Rheilfford Ffestiniog Railway

I am a big fan of the word famous Ffestiniog Railway which is where my site name comes from - "Merddin" (pronounced Merthin and Welsh for Merlin) is one of the engines on the railway.

The Ffestiniog Railway is a narrow gauage railway which runs 13.5 miles from Porthmadog on the Welsh coast up to Blaenau Festiniog in the mountains of Snowdonia, North Wales. (For the benefit of Americans reading this, Wales is one of the countries in the United Kingdom, left of England!). Originally built to carry slate from the mines in Blaenau down to the sea the railway now carries thousands tourists every year. Throughout the journey spectacular views are visable of estuaries, lakes, forrests and mountains.

It is the only preserved railway that I never get bored of visiting and I have travelled on it a great many times and am a member of the Ffestiniog Railway society.

I hope to develop this tribute to the Ffestiniog further in due course. In the meantime here are some pictures some of the engines.

New:

Garrets at May gala 1997

The Double Fairlies

Unique to the Festiniog, these "double" engines are extremely powerful steam engines well suited to the job of pulling heavy trains through the windy track of the Welsh Mountains.

Merddin Emrys passes David Loyd George at Tany-Y-Bwlch. (27.8.94)