Welsh Highland Railway
The Welsh Highland Railway ( WHR ) is a narrow gauge railway with an exact gauge of 1 ft 11 ½ in ( 597 mm ), and in accordance with the concession with a nominal track gauge of 1 ft 11 5/8 in (600 mm) in the Welsh county of Gwynedd, United Kingdom. In 1923, completed and in 1937 again abandoned lines of Dinas Porthmadog was established since 1994, inter alia, to EU funds and grants from the state lottery ( " Millennium Commission " ) again and extended to a former standard gauge section between Caernarfon and Dinas.
History
The Welsh Highland Railway was formed by merger of three senior railway companies:
- The Croesor Tramway Association since 1863 as a horse track, the slate quarries near the village Croesor with Porthmadog.
- The North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways ( NWNGR ) opened in 1877 the route from Dinas Junction to Rhyd Ddu south-west of Snowdon.
- The Porthmadog, Beddgelert and South Snowdon Railway ( PBSSR ) took over in 1901 Croesor Tramway and began in 1902 with the construction of the compound of Rhyd Ddu via Beddgelert; but this was not completed because of legal problems and the beginning of the First World War.
On March 30, 1922, the Welsh Highland Railway was established. She took over retroactively as of January 1, 1922, the NWNGR and PBSSR. The link was in early May 1923 completed and was officially opened after test drives on 1 June 1923.
The company was from the start in economic difficulties. She could not pay a dividend on its shares or interest on the bonds issued. Therefore, in March 1927 bankruptcy administrator appointed. However, the operation went on.
1934 leased the neighboring Ffestiniog Railway, the WHR for 42 years. Trying to make the route more attractive for tourists, but failed. The last passenger train reversed in September 1936, and in February 1937 the traffic was all set. The lease of the Ffestiniog Railway expired on 4 November 1942, a court ruling.
Rebuilding
Since the 1960s, efforts were made to Welsh Highland Railway rebuild what establishing the Welsh Highland Light Railway (1964 ) Co Ltd led (later Welsh Highland Railway Ltd. renamed). This company established in Porthmadog a parking hall and workshop for their vehicle collection and a short distance as a base of operations for this project.
As part of the reconstruction projects under the WHR the Ffestiniog Railway at times worked out Mitbewerbsfurcht against the reconstruction of the Welsh Highland Railway. In 1990 it was announced that the Ffestiniog Railway has a liquidator shall submit an anonymous bid for the route in the 1980s; this, as later published correspondence shows, apparently with the aim to prevent the reconstruction of the railway.
A few years later, the concern was apparently given way ahead of the competition by another long narrow gauge railway in the neighborhood. The Ffestiniog Railway competed again in 1994 and this time successfully to the route, but now with the express aim of Caernarfon starting to build the railway. This also politically highly controversial decision taken led to a tense situation between the two companies. End of 1997, there was an agreement between the Ffestiniog Railway as a transferee of the WHR- line and the Welsh Highland Railway Ltd.. It was determined, among other things, that the Welsh Highland Railway Ltd.. with their trains and the route adopted by the Ffestiniog Railway is likely to use the old WHR. So far, the two organizations could not yet have all the details regarding some of the realization of this contractual section. It was 2009, a non-judicial dispute settlement procedures.
Between 1997 and 2004, the first sections of the Welsh Highland Railway ( Caernarfon ) were synthesized opened by the Festinog Railway Company of Caernarfon. In the area of Porthmadog society of 1964 took, now for better differentiation from operating in Caernarfon as Welsh Highland Railway ( Porthmadog ) named, the construction work on. The merger with the Ffestiniog Railway was celebrated in February 2009 in the harbor of Porthmadog station, and the railway was opened in 2011 for passenger trains. After the opening of the through route, the WHR is also to serve the traffic development of the Snowdonia National Park.
The web today
The Ffestiniog Railway runs from Porthmadog classic own route to Blaenau Ffestiniog and the rebuilt WHR from Caernarfon to Porthmadog. The link both lines opened in 2011.
The Welsh Highland Railway ( Porthmadog ) has been renamed now in Welsh Highland Heritage Railway ( WHHR ) and operates in Porthmadog a railway museum and a short private road section parallel to the WHR route. At its northern end there is a provisionally unused connection between the two paths.
Rolling stock
The Welsh Highland Railway is for railroad enthusiasts, in part because of high interest, because it leads five copies of the Garratt - joint type rarely used in Europe in their inventory. In addition to four locomotives of Class 16 of the South African Railways NGG - three of which are fully operational (as of 2012) - is also the locomotive K1 of the Tasmanian Government Railways, the erstgebaute locomotive of this type, on the WHR.
Furthermore it has the WHR two machines also built in South Africa and built in Belgium SAR Class NG 15, one of which is a long-term project in processing, mainly by volunteers, is located. In addition to steam operation are available for off-peak periods and construction train services several diesel locomotives on the WHR in use.
The Welsh Highland Heritage Railway, which sees itself as the guardian of the historical heritage of the old WHR, in addition to several also coming from different states of the Commonwealth of Nations steam locomotives also owns the tank locomotive Russell. The 1'C1' machine is the last remaining original locomotive of the old WHR.
Garratt steam locomotive 143
The Tasmanian Ur - Garratt K1
Russell
Others
Both railway companies are members of the Great Little Trains of Wales.