Home»All Photographs»Heritage Railways»Welsh Highland Railway»2023_09_20

Compared to the previous day when weather conditions caused a landslip that severely disrupted services on the Ffestiniog Railway, we set out again to try the Welsh Highland Railway. The timetable makes catching the train from Caernarfon difficult for old fogies like us so we planned a short trip from Waunfawr to Beddgelert and return. Also, another plus point, parking is free at Waunfawr with no hassle whatsoever. Joining at an intermediate station means that it is necessary to purchase tickets from the guard. This I did and immediately noticed his name from his badge. I asked him if he could spare a few moments after he had completed his current round of duties. He asked why I had asked to speak to him and I replied with another question, “Did you study Chemical Engineering at Imperial College, London, around 1970?”. His response was an immediate “Yes, but how do you know that?”. I told him that I did the tutorials, in thermodynamics, that he attended. Neither of us recognised one another, but we had an interesting and enjoyable conversation reminiscing about times long gone. His name, of course, was Rob Holton. As the journey continued passed Betws Garmon it became clear how much flooding had occurred due to the very heavy rain that had fallen over the previous two days. In places the water was up to rail level so progress was very slow as caution was most important. Before long we were on the hill-side with the usual spectacular views that this railway is famous for. Before long we had reached Rhyd Ddu. On restarting we were soon passing Pitts Head and the summit of the line after which we twisted and turned our way through the woods until we reached our destination at Beddgelert. After a quick lunch and pleasant conversation with the other old folk that judged the walk into the village unwise, we moved to rejoin our train. I was surprised that our locomotive had not run-round. Instead, the locomotive that had arrived recently from Porthmadog coupled on to our coaches and the locomotive that had brought our train from Caernarfon would return to Porthmadog with the other carriage set. Our journey back to Waunfawr was uneventful except that the line below Llyn Cwellyn was even more flooded than on our outward journey. At one point the water was completely covering the rails. After we left the train at Waunfawr, I decided to go to Caernarfon. I did not expect to be there before the train, but I was in time to see it arrive, run-round to the service point where water was taken and the ashpan was cleaned. The locomotive rejoined the coaches and pulled away for the train to stable at Dinas overnight.