Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railway

[purplecat]

On Thursday we awoke to bright blue skies and snow on the mountains. There had been some discussion on Wednesday about whether we should, perhaps, leave the village at least once during our stay. B. was initially keen on the idea of a steam train but then cooled when it occurred to him that this would mostly be spending three hours on a train. However, by this point Marmalade Sparrow had been told about the possibility of a steam train and was strongly in favour of it and against the alternative option of a castle. After a bit of negotiation we decided to ride from Porthmadog (near the village) up to Blaenau-Festiniog (the place has one F but the railway has two. I got the impression that the railway's additional F was some kind of publicity move to emphasise its welshness). Anyway we enjoyed the journey, though there is not, frankly, a great deal to do or see in Blaenau - but it got us up to the snow line so B. could touch actual snow. The views from the train were lovely but we would probably have been just as happy though if it had taken an hour less time!




This was the view from our window on Thursday morning.

We are on the train! In first class no less!

And we're off - the steam engine is visible when the track curves - cue much anticipatory waiting at windows.

Sometimes at stations we passed other steam trains going on the opposite direction.

Blaenau Station. As noted above there isn't much there for tourists to do beyond several cafes and a bakery (where apparently you can buy something that a Hairy Biker once baked in Blaenau - I report this second hand since I didn't go into the bakery myself). It very much gave the impression of a working village with a little bit of tourism based on being the terminus for the steam railway. We went to the co-op and bought chocolate to fortify ourselves for an evening doing nothing.

At least we got a chance to admire our steam engine when we reached Blaenau.

Comments

[senmut]

That's still pretty neat, and very lovely to view.

[purplecat]

I think B. was mostly mollified by the end but I am glad we didn't pick the 7 hour option, even though it would have taken us up Snowdon!

[nanila]

Ooh, what a beautiful train! We stayed at a Landmark Trust cottage on the train line, but it was in February so didn't get to go on the train.

[purplecat]

We stayed in a cottage in 2021 where the train line when past the back garden, but the timetables were all strange because of Covid. Marmalade Sparrow saw the train once but B and I were out walking at the time.