Page 54 - WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE DISCOVERING ENGLAND

Steam Dreams

THEY’RE A REALITY FOR RAILWAY FANS IN WALES

By Carl H. Larsen

Photos courtesy Ffestiniog Railways

rogress has taken a few steps back to yesteryear ping at a track-side pub or taking a short hike before climbing
in Porthmadog, the Welsh town that has become aboard again.
one of the world’s top steam-railway centers. Each
Both railways operate on 2-foot-wide narrow-gauge tracks.
Pyear about 300,000 steam-locomotive enthusi- The narrow cars and engines pull up cheek to jowl at Porth-
asts and day-trippers from around the globe make their way madog’s Harbour Station, departure point for the two lines.
to this town of 4,000 on the Welsh coast. They come to travel The Welsh Highland route was completed with much fanfare
on the oldest operating railway in the world — the 15-mile- in the spring of 2011. Founded in 1832, the Ffestiniog Railway
long Ffestiniog Railway — or its newly opened companion, originally carried slate from the mountains near the tongue-
the 25-mile-long Welsh Highland Railway.
twisting town of Blaenau Ffestiniog to the Porthmadog docks.
Visitors can ride behind the most powerful narrow-gauge In Britain, such lines are called heritage railways — aban-
steam locomotives in the world, visit an iconic castle dating doned routes that have been brought back to life as tourist
to the 13th century, enjoy the wild and spectacular scenery railroads. But there’s a difference here. Unlike many of these
of north Wales, or “train hop” from station to station, stop-

54 Wine Dine & Travel Winter 2014