh Highland Railway | board | carriage roof board marked "BUFFET CAR"; painted over sign marked "GENTLEMEN" |  |
| TYWRM:WHR014 | Welsh Highland Railway | board | station nameboard "BRYNGWYN" |  |
| TYWRM:WHR016 | Welsh Highland Railway | stencil | stencil; BEWARE OF THE TRAINS |  |
| TYWRM:WHR017 | Welsh Highland Railway | spike | Spike to carry wires on top of stone wall |  |
| TYWRM:WHR018 | Welsh Highland Railway | nameplate | locomotive nameplate; engraved brass; "MOEL TRYFAN" |  |
| TYWRM:WHR019 | Welsh Highland Railway | board | carriage board from Observation Car; possibly used on "Gladstone Car" observation carrige of 1893; NWNGR 8; WHR/FR 29 |  |
| TYWRM:WHR020 | Welsh Highland Railway | ticket | Collection of 33 Edmondson card tickets from WHR | |
| TYWRM:WHR021 | Welsh Highland Railway | rail | length of rail; flat bottomed 40lb/yd; Welsh Highland Railway c1923 track display section; comprising 2no. lengths of flat bottomed 40lb/yd rail spiked to replica wooden sleeper |  |
| TYWRM:WHR022 | Welsh Highland Railway | single line ticket | Single line tickets South Snowdon to Beddgelert and Portmadoc (New Station) to Portmadoc (old Station) |  |
| TYWRM:WHR023 | Welsh Highland Railway | ticket | Collection of Welsh Hightland Railway Tickets |  |
| TYWRM:WHR024 | Welsh Highland Railway | shipping note | Consignment Note Portmadoc Croesor and Beddgelert Tram-Railway issued at Portmadoc 19.01.1897 | |
| TYWRM:WHR025 | Welsh Highland Railway | nameplate | Replica nameplate "Russell" |  |
| TYWRM:WHR026 | Welsh Highland Railway | headboard | Headboard carried by the first train from Caernarfon to Porthmadog 30.10.2010 |  |
| TYWRM:WHR027 | Welsh Highland Railway | ticket | Welsh Highland Railway ticket : Dinas to South Snowden Day Excursion 6 AU 35. Severed half |  |
| TYWRM:WHR028 | Welsh Highland Railway | leaflet | Welsh Highland Railway "Day Excursions" leaflet advertising train time and cheap day fares |  |
| TYWRM:WHR029 | Welsh Highland Railway | ticket | Welsh Highland Railway ticket - First Public Passenger Train (Caernarfon - Porthmadog) Saturday 19.02.2011 |  |
| TYWRM:WHR030.1 | Welsh Highland Railway | ticket | Metal ticket number 0199 issued by the Welsh Highland Railway Ltd to mark the return to steam of locomotive Russell on 02 August 2014 |  |
| TYWRM:WHR030.2 | Welsh Highland Railway | ticket | Metal ticket number 0243 issued by the Welsh Highland Railway Ltd to mark the return to steam of locomotive Russell on 02 August 2014 |  |
| TYWRM:WHR031 | Welsh Highland Railway | ticket | 2 Welsh Highland Railway tickets 25 August 1999 | |
| TYWRM:WHR032 | Welsh Highland Railway | ticket | 20 Welsh Highland Railway tickets | |
| TYWRM:WHR033 | Welsh Highland Railway | ticket | 2 paper tickets from the Welsh Highland Railway | |
| TYWRM:WHR034 | Welsh Highland Railway | waybill | Welsh Highland Railway waybill for conductor's ticket sales |  |
The Welsh Highland Railway opened from Dinas, three miles south of Caernarfon, where there was a junction with the LMS, to Porthmadog, where it linked up with the Festiniog Railway, in June 1923. Thereby a scheme first mooted in the 1870s was essentially brought to fruition. Engineers to the new line were Sir Douglas Fox & Partners and the contractors Sir Robert McAlpine. Not long after the line’s opening Col Stephens was appointed engineer and manager to both the WHR and the FR.
The WHR incorporated two older narrow gauge railways: part of the Croesor Tramway opened in 1864 using horse haulage to bring slate from the Croesor valley to Porthmadog harbour, and the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railway from Dinas Junction to Rhyd Ddu/South Snowdon, some three and a half miles north of Beddgelert. Until the opening of the Snowdon Mountain Railway in 1896 the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railway provided the best means of accessing Snowdon’s summit.
From Tryfan Junction, two miles south of Dinas, a branch line went to Bryngwyn for the purpose of tapping the traffic provided by slate quarried on Moel Tryfan. Authorised by Act of Parliament in 1872 this system was fully operational by 1881 albeit in receivership from 1878.
In 1901 the Portmadoc Beddgelert and South Snowdon Railway was formed to complete the link between the NWNGR and the Festiniog using an electric railway. It ordered a new steam locomotive “Russell” for the NWNGR and a lot of construction was carried out, including cutting the Aberglaslyn Tunnels, before work was abandoned in 1908. The only part of the scheme that was completed was the hydro-electric power station at Cwm Dyli, which still feeds power into the National Grid.
Passenger traffic on the Bryngwyn Branch ceased in 1913 and on the main line in 1916. During WWI there was substantial traffic in pit props from Rhyd Ddu and iron ore from Betws Garmon.
But for the war the WHR may have been earlier on the scene. In the event it arrived too late; the slate industry was in terminal decline and the motor coach was becoming a strong competitor for tourist traffic. On top of this the carriages were old and uncomfortable, the season of most trains too short and the journey taking too long. Invariably one had to change at Beddgelert – and wait for the connection – if travelling the full length of the line.
In 1934 the Festiniog Railway leased the WHR in an attempt to save it. Locomotives and carriages were painted in ‘attractive’ colours but all to no avail. The last passengers were carried in September 1936 and freight traffic ceased the following year.
Between 1941 – 42 the track was lifted to aid the war effort. Fortunately all was not lost for “Russell” and three of the original carriages are still with us, albeit substantially rebuilt.
In 1961 the original Welsh Highland Society sowed the seed for re-opening, a task completed by the FR in 2010/2011.
Locomotives
11 Moel Tryfan Vulcan Foundry of 1877; 0-6-4 tank. Ex NWNGR. Scrapped 1954
12 Russell Hunslet Engine Co. No. 901 of 1906; 2-6-2 tank. Ex NWNGR.
Sold to Hook Norton Ironstone and now at Porthmadog Welsh Highland Railway.
590 Baldwin Locomotive Works No. 45172 of 1917; 4-6-0 tank. Scrapped 1940s
Stock incorporated with Festiniog Railway in 1936