64-584: Boston Lodge is situated at Penrhyn Isa, Minffordd , Penrhyndeudraeth , on the A487 road about 1 mile SE across the Afon Glaslyn causeway from Porthmadog , Gwynedd in north-west Wales . It has a station on the Ffestiniog Railway and is the location of the railway's main engineering workshops, locomotive shed and carriage works. The Boston Lodge address and postcode is shared by
128-456: A pattern making shop, a blacksmith 's shop, a carpenter 's shop, and an engine house in which a steam engine provided power for machinery in a sawmill , pattern shop and machine shops. In the 1870s further construction provided a paint shop, joiner's shop and erecting shop in which in 1879 and 1885 the double Fairlie engines Merddin Emrys and Livingston Thompson were built. Prior to 1915
192-592: A 1914 light railway order (LRO) was processed. It was originally drawn up by the local Caernarfonshire authorities and aimed to link the PGSSR and NWNGR but had been delayed by the First World War . It was revived by two local politicians and a Scottish distillery owner, Sir John Henderson Stewart . In July 1921, Stewart also obtained control of the Festiniog Railway , to obtain extra rolling stock for
256-635: A breakdown of relations between the two companies in 2008. Since then efforts have been made to improve relations and these are still ongoing. The original Welsh Highland never had an official Welsh translation of its name, despite the fact that North Wales has always been a heartland for the Welsh language. Local people tended to refer to it by informal names such as Y Lein Bach or Lein Bach Beddgelert (the little Beddgelert railway). In contrast,
320-650: A faster and more regular service from Caernarfon and Beddgelert also played a part. The last passenger train ran on 5 September 1936 and, in February 1937, the FR decided not to run the WHR again. As there was no provision for the Ffestiniog Railway Company to hand back its lease and the WHR was bankrupt, the line became dormant. In 1941, the authorities decided to requisition the movable assets for use in
384-459: A junction with the 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ( 1,435 mm ) standard gauge London and North Western Railway line at Dinas to Bryngwyn with a branch from Tryfan Junction via Waunfawr to Llyn Cwellyn ( Snowdon Ranger ). The line was opened in 1877 and was extended to South Snowdon ( Rhyd Ddu ) in 1881, a total of 9 miles (14 km). This closed to passengers in 1914 but goods traffic continued up to its absorption by
448-419: A key on the token staff. This means the last train must use the token staff to pass through the section, so it can be used for trains to travel in the opposite direction. For additional protection, both the footplate crew and the guard must see the token or ticket before the train can depart. At some stations an additional "Shunt" token is used to allow shunting to take place (such as a locomotive "running round"
512-484: A long, complicated and controversial history and includes several court cases and public inquiries. The origins of the WHRL restoration efforts, tentatively began in 1961 when disagreements within the volunteers of the Festiniog Railway and a group of like-minded railway enthusiasts , joined to form The Welsh Highland Railway Society . This group is the precursor of what eventually became WHR Ltd., which owns and operates
576-534: A new station site in Porthmadog and a link to the Festiniog Railway. McAlpine & Sons were contracted to refurbish the existing lines and complete the link between Rhyd Ddu and Croesor Junction, thus creating a railway that ran from Dinas to join the Festiniog Railway at Porthmadog. Like the modern day WHR, the railway was opened in stages. The former NWNGR section re-opened on 31 July 1922 and
640-486: A ride, the journey took too long and the service had a reputation for being unreliable. The Croesor Tramway had run from Porthmadog since 1863 up into the Croesor Valley and the slate quarries in this area. This was a horse-worked line laid to a nominal 2 ft ( 610 mm ) gauge. The NWNGR had originally built a 1 ft 11 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ( 597 mm ) narrow gauge line from
704-443: A serious application to turn the route into a long-distance footpath. Although these plans were ultimately unfruitful, the statutory powers ensured that the trackbed was kept mainly intact, rather than sold off bit by bit, which would have made restoration much more difficult and potentially expensive. However, some parts, such as the sites of Rhyd Ddu and Dinas stations, were sold off. The Welsh Highland Railway's restoration has
SECTION 10
#1732790942622768-498: A toll was levied on users of the embankment. Subsequent to the construction of the Ffestiniog Railway, a new toll road and toll house was built on the landward side adjacent to the embankment but at a lower level. For motor cars, for many years, the toll was a modest one shilling per day (regardless of how many times the vehicle used the road). After the introduction of decimal currency in 1971 the toll became five pence. In
832-428: A train). They are provided at Dinas, Rhyd Ddu, Beddgelert and at Pont Croesor. The shunt token can only be withdrawn (used) with permission from Control and if there are no trains approaching the station in the adjacent single line sections. Withdrawing the token causes two yellow lights to go out on a red warning board on the line approaching the station, preventing other trains from entering the station. The majority of
896-531: Is a 25-mile (40.2 km) long, restored 1 ft 11 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ( 597 mm ) narrow gauge heritage railway in the Welsh county of Gwynedd , operating from Caernarfon to Porthmadog , and passing through a number of popular tourist destinations including Beddgelert and the Aberglaslyn Pass . At Porthmadog it connects with the Ffestiniog Railway and to the short Welsh Highland Heritage Railway . In Porthmadog it uses
960-490: Is also a miniature railway and a tea room at its main Porthmadog station. Although WHR Ltd lost the battle for control of the WHR to the Festiniog Railway Company, they have also been involved in its restoration. On 12 January 1998, both companies signed an agreement, commonly known as the "98 agreement". In return, for dropping its objections to the Festiniog Railway Company's application to restore
1024-468: Is the junction into the railway works yard. To the forefront of the works site is the large white building that is Nos: 1 and 2 Boston Lodge Cottages. Next to which, on the right, is the original 'Penrhyn Isa Cottage/Boston Lodge' now the works offices. All the rest in that area is railway works and storage buildings. Below the railway is the A487 road and in front of that is the 1836 tollgate cottage. Prior to
1088-408: Is used to control train access to single line sections. Communication between train crew and Control always occurs using a landline at stations. There is no in-cab radio system and current regulations forbid use of such whilst in motion. As a backup system only, the guard carries a company mobile telephone for use in an emergency. This is not a primary system as cellular coverage is intermittent over
1152-693: The Electric Token System (ETS), a more advanced system in which tokens can be obtained at either end of a section from a token instrument. ETS has been used on the Ffestiniog Railway for many years and the FR Co. were anxious to obtain enough ETS instruments to equip the WHR. After a long search, sufficient ETS equipment to operate the entire railway has been obtained from the Irish railway company Iarnród Éireann . The equipment became redundant after Iarnród Éireann modernised its signalling systems in
1216-591: The Ffestiniog Railway means that the FR Co. controls almost 40 miles of narrow gauge railway and it promotes both lines jointly as the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways or Rheilffyrdd Ffestiniog ac Eryri . The Welsh Highland Heritage Railway ( Welsh : Rheilffordd Ucheldir Cymru ) is a 1-mile (1.6 km) long heritage narrow gauge railway owned and operated by Welsh Highland Railway Ltd. (WHR Ltd.). It operates from its main station at Tremadog Road, Porthmadog to its terminus at Pen-y-Mount, where it connects to
1280-525: The Vale of Rheidol Railway . This was probably the first of numerous outside contracts that the works has undertaken over the years. These outside contracts have included restoration work on steam engines and the complete construction of various replica narrow-gauge passenger coaches. In December 1998, a £375,000 Heritage Lottery Fund Grant was awarded to the FR Trust and this provided, amongst other things, for
1344-682: The Welsh Highland Heritage Railway (WHHR). Legal problems meant they were unable to take over the old company so, in the 1970s, the group purchased the former standard gauge exchange sidings (the Beddgelert Siding ) near Tremadog Road, Porthmadog , from British Railways to use as a base. In 1980, they began running passenger services over the line that is now known as the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway . They also acquired an original WHR locomotive Russell , which began working passenger services in 1987. In
SECTION 20
#17327909426221408-414: The slate quarries around Moel Tryfan , which has not been restored. (This branch forms a footpath "rail trail", the lower section of which has been resurfaced and supplied with heritage notice-boards.) There is also the 3 ⁄ 4 -mile (1.2 km) long Welsh Highland Heritage Railway which runs from Porthmadog along the trackbed of the former Cambrian Railways exchange siding and connects to
1472-409: The FR Co. started to promote their operation as The Welsh Highland Railway or, in a largely Welsh-speaking area, Rheilffordd Eryri. In the end, WHR Ltd was only able to build around a third of the way to Pont Croesor, with trains terminating at a location known as Traeth Mawr Loop (opened in 2007). The reasons behind this and the consequences, continue to be a subject of debate and led directly to
1536-496: The FR Co.'s decision to take over the restoration of the WHR. After a long legal battle between the two companies, the FR Co. won control of the WHR track bed and it re-opened the railway in stages, starting in 1997. The line was completed in 2011. With Caernarfon Council having a longer-term plan to reinstate the town's rail transport link to Bangor , speculation mounted that the FR/WHR would potentially later extend itself. However,
1600-520: The FR would then operate trains from the WHR Ltd's Porthmadog (WHHR) railway station , to unspecified destinations on the WHR, using WHR Ltd locomotives, rolling stock and (where possible) WHR Ltd staff. Revenue from these trains would be retained by the FR, but they would, in turn, pay a hire fee for the use of the locomotive and rolling stock and a track access fee for the use of WHR Ltd's line between Porthmadog (WHR) and Pen y Mount. Another key part of
1664-506: The FR's highly restrictive loading gauge . Russell is now owned by WHR Ltd and has been restored to its original profile. 590 notably retained its original form until its demise. The railway is a single track line with passing loops at Dinas , Waunfawr , Rhyd Ddu , Beddgelert and Pont Croesor halt. There is also a loop at Hafod y Llyn , which is normally locked out of use as a stabling point for engineering trains. As with any single track railway, there are strict rules managing
1728-436: The Ffestiniog Railway Company owned Welsh Highland Railway. WHR Ltd's primary focus is on recreating the atmosphere of the original Welsh Highland Railway. This includes replicas of original buildings, using original and replica carriages and rolling stock and the staff wearing period costume. It also has a museum at its Gelert's Farm Works and every train halts there on the return journey to allow passengers to visit it. There
1792-552: The Ffestiniog Railway at their own Boston Lodge works. Minffordd Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.236 via cp1112 cp1112, Varnish XID 975835115 Upstream caches: cp1112 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 10:49:02 GMT Welsh Highland Railway The Welsh Highland Railway (WHR; Welsh : Rheilffordd Eryri )
1856-505: The Ffestiniog Railway wrote to the council in January 2014 to confirm that they would not themselves be supportive of such a scheme in narrow gauge, but supported the reconnection of the town to the national rail network using standard gauge. The modern Welsh Highland Railway is a tourist railway owned and operated by the Festiniog Railway Company. It is longer than the original line and starts from Caernarfon rather than Dinas. The extension
1920-653: The Merioneth shore with the small rocky island called Ynys Towyn (where Britannia Terrace now stands in Porthmadog) near the Caernarfonshire shore, started in 1807 and was completed in 1811 during which time large quantities of stone was quarried and extracted from both ends. The embankment, which was the final stage of the Traeth Mawr land reclamation scheme, was 24 feet (7.3 m) wide at the top (where
1984-523: The Second World War. Much of the rolling stock was sold off and most of the track was lifted. The Croesor Tramway section was left intact in case the slate quarries re-opened and remained until finally lifted in 1948–9. In 1943, the Ffestiniog Railway surrendered its lease and, in exchange for £550 compensation, it was allowed to keep 'Single Fairlie' Moel Tryfan (although it only paid £150). Various legal manoeuvres followed this, including
Boston Lodge - Misplaced Pages Continue
2048-479: The United Kingdom's only mixed gauge flat rail crossing . The restoration, which had the civil engineering mainly built by contractors and the track mainly built by volunteers, received a number of awards. Originally running from Dinas , near Caernarfon , to Porthmadog Harbour , the current line includes an additional section from Dinas to Caernarfon. The original line also had a branch to Bryngwyn and
2112-497: The WHR and the Festiniog Railway to Blaenau Ffestiniog and then changing again to take the standard gauge railway to their original starting point. Despite these attempts, the FR Co. were unsuccessful, the last passenger train ran in 1936 and the last goods service in 1937. The early tourist industry did not provide sufficient visitors to make the railway pay, especially during the Depression . Competition from buses which ran
2176-541: The WHR in 1922. In 1902, the newly formed PBSSR took over the failed Portmadoc, Croesor and Beddgelert Tram Railway with the aim of extending it to South Snowdon slate quarry in the Nant Gwynant Pass. Work was abandoned by the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, although the tunnels through the Aberglaslyn Pass were mostly completed. The name Welsh Highland Railway first appeared in 1921 when
2240-422: The WHR made a loss. The FR Co. attempted to change the line's fortunes by re-focussing on the tourist market. This included painting the carriages bright colours, including yellow and blue and promoting the Aberglaslyn Pass as a destination by renaming Nantmor station as Aberglaslyn . They also tried to promote round trip (return) journeys, with passengers taking the standard gauge line to Dinas , travelling on
2304-569: The WHR main line at Pen-y-Mount junction . The original Welsh Highland Railway was formed in 1922 from the merger of two companies – the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways (NWNGR) and the Portmadoc, Beddgelert and South Snowdon Railway (PBSSR), successor to the Portmadoc, Croesor and Beddgelert Tram Railway . It was never a commercial success; the carriages of the 1890s were outdated and uncomfortable for so long
2368-493: The WHR. The LRO was passed in 1922, following a public inquiry. The budget was £75,000 and much of the funding was borrowed from the Ministry of Transport and local authorities. According to the historian Peter Johnson , this would become a burden as the railway needed to generate the unlikely sum of £3,750 profit each year to service the debt. Two further LROs enabled improvements to the railway's alignment at Beddgelert ,
2432-456: The agreement defined the names of the two companies' operations during the period that the line was restored. The FR Co. promoted their section as The Welsh Highland Railway (Caernarfon) (WHR C) and WHR Ltd. changed its operational name from The Welsh Highland Railway to The Welsh Highland Railway (Porthmadog) (WHR P) . When the two sections were connected in 2008, WHR Ltd. changed its operational name to The Welsh Highland Heritage Railway and
2496-423: The coming of the Ffestiniog Railway, the road was on the top of the embankment, but in 1836 the present carriageway was constructed on the landward side at the lower level. This lower road was less than 18 feet (5.5 m) wide and quite narrow for a major road. In 2002 it was widened to over 22 feet (6.7 m) with, in addition, a separate cycleway and footpath on the landward side. From its construction in 1811,
2560-432: The construction of an extension to the carriage workshop at Boston Lodge to form a ‘Heritage Centre’ that would be a permanent home for the restoration of historic vehicles in a secure environment. Restoration to a very high standard has included most of the surviving Ffestiniog Railway Victorian era passenger coaches and a carefully selected rake of about 50 slate wagons representing most of the variant types characteristic of
2624-402: The crossing on foot. After 1923, it was unable to pay debenture interest and, in 1927, the county council sued and put the railway into receivership. Services continued and by 1933, it was run down and the local authorities decided to close it. In 1934, the company agreed to lease the line to the Festiniog Railway Company for 42 years. It was a disaster, with the FR forced to pay rent even if
Boston Lodge - Misplaced Pages Continue
2688-532: The early 2000s. As the WHR has no telephone cabling to connect the system, the FR Co. is developing a more modern alternative method of connecting the ETS machines. Until the system is finished, the WHR will continue using its current token systems. Just outside Porthmadog, the railway crosses the Network Rail -owned Cambrian Coast line using a flat crossing . It existed on the old Welsh Highland Railway and
2752-407: The horses and wagons used to carry the stone. Later with the coming of the horsedrawn Festiniog Railway, the stables and smithies were brought back into use from 1836 onwards and there has been almost continuous development of the site for railway purposes since that time. In the years from 1847 to 1851 the works was considerably developed by the construction of ferrous and non-ferrous foundries ,
2816-639: The late 1970s the ownership of the tollgate and its cottage was acquired by a specially established local charitable trust called "The Rebecca Trust", which continued to levy the same toll and distributed its profits to local charities. At 3:00pm on Saturday 29 March 2003, the tollgate and its cottage having been bought from the Rebecca Trustees by the Welsh Assembly Government , the toll (still just five pence per day) ceased to be levied. A number of locomotives have been built for
2880-447: The length of the line. His Majesty's Railway Inspectorate , the organisation responsible for safety on British railways, insists on landlines as the main form of safety critical communication. The signalling on the WHR is much simpler than that used on the Ffestiniog Railway or the UK national rail network. To enter any section of line, the train crew must obtain permission from Control and
2944-426: The local slate operations. From 1993 onwards Boston Lodge works has undertaken extensive locomotive restoration work for the Ffestiniog Railway owned Welsh Highland Railway ( Caernarfon ). Recently the works is undertaking the construction of new passenger carriages for service between Caernarfon and Porthmadog. In the aerial photograph at right, at the end of the embankment (this end being called locally 'Pen Cob')
3008-428: The mid-1980s, a number of FR Co. employees became concerned about impact of possible competition from a rebuilt WHR and passed this view on to the FR management. In 1987, this resulted in a confidential offer to buy the WHR track bed from the official receiver for £16,000 to prevent the WHR being developed. In 1989, the offer became public, causing a backlash against the FR Co. In 1990, a change of directors resulted in
3072-400: The movement of trains to prevent more than one entering a section. The line is managed from a single " Control " office at Porthmadog Harbour Station , which also performs the same task for the Ffestiniog Railway . Control is responsible for the safe and efficient operation of trains, logs train movements on a train graph and acts as a single point of contact in emergencies. A system of tokens
3136-498: The points at passing loops are operated automatically using the Automatic Train Operated Trailable (ATOTP) system, rather than a manually operated lever or point motor. There are also no signals to indicate that a train can enter a section. A "Stop" board at the end of the platform orders the train to stop until the train crew have obtained permission to proceed from control and a token. At the end of
3200-541: The predecessor companies: Moel Tryfan and Russell . When these proved insufficient, Baldwin 590 was acquired by H.F. Stephens and several Festiniog Railway locomotives saw regular use on the Welsh Highland Railway throughout its entire pre-closure existence from 1923 to 1937. 590 was planned to be part of a larger fleet to replace Moel Tryfan and Russell but it gained so little popularity that Stephens never bought another. By 1936 Moel Tryfan
3264-491: The railway now runs), 180 feet (55 m) wide at the base, 21 feet (6.4 m) deep and about 1 mile (1.6 km) in length. The quarrying created both the Britannia Terrace site at Porthmadog and the railway workshops site at Boston Lodge. The site at Boston Lodge first held barracks for many of the 150 men working from the Merioneth side on the embankment construction, together with stables and smithies for
SECTION 50
#17327909426223328-422: The railway; WHR Ltd would be allowed to construct the section of the railway from Pen y Mount to Pont Croesor and then operate their own services over it until such time as the "Head of Steel" arrived at Pont Croesor from the north. The Pen y Mount to Pont Croesor section would then be handed over to the FR's construction company for incorporation into the rest of the WHR. Finally, in between its principal services,
3392-415: The relevant token . Each section of line is a token block section . The WHR uses the traditional Staff and Ticket system in which trains can either be issued with the section token staff or a numbered ticket. Tickets allow multiple trains to pass one-at-a-time through a section in one direction. The Controller advises the train crew which method they will be using. Tickets are kept in a locked box opened by
3456-403: The remainder on 1 June 1923. The WHR venture was not a success and was beset with problems from the start. Indeed, 1923 was its most successful year. Much hoped-for revenue from quarry traffic never materialised as the slate industry had fallen into decline. Its passenger services were also unsuccessful and could not compete with the local bus services, which often took half the time to complete
3520-560: The restoration and preservation of the railway's historic locomotives, carriages, wagons and features of all descriptions. It also builds new steam locomotives and passenger carriages, and undertakes the ongoing maintenance of the Ffestiniog Railway's expanding fleet of railway vehicles. In 1977, Boston lodge works undertook the design and installation of oil-firing equipment on the British Railways locomotive "Owain Glyndwr" on
3584-425: The restored lines are known as Rheilffordd Ucheldir Cymru and Rheilffordd Eryri . Rheilffordd Ucheldir Cymru (= Welsh Highland Railway ) has been used since 1980 by WHR Ltd. and its predecessors. Rheilffordd Eryri ( Eryri = Land of Eagles , the Welsh name for Snowdonia ) is the Welsh title used by the Festiniog Railway Company for its Welsh Highland Railway operations. Two locomotives were inherited from
3648-537: The same journey. Its rolling stock was out of date, it lacked locomotives and carriages and its marketing was inadequate. In 1924, winter passenger services were discontinued due to poor traffic. A dispute with the Great Western Railway over the costs of the crossing over its line at Porthmadog also caused problems, despite the crossing having been used since 1867 without any charges or problems. The railway even had to resort to escorting passengers across
3712-444: The section, the train can proceed into the platform provided the lights are lit on the home (shunt token warning) board, the point indicator is lit and the relevant platform is clear. One of the disadvantages of the staff and ticket system is that it is very inflexible. If a locomotive fails in a station, for example, a token staff may be at the wrong end of a section and will have to be moved by road. This situation does not occur under
3776-661: The works employed about 30 men. During World War I most of the works was used as a munitions factory (largely staffed by women) from 17 September 1915 until early in 1919. The fortunes of the railway and its works declined from the mid-1920s with total closure from March 1947 to September 1954. The works reopened on 20 September 1954, since when many of the original buildings have been extensively repaired and their usage altered. Machinery has been updated and modern materials and techniques have been introduced. Additional workshops have been built as well as new locomotive servicing facilities and carriage storage depots. The works undertakes
3840-457: The works with four cottage dwellings (mostly occupied in connection with the railway) and with the former tollgate cottage at the end of the causeway. The original 'Penrhyn Isa' cottage (now the railway works office) was renamed 'Boston Lodge' after Boston, Lincolnshire , the parliamentary seat of William Madocks , the proprietor of the land reclamation venture. Construction of the causeway, known locally as ‘The Cob’, linking Penrhyn Isa on
3904-482: Was broken up at Dinas. Despite the unpopularity of 590 , the WHHR (Porthmadog) is currently refurbishing a similar Baldwin to act as a replica. During the ownership of the WHR by the Festiniog Railway Company, Moel Tryfan and Russell were cut down to allow them to traverse the Festiniog Railway to Blaenau Ffestiniog. Moel Tryfan proved suitable, but Russell , even in cut down form, was not low or narrow enough to fit
SECTION 60
#17327909426223968-465: Was built on the trackbed of the former standard gauge railway. Dinas station is also built on the standard gauge railway site, rather than the original narrow gauge site, with the line moving onto the original WHR alignment just south of the station. It is marketed by the FR Co. as The Welsh Highland Railway and Rheilffordd Eryri (In the Welsh language , Eryri = "Snowdonia"). The WHR's connection to
4032-597: Was out of use at Boston Lodge . When Russell and 590 were withdrawn the following year, they were placed in Dinas shed, but when the Second World War broke out, the Ministry of War came to see about appropriating them for the war effort. After some examination of the engines and questioning of those who had worked them, Russell (regarded as a good engine) was removed for further use, and 590 (seen as an unreliable, rough rider with difficult controls and inadequate adhesion)
4096-492: Was the source of much conflict between the old company and the Great Western Railway over the cost of WHR trains using the crossing. On the modern WHR, the crossing is called Cae Pawb. Cae Pawb means "everybody's field" and is a reference to the nearby field of allotments. Information, from the engineers involved, is that the Network Rail line crosses on solid steel billets to the same head, foot and height measurements as
#621378