Although the WHR trackbed now back in railway hands includes the section of the Croesor Tramway trackbed from Croesor Junction to the foot of Lower Parc Incline, the first of the inclines that carried it up into the mountains, it is not to be rebuilt. The upper part of the former tramway beyond this point is not in railway ownership.

Leaving Croesor Junction, the Tramway curved gently eastwards, and crossed the Penrhyndeudraeth - Aberglaslyn road (now the A4085) on the level at Pont Garreg Hylldrem, where the road crosses the Afon Croesor at the latter's confluence with the Afon Maesgwm. The tramway kept to the south of both modest watercourses, and is seen below beyond the road crossing (just visible on the left), in use as a farm track.

After this final section on the lower valley floor came the relatively gentle slope of the 1,725ft Lower Parc Incline, rising from left to right as seen below. The peak of Snowdon is visible in the distance at the left of the picture.

Upper Parc Incline lies almost immediately above Lower Parc, and from its head a fine stone embankment known as Tre Saethen leads into the village of Croesor, and from this point the tramway's upper reaches are easily traced in the picturesque upland valley of Cwm Croesor.

The tramway crosses the Afon Croesor twice in the vicinity of the village. The first bridge, adjacent to the school, has been rebuilt to carry vehicular traffic. The second, between the village and the hamlet of Croesor Uchaf, bears witness to the primitive but adequate construction methods of the tramway.

In the left-hand view below, looking down from the head of the valley towards Porthmadog, the tramway trackbed runs to the left of the Afon Croesor. The right-hand view from the valley floor is looking in the opposite direction. The tramway trackbed is in a shallow cutting at this point.

On the way up the valley an incline is clearly visible on the southern side. This was built in the 1870s, about ten years after the Tramway. It served the small Pant Mawr Quarry, which lay above a further incline, and Fron Boeth Quarry, which lay on the far side of the ridge, and was reached via a tunnel.

At the end of the level section of the Tramway stands the Blaen y Cwm hydro-electric power station that fed Croesor Quarry (see below). This picture shows it while in use by Urdd Gobaith Cymru, but the historic power station has since (1999) been restored to use, and makes a modest contribution to the National Grid.

The first incline visible beside the power station leads to a short level stretch leading to the dramatic inclines serving the last, and largest Croesor quarries These were on the edge of the Blaenau Ffestiniog district served, from the other side of the Moelwyn mountains, by the Ffestiniog Railway. Croesor Quarry was a completely underground working at the southern corner of the head of the valley. This is where the inventive quarry manager Moses Kellow pioneered the use of electric power for mining early in the 20th Century, including the use of one of the very earliest electric locomotives in Britain.

The "Jacob's Ladder" of New Rhosydd Quarry's incline is a famous feature (left-hand picture below), forming a parabola at the head of the valley, steeper than 1 in 1 at its summit and very dangerous to work as a result. The centre picture shows the exit tramway leading from the quarry to the incline head.

The final destination, New Rhosydd Quarry, lies further east, on the Bwlch Rhosydd watershed between Cwm Croesor and Cwm Orthin, the valley which leads towards Tanygrisiau and the Ffestiniog Railway. It was a development of the earlier Rhosydd Quarry, which developed the upper parts of the workings later extended downwards by New Rhosydd. The workings started with an open pit at the top, and ultimately reached down several underground floors below the level of the main adit and mills. While the mills were for the most part demolished for the slate in their walls in the late 1940s, the ruins of the quarrymen's barracks still stand.

The Rhosydd barracks (Y Barics) are among the local features and personalities commemorated on a series of inscribed slate slabs in Croesor village. Also featured is Moses Kellow's pioneering electrification of Croesor Quarry (Moses Kellow, Trydan i'r Chwarel - electricity to the quarry).

The long-abandoned chapel built for the men of Rhosydd is located in Cwm Orthin; the right-hand picture below, taken from the Rhosydd waste tips, shows its position beside the old tramway (separate from the Croesor) leading from Conglog Quarry to Cwmorthin Quarry (visible in the distance) and thence to the FR.

Much more information about Rhosydd and its history can be found here, c/o Dave Sallery.