- Bala and Festiniog Railway
MetaSidebar|19%|#00zz00|right|Bala and Festiniog Railway|Principal stations
Blaenau Ffestiniog Manod Cwm Teigl Halt Llan Ffestiniog Maentwrog Road Trawsfynydd Lake Halt Trawsfynydd Cwm Prysor Arenig Capel Celyn Halt Frongoch Bala |}The Bala and Ffestiniog Railway was a standard-gauge railway backed by theBala Junction Great Western Railway (GWR)Awdry (1990); p15] railway inNorth Wales which connected Bala withBlaenau Ffestiniog .History
The railway originally connected Bala with
Llan Ffestiniog and was incorporated on 28 July 1873, and opened on 1 November 1882.In 1883 the line was extended by converting the existing
Festiniog and Blaenau Railway between Llan Ffestiniog and Blaenau Ffestiniog from RailGauge|23.5 gauge to standard gauge. The line terminated at Blaenau Ffestiniog (GWR) where until 1939 it connected with theFfestiniog Railway toPorthmadog .At Bala Junction the line connected with the Ruabon Barmouth GWR line.
The line closed to passengers in 1960 and to freight in 1961. An unusual feature of freight operation on the line was the carriage of RailGauge|23.5 gauge slate wagons (provided by the GWR) on standard gauge
transporter wagon s between Manod and Blaenau Ffestiniog where the wagons were off-loaded in the large station yard and their loads of dressed slate transferred to standard gauge GWR wagons for onward carriage via Manod and Bala.The building of the
Llyn Celyn reservoir necessitated the flooding of the line. A diversion was considered but never built. A short section from Bala Junction to Bala remained opened but was eventually closed in 1965.The summit of the line was at Cwm Prysor which lay at 1278 feet/390 metres above sea level. The line served an extremely remote area of North Wales, most of which was not served by a main road until the
A4212 road opened in the early 1960s.In 1964, a connection was made through Blaenau to the
Conwy Valley Line at Blaenau Ffestiniog North allowing access as far as the nuclear power station atTrawsfynydd ; a loading facility for nuclear flasks was constructed a hundred yards north of the closed Trawsfynydd Lake Halt.Current status
The section of line between Blaenau and Trawsfynydd power station closed in
1998 , although the track has remained in situ for several years. Much of the trackbed remains intact except for the section flooded byLlyn Celyn and some sections used to improve theA4212 road . Several other sections are open as permissive paths.Many of the former stations are now in use as private residences.
References
Notes
Sources
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* [http://www.penmorfa.com/Conwy/five.htm Photo Guide of the whole line circa 2001]
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