This trip was to visit the narrow gauge Ffestiniog Railway in Portmadoc (Porthmadog) on the Wales coast. I was on a trip to the UK staying at my Grandmother's house in South Benfleet, Essex.
I Left South Benfleet June 23rd via EMU train to London Fenchurch St. then Underground to Euston. I had a reserved seat on the 1115 Euston to Wolverhampton on the West Coast Main Line, at that time one of the few relatively fast electrified mainlines in the UK. It was a fast trip on the 4 track line with a conventional locomotive and a string of probably Mark 2 or 3 coaches.
At Wolverhampton I changed to a Diesel MU composed of two 3 car sections that divided at Shrewsbury, one half going on to Chester and my half continuing to Aberystwyth in Wales. After the train divided I was riding in the rear seat with a great view out the rear drivers cab of the track behind us as we crossed from England into Wales.
The original routing I was given was to change at Dovey Junction for the train to Pwllheli, however the guard informed me Dovey Junction was just a platform literally in the middle of nowhere and I was better off changing at Machynlleth which is where the Pwllheli train originated. I was quickly learning Welsh names including the pronunciations, for example the "ll" is pronounced with a "th" sound. Shortly after the Aberystwyth train left, the Pwllheli train another 3 car DMU pulled into the platform. I chose to take the front seat behind the driver with a great view of the line ahead.
We soon reached Dovey Junction which was as desolate as I had been told, where the line to Pwllheli branches off. The line, referred to as the Cambrian Coast Line is a very scenic run through a rural part of Wales along the coast. I reemember one station I think the name was Gogarth Halt (UK term for a flag stop) which was in a clearing in the woods with nothing but a footpath leading to a few houses. There were several occasions where sheep ran across the tracks. We also passed Talyllyn where there is another of the Welsh 2 foot narrow gauge railways.
All the signaling on this line was still manual from signal boxes at stations with passing "loops". Each driver had a token that was handed to him either by the signalman or when 2 trains met they would just hand over the token through the side windows. All signaling was semaphores. I believe the line has now been updated to modern signaling.
After Talyllyn came to a more settled part of the coast where there were caravan (trailer) camping sites along the coast, then Barmouth the largest town along the line, reached by a long bridge across the Afon Mawddach. We shortly passed Harlech Castle which looks the way you expect a castle to look. After a few more stops now running more inland we came to Portmadoc or Porthmadog in Welsh which was my destination. I headed into town and found a B&B to stay in for the night. Not sure what I did for dinner, I seem to recall I went to one of the nearby hotels and had dinner there which was not particularly memorable.
The next morning I remember being woken by the sound of Welsh being shouted outside my window which turned out to be the landlady of the house giving instructions to a man on a ladder probably her husband who was doing some kind of repair. I shortly headed down to breakfast then it was time to check out the Ffestiniog Railway.
This railway was an early narrow gauge line built to haul slate from the hills down to the coast where it could be loaded onto ships or trains. It was the inspiration for the building of the famous 2 foot gauge railroads of Maine, one of which still exists as an operating line, the Wiscasset Waterville and Farmington near Wiscasset Maine. The Ffestiniog uses unique double ended Fairlie locomotives. I purchased a return (round trip) First Class ticket which got a seat in the first class carriage at the front of the train. The train ran to Dduallt where the locomotive ran around the train and took us back to Portmadoc. It was a very scenic ride through the Welsh countryside.
On my return I had a quick lunch at a cafe then boarded the train back to London. Unfortunately I don't have much of a recollection of the return trip. I believe that something in my lunch disagreed with me. In those days in parts of the UK sanitation and refrigeration left something to be desired and I recall getting sick on a couple of occasions and this was one of them., By the time I got back to my grandmother's house I had a fever and was vomiting. I felt fine the next day though. Other than that it was a memorable trip and was my first real experience at the age of 21 of traveling long distance in Britain by myself.
A few days later I left on a trip to Oostende Belgium which my grandparents had arranged for me. I will have to do a report on that trip sometime.
I Left South Benfleet June 23rd via EMU train to London Fenchurch St. then Underground to Euston. I had a reserved seat on the 1115 Euston to Wolverhampton on the West Coast Main Line, at that time one of the few relatively fast electrified mainlines in the UK. It was a fast trip on the 4 track line with a conventional locomotive and a string of probably Mark 2 or 3 coaches.
At Wolverhampton I changed to a Diesel MU composed of two 3 car sections that divided at Shrewsbury, one half going on to Chester and my half continuing to Aberystwyth in Wales. After the train divided I was riding in the rear seat with a great view out the rear drivers cab of the track behind us as we crossed from England into Wales.
The original routing I was given was to change at Dovey Junction for the train to Pwllheli, however the guard informed me Dovey Junction was just a platform literally in the middle of nowhere and I was better off changing at Machynlleth which is where the Pwllheli train originated. I was quickly learning Welsh names including the pronunciations, for example the "ll" is pronounced with a "th" sound. Shortly after the Aberystwyth train left, the Pwllheli train another 3 car DMU pulled into the platform. I chose to take the front seat behind the driver with a great view of the line ahead.
We soon reached Dovey Junction which was as desolate as I had been told, where the line to Pwllheli branches off. The line, referred to as the Cambrian Coast Line is a very scenic run through a rural part of Wales along the coast. I reemember one station I think the name was Gogarth Halt (UK term for a flag stop) which was in a clearing in the woods with nothing but a footpath leading to a few houses. There were several occasions where sheep ran across the tracks. We also passed Talyllyn where there is another of the Welsh 2 foot narrow gauge railways.
All the signaling on this line was still manual from signal boxes at stations with passing "loops". Each driver had a token that was handed to him either by the signalman or when 2 trains met they would just hand over the token through the side windows. All signaling was semaphores. I believe the line has now been updated to modern signaling.
After Talyllyn came to a more settled part of the coast where there were caravan (trailer) camping sites along the coast, then Barmouth the largest town along the line, reached by a long bridge across the Afon Mawddach. We shortly passed Harlech Castle which looks the way you expect a castle to look. After a few more stops now running more inland we came to Portmadoc or Porthmadog in Welsh which was my destination. I headed into town and found a B&B to stay in for the night. Not sure what I did for dinner, I seem to recall I went to one of the nearby hotels and had dinner there which was not particularly memorable.
The next morning I remember being woken by the sound of Welsh being shouted outside my window which turned out to be the landlady of the house giving instructions to a man on a ladder probably her husband who was doing some kind of repair. I shortly headed down to breakfast then it was time to check out the Ffestiniog Railway.
This railway was an early narrow gauge line built to haul slate from the hills down to the coast where it could be loaded onto ships or trains. It was the inspiration for the building of the famous 2 foot gauge railroads of Maine, one of which still exists as an operating line, the Wiscasset Waterville and Farmington near Wiscasset Maine. The Ffestiniog uses unique double ended Fairlie locomotives. I purchased a return (round trip) First Class ticket which got a seat in the first class carriage at the front of the train. The train ran to Dduallt where the locomotive ran around the train and took us back to Portmadoc. It was a very scenic ride through the Welsh countryside.
On my return I had a quick lunch at a cafe then boarded the train back to London. Unfortunately I don't have much of a recollection of the return trip. I believe that something in my lunch disagreed with me. In those days in parts of the UK sanitation and refrigeration left something to be desired and I recall getting sick on a couple of occasions and this was one of them., By the time I got back to my grandmother's house I had a fever and was vomiting. I felt fine the next day though. Other than that it was a memorable trip and was my first real experience at the age of 21 of traveling long distance in Britain by myself.
A few days later I left on a trip to Oostende Belgium which my grandparents had arranged for me. I will have to do a report on that trip sometime.
