Rhiwbach Tramway

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Rhiwbach Tramway

Locale	Wales
Dates of operation	1861–1961
Track gauge	2 ft (610 mm)
Length	3 miles
Headquarters	Blaenau Ffestiniog

The head of the No. 3 incline of the Rhiwbach Tramway in 2007

The route of the Rhiwbach Tramway passing to the left and below the main Maenofferen mill level

The Rhiwbach Tramway was a British industrial narrow gauge railway connecting the remote slate quarries east of the Blaenau Ffestiniog with the Ffestiniog Railway.

1 History
2 Locomotives
3 References
4 External links
5 See also

[edit] History

The tramway was built by the Festiniog Slate Quarry Co. Ltd. in 1863 to carry slate from the Rhiwbach quarry to the Ffestiniog Railway's Duffws Station.^[1]

The quarries connected to the tramway had no practical road access as they lay at an altitude of around 1560 ft. above sea level in a remote moorland. The tramway rose by three inclines through Maenoffren quarry to reach the plateau, where it ran on an approximately level course east towards Cwt y Bugail Quarry. From there the line turned south to the head of the incline down to the Rhiwbach quarry which lay below the plateau in the Machno valley.

The tramway was originally designed to be worked by horses and gravity. Sometime in the 1920s petrol locomotives were introduced. In 1953 the Rhiwbach Quarry closed, leaving the Cwt y Bugail Quarry as the only user of the main section of the tramway. The track from Rhiwbach to Cwt y Bugail was lifted in 1956 and the section from Cwt y Bugail to Maenofferen was closed in 1961 and lifted in 1964.^[1]. A short section remained in use between the mills at Maen Offeren to the foot of Rhiwbach No 2 Incline. This section was finally closed c1976 after a new quarry road was built connecting the upper levels of Llechwedd with the mills at Maen Offeren. This resulted in the last remaining gravity incline in the North Wales slate industry being redundent. Most of the last track was lifted in 1964, although short sections remain intact as late as 2007.

[edit] Locomotives

This table shows locomotives known to have worked the Rhiwbach Tramway.

Builder	Type	Works Number	Built	Notes
Ruston and Hornsby	4wD	223687	1944	Purchased before 1949 by the Cwt y Bugail Quarry, used on the Rhiwbach Tramway from 1953 to 1961, scrapped at Cwt y Bugail 1974-1977^[1]