Penrhyn Quarry Railway

Penrhyn Quarry Railway
Locale	Wales
Dates of operation	1798–1962
Successor	Abandoned
Track gauge	1 ft 10 ³⁄₄ in (578 mm)
Previous gauge	2 ft ¹⁄₂ in (622 mm) (until 1879)
Headquarters	The Quarry Office, Port Penrhyn, Bangor.

The Penrhyn Quarry Railway first opened in 1798 as the Llandegai Tramway; it became the Penrhyn Railway in 1801 although on a different route. Constructed to transport slate from Lord Penrhyn's slate quarries at Bethesda to Port Penrhyn at Bangor, Wales, the railway was around six miles (9.7 km) long and used a gauge of 1 ft 10 ³⁄₄ in (578 mm). It is one of the oldest narrow gauge railways in the world, and closed in 1962.

In 2012, the first section of the railway was restored by Penrhyn Quarries Ltd. and further sections are planned. Events are held each year on the restored section on the line, by Felin Fawr Cyf and PQR Engineering LTD.

A new limited company, "Penrhyn Quarry Railway Ltd" was formed in November 2013 by two members of the Penrhyn Quarry Railway Society.

History

Llandegai Tramway (1798-1831)

Map of the Llandegai Tramway

The earliest predecessor to the Penrhyn Quarry Railway was the mile long 2 ft ¹⁄₂ in (622 mm) gauge Llandegai tramway which was built in 1798. The tramway was connected to a local flint mill that ground clay and chert into flints. These were transported to Porth Penrhyn on the coast by the tramway, which was one of the earliest overground railways in Britain. It included two balanced gravity inclines one from the floor of the Cegin valley near Llandegai to the hills above Bangor, the other dropping from there to the mill. Both inclines used vertically mounted winding drums.

Penrhyn Railway (1801-1878)

The success of the Llandegai Tramway encouraged the owners of the Penrhyn quarry to consider a similar tramway from their slate quarry to Porth Penrhyn. The plan subsumed the existing tramway into a longer railroad that connected Bethesda to the sea.

Construction started on 2 September 1800, relaying and extending the Llandegai Tramway, with the first slate train traveling on 25 June 1801. The new railway was also 2 ft ¹⁄₂ in (622 mm) gauge. The connection to the Llandegai flint mill continued to be used until 1831. The railroad was operated by horse power along with balanced inclines and gravity.

Penrhyn Quarry Railway (1878-1962)

By the early 1870s the Penrhyn Quarry Railway was no longer able to keep up with the output of the Penrhyn quarry. By 1874 the decision had been made to replace the railroad with a steam locomotive worked railway. Steam locomotives had already been introduced with great success on the quarry's internal railway system and at the nearby Dinorwic Quarry.

At the end of 1875 the first "mainline" locomotive was delivered to Port Penrhyn and moved to the quarry workshops at Coed y Parc. The railroad was converted into the new railway in five stages from 1877 to 1878.

Restoration

Penrhyn Quarries Ltd completed the restoration of a section of the original railway at Felin Fawr, Bethesda in 2012 and returned ex- Penrhyn Quarry locomotive George Sholto from Norfolk for a day to commemorate fifty years since the railway closed. The section of restored railway is approximately one-fifth mile (0.3 km) in length and referred to as phase one, between Coed y Parc bridge (Felin Fawr) (grid ref. SH 615662) and St. Anns (grid ref. SH 614661). A second phase of the restoration would add approximately one additional mile (in a northerly direction) to the total length of the restored railway. "Open weekends" with public running have been held annually from 2013.

Locomotives

These are the locomotives that worked trains between the quarry and the port, often known as the "mainline" locomotives.

No.	Name	Builder	Type	Date built	Disposal	Notes
	Bronllwyd	Valley Foundry	0-4-0VB	1875	Scrapped 1906	Used in the construction of the railway by contractor Richard Parry
3	George Sholto	Stephen Lewin	0-4-2WT	1875	Scrapped 1880
	Edward Sholto	De Winton	0-4-0ST	1876	Scrapped 1907
	Hilda	De Winton	0-4-0T	1878	Scrapped 1911
	Violet	De Winton	0-4-0T	1879	Scrapped 1911
	Charles	Hunslet	0-4-0ST	1882	Preserved at Penrhyn Castle Railway Museum, Bangor	Static display. Awaiting restoration.
	Linda	Hunslet	0-4-0ST	1893	Now owned by the Ffestiniog Railway	Rebuilt to 2-4-0ST/T.
	Blanche	Hunslet	0-4-0ST	1893	Now owned by the Ffestiniog Railway	Rebuilt to 2-4-0ST/T.
1	Llandegai	Baldwin	2-6-2T	1916	Converted to stationary engine scrapped 1940	ex-War Department Light Railways
2	Felin Hen	Baldwin	2-6-2T	1916	Sold 1940 to Australia, now privately owned France	ex-War Department Light Railways
3	Tregarth	Baldwin	2-6-2T	1916	Scrapped 1940	ex-War Department Light Railways

References

Boyd, James I.C. (1985). Narrow Gauge Railways in North Caernarvonshire, Volume 2: The Penrhyn Quarry Railways. The Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-312-5.

External links

Historic Welsh railway companies

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