Getting acquainted with the Festiniog Railway in 1967, when we occupied the 'Pullman Holiday Coach' at Betws-y-Coed station, completely won me over for the narrow gauge. From Betws-y-Coed the historic slate carrying line was reached by rail and bus, first taking the DMU service up the lovely Lledr valley until the train dived into the mile-long tunnel the LNWR drove to get at the Blaenau slate from her own domain. Through the glass partition behind the driver one could see the pinhole of light at the end grow into a tunnel mouth whence the train burst into the most desolate moonscape I had ever seen, below the remains of the Welsh Slate Company's viaduct with the grey, depressing spoil tips on both sides.

Across the road from the station at Blaenau the remains of the Festiniog Railway terminus could be seen, the main line curving away to Tan-y-Grisiau on the right, where an old water tank, a drooping McKenzie & Holland signal and a dilapidated overbridge were waiting for better times. From here, we had to take a bus down to the (then) terminus of Tan-y-Bwlch. Here we just caught the down train headed by 'Linda'. In those days the FR was still partly in the attractive early preservation livery of green and cream coaches with red ends, and green engines.

The atmosphere on the FR at the time was very relaxed. One could saunter between the tracks at Portmadoc, there were no fences to speak of (apart from the warning signs for tight clearance on the main line), and of course, far less passengers to carry. Two years later we returned to Wales to see 'Mountaineer' in service, then with the peculiar sloped cab sides it first appeared in. Somehow I felt angry at seeing such an incongruous locomotive on the historic railway, but at the time its appearance must have been a godsend for the FR which was in a motive power crisis. Strangely, I never saw any of the original FR locomotives at work, just the Penrhyn Hunslets and 'Mountaineer'.

An entirely different railway was the Snowdon Mountain Railway with its Swiss-built locomotives and Abt rack system. Despite its peculiar operating methods this line held some charm for me and what I remember most is the loco going uphill at a walking pace and sounding like the Lickey banker pushing the one coach to the top. There invariably were two trains, the second following the first one on sight which in good visibility at the slow speeds was of course perfectly safe.

Recent information shows the SMR has been invaded by the diesel locomotive, and they even have a diesel railcar in service. Sacrilege, if you ask me, but inevitable in these times…

The scale of tourist steam operations in Wales has increased enormously since the 1960s. From what I hear, perhaps the Talyllyn has kept its atmosphere best of all the preserved lines. The money streams generated by the steam railways must be vast, which is needed because of the continuous investment needed to keep steam working. The number of newly built steam locos in Wales is fast outgrowing the number of historic stalwarts. But perhaps their working life cannot be extended forever.

In April 2015 I returned to North Wales for the first time in 45 years. We visited the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways and the Slate Museum at Gilfach Ddu, and climbed to the top of Snowdon, the rack railway not yet running to the summit. A new web page will be added at a future date. The photos have already been published (click on the links):

Photo album Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways

Photo album Welsh Slate Museum & Snowdon

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