Bala Lake Railway

About

The Bala Lake Railway (Welsh: Rheilffordd Llyn Tegid) is a narrow-gauge railway along the southern shore of Llyn Tegid (Bala Lake) in Gwynedd, North Wales. The line, which is 4+1⁄2 miles (7.2 km) long, is built on a section of the former standard-gauge Ruabon–Barmouth GWR route that closed in 1965. Another section of the former permanent way is used by the Llangollen Railway. The Bala Lake Railway, which runs on 600 mm (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in)-gauge preserved rolling stock, is a member of the Great Little Trains of Wales. The railway now has the largest collection of historic narrow-gauge quarry locomotives built specifically for the slate industry in North Wales by the Hunslet Engine Company in Leeds. The narrow-gauge Bala Lake railway uses the permanent way of the former standard-gauge GWR Ruabon–Barmouth line. The railway, which opened in August 1868, was built by the Bala and Dolgelley Railway Company. Its original 19 mi (31 km) route ran between the Corwen & Bala Railway at Bala Junction and Cambrian Railways' station at Dolgellau. In 1877 it became part of the network operated by Great Western (GWR). In 1896 Llanuwchllyn was redeveloped with the addition of a passing loop and second platform, extended building and a new signal box. Passenger services through Bala Junction ceased on Monday 18 January 1965 when the line from Llangollen to Barmouth was closed. Although originally earmarked for dieselisation by the Western Region of British Railways in the early 1960s, the Ruabon to Bala–Barmouth line was included in the 1963 Beeching Report. Traffic on the line was gradually reduced and facilities rationalised; the last scheduled through-rail service was the mail train from Chester in December 1964. Long-distance holiday charter trains and through freight traffic were diverted on to the Cambrian main line via Welshpool. Goods traffic finally ceased on 1 January 1968 when the branch at Pontcysyllte was closed. By 1969 the track had been lifted. Reuse of the line as a narrow-gauge railway began when local engineer, George Barnes, saw the potential of the lakeside section for both local and tourist traffic. With the help of Tom Jones, then chairman of Merioneth County Council's Finance Committee, they established Rheilffordd Llyn Tegid Ltd, the first company in Wales to be registered exclusively in the Welsh language. Bala Lake Railway opened on 13 August 1972. In its first season, it operated a small industrial diesel engine with two open carriages on 1+1⁄2 miles (2.4 km) of track between Llanuwchllyn and Pentrepiod. Extension work continued throughout this period with the help of local ex-British Rail employees. The line was extended to Llangower by the start of 1973. In 1975 the line reached a new temporary station at Pant-yr-hen-felin. The following year the line reached Bala (Llyn Tegid), now known as Bala (Penybont). On 6 July 1977 the remaining 2ft-foot-gauge rolling stock from the Long Eaton West Park Railway was relocated to the Bala Lake Railway. There were expansion plans to extend the line into Bala's town centre by 1981 but these plans were abandoned early in that year. The canopy at Llanuwchllyn was built in 1979 with supports which were made for the Cambrian Railways station at Pwllheli, but were relocated to Aberdovey in 1907 when Pwllheli station was moved. The stations along the line are:

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.