Very little has been written about the route over which we hope to run trains. I thought that there were people who knew more about it than me but I now realise there cannot be many and so far none has made any comment. Over the last 25 years or so I have made a study of what I consider to be the most interesting section, Snowdon Ranger to Hafod y Llyn halt and I assume that others would like to read what I have discovered.

Readers should be aware that the whole of the route is private land and although some parts have rights of way, the public have no right of access to the rest. This article should not be considered as an invitation to explore the route.

Snowdon Ranger (O.S. grid reference SH565551) is 7m 35ch from Dinas and was the terminus of the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways (NWNGR) from 1878 to 1871 during which period it was known as Quellyn Lake. The original station building still exists in good repair behind the youth hostel. From here the line climbs steadily moving away from the road using the contours to maintain the gradient. This section of the trackbed is well drained and clear until it approaches the Afon Treweunydd gorge. Here some small trees form an obstruction and it is badly flooded as it swings first right to avoid a rocky bluff and then through a reverse curve (left-right) to cross the bridge. The valley is crossed by a most impressive 93ft wrought iron viaduct (also known as the Glan yr Afon viaduct, G/R 573542) 50ft above the stream. Very little reference has been made to this viaduct probably because it is almost totally hidden by trees which have also prevented photography. When the line was originally opened the inspector described it as "exceedingly strong … under test". To the untrained eye it still looks in excellent condition from rail level.

Beyond the viaduct more trees and flooding are encountered as the line swings right and left and reaches the Glanrafon quarry (8m 10ch, G/R 573540). Here there was a halt, extensive sidings, a triangular junction and a weigh house built in the NWNGR style. The walls of the weigh house are still standing and an incline can be seen rising into the quarry. At one time this was the biggest quarry on the line employing 190 men in 1887 but it closed before the WHR opened, depriving it of traffic which it badly needed. The track bed at the southern end of this site is again badly flooded and the line sets off at a climb of 1 in 47. The views of from this section must be the best on the line (except perhaps for the Aberglaslyn Pass) and Quellyn Lake can be seen for at least ½ mile as it makes a long curve to the right. At 8m 52ch (G/R 574532) an incline to Rhos-Clogwyn slate quarry can be seen. This quarry had a chequered career opening and closing several times. During WHR days the slate was brought down to a short siding by aerial ropeway. The gradient improves on the final ¾ mile, never worse than 1 in 100 often much better whilst the line takes what is basically a long 90deg. bend to the right with some twists and turns through more flooding before a bend to the left and a straight section before arriving at Rhyd Ddu (9m 35ch G/R 571527, at various times also known as Snowdon and South Snowdon). The station building has long gone and the site is now a car park. Despite being on the original trackbed the car park will remain and the line will deviate behind the car park where a new station will be built.

Leaving Rhyd Ddu the line leaves NWNGR territory and enters WHR proper… well not quite! Certainly Rhyd Ddu was the terminus of passenger services on the NWNGR but that company had aspirations to reach Beddgelert and even succeeded in getting an Act through Parliament in 1899 to allow them to do just that. It is fairly certain that no work was ever started by the NWNGR but those powers (or at least some of them) were transferred to another company, The Portmadoc, Beddgelert and South Snowdon Railway Co. (PBSSR) who actually started work about 1904.

The trackbed runs alongside the road for a half mile or so, mainly in a shallow cutting which is totally overgrown and probably flooded until it reaches Pitt's Head where the line crosses under the A4085 Beddgelert to Caernarfon road (G/R 576515). The bridge here was probably built between 1904 & 1906. Pitt's Head is named after a rock which is supposed to look like the former Prime Minister, William Pitt. From here the line climbs at 1 in 46 for about 10 chains before reaching the summit, 650ft, briefly levelling off before starting the descent, gently at first with about 8 chains at 1 in 104 and then 10 chains at 1 in 63 with fields on both sides. This section was always rather soft and had to be reconstructed for the W.H.R although it had been finished by the P.B.S.S.R, the best part of 20 years before. Even so the Baldwin locomotive still used to roll rather alarmingly here. At the end of this section a road to Gader Slate Quarry crossed the line. The road remains, now apparently used by the Forestry Commission. This location is known as Pont Cae'r Gors. Here also is the entrance to a car park and picnic site (G/R 576509, 1m 8ch from Rhyd Ddu, 10m 43ch from Dinas). The actual trackbed has disappeared for 50yards or so but reappears as another forestry track. Driving down the road to the picnic site, the track bed is to the right and increasingly higher above you. It swings away on a right hand bend, westward, dropping at 1 in 40 before easing to 1 in 45 and swinging southwards in a left hand horseshoe bend to cross the Afon Cwm-Du on a ferro-concrete bridge (G/R 570502). The climb from this bridge will undoubtedly give the best view of north-bound trains anywhere on the line.

This was the furthest south that track was laid by the P.B.S.S.R. although temporary track did reach into the forest from here for timber extraction. A locomotive bought from the Glanrafon quarry worked this section taking the loaded wagons up to Rhyd Ddu station yard. The bridge was completed by the W.H.R. and before that wagons had to negotiate a steep inclination down and up again. For about ¼ mile the line in on a shallow embankment through a thick forest passing over the Afon Hafod Ruffydd before it reaches the site of Hafod Ruffydd Halt where there is another level crossing (G/R 572499, 2 miles from Rhyd Ddu, 10m 35ch from Dinas. However, once this road is crossed things start to deteriorate. The next 600yds start with grass and small trees on the trackbed, then an extremely boggy section followed by a shallow cutting completely filled with water perhaps 6ft deep. The flooding appears to be caused by the building of a forestry track closing the end of the cutting and preventing it draining away. This is known to those involved with the WHR as "The Beddgelert Canal". We are now at G/R 573493, 2m 30ch from Rhyd Ddu, 10m 65ch from Dinas and the gradient has been between 1 in 40 and 1 in 45 all the way for the last 1¼ miles. There is a slight easing here to 1 in 49 but that is compensated by a 180° left hand bend of 3 chains radius. The mid point of this curve is on quite an impressive embankment with an underbridge presumably for livestock to cross. The bridge and most of this embankment has P.B.S.S.R. origins but there is evidence to suggest that some of it was moved slightly during the building of the WHR. The embankment is covered with trees which will all have to removed before trains can run. Coming off the embankment the line takes a slight turn to the right and crosses a field with only light earthworks in front of Beudy-y-Weirglodd-Isaf farm house. Apparently no work was started on this curve before 1922. The grade here has steepened to 1 in 40 again before easing to 1 in 49 for the second 180°, 3 chain bend this time to the right. This bend starts with a cutting which a stream has found preferable to its natural course; a lot of drainage is needed here and the stream will have to be persuaded to take a different course. Back to 1 in 40 again on the straight across another field on another shallow embankment but in the middle is about 50yds of 1 in 110 for no apparent reason. A slight bend to the left and it crosses an occupation crossing and then enters another wooded section almost exactly 3 miles from Rhyd Ddu and 12m 35ch from Dinas.

Another 100yds and the line again becomes a forestry track which will have to be diverted when the railway is restored. It crosses the Afon Meillionen on what appears to be an embankment with a small culvert passing through it. I suspect, however, that underneath is another ferro-concrete bridge. The line is now in the Forestry Commission camp site and the trackbed here is tarmaced and in a shallow cutting. The camp site is on both sides of the line so a crossing will be required. It would be most advantageous to have a station to serve the site and one is planned.

Continuing down the grade still at a relentless 1 in 40 for over ½ mile it crosses the Afon Glocgig on a bridge which looks as though it could do with some work, the decking is old standard gauge sleepers. Although the trackbed is quite clear here, some trees will need to be cut to give proper clearance. This location is also known a Ty'n-y-Coed (G/R 579486, 3m 45ch from Rhyd Ddu, 13 m from Dinas) after the farm house. The Baldwin apparently often took water from the stream using a lifter designed to fill it from shell holes on the Western Front. Things must have been desperate if the driver felt the need to replenish the tanks only one and bits miles after Beddgelert! Perhaps it was the thought of a further 3½ miles at mainly 1 in 40 that put the Fear of God into him. During the construction of the PBSSR, temporary track reached this point from Beddgelert continued further up into the forest for timber extraction during WW1.

Immediately after the bridge, the trackbed of the P.B.S.S.R. can be seen dropping away sharply to the left. With the W.H.R. still descending at 1 in 40 the gradient of the earlier line seems almost unimaginable! 1 in 28 has been quoted on that section and I can believe that as it is soon 25ft below the later line in a deep, very wet, cutting which was never properly finished. Boyd (almost all the historical information in this article comes from the various volumes of J.I.C.Boyd) claims there is still track under the water here and he hints that the gradient was the result of a mistake. Calculations from recent surveys suggest that the gradient there could have been as steep as 1 in 21! As if this gradient was not bad enough it included a 90° curve of about 2 chains radius. I should add here that electric traction was intended for the line at this time. Gradients as steep as this are extremely rare on passenger carrying lines although I believe the Welshpool line has several very short similar gradients. The only other gradient as steep that I know of is on the Thameslink line between Blackfriars & City Thameslink. That was put in only a few years ago, made possible with the introduction of modern electric stock. It allowed the removal of a bridge over Ludgate Hill which restored a view of St. Paul's Cathedral unseen for well over 100 years. Travelling over this line is the only time I have ever noticed a gradient whilst on a train (other than the Snowdon Mountain Railway).

Back to the W.H.R. route. Apparently much midnight oil was used when it was realised that the W.H.R. could not realistically follow the original (PBSSR) route. The revised route descends almost straight for a little over ¼ mile, the gradient easing very slightly to 1 in 44, 41, 44 before returning to 1 in 40 again. This section has an open field rising on the west with trees to the east and is on a good solid foundation. It then crosses a farm road which is also a public footpath. The road actually crosses the line 3 times in about 400yds due to the contortions required to gain a few feet in height. Immediately after crossing the track for the first time it crosses a stream, the Afon Cwm cloch, or would do if the bridge was still in place, almost 4 miles from Rhyd Ddu. With a gradient of 1 in 46 over the bridge it steepens again to 1 in 40 on a shallow embankment across a field then 1 in 47 & 1 in 40 before easing to 1 in 49 as it enters a very steep sided, very wet, rock cutting with a 270°, 3 chain left hand curve. This location reminds me very much of the famous photo of K1 on the N.E. Dundas Tramway. Perhaps, in time, someone will produce a picture for comparison. This cutting leads onto an embankment with varying gradients, across a field before crossing the stream & road again, the bridge still being in place here. A little further on, someone has built a wall across the route apparently to pen livestock. The line is now on its last 3 chain horse-shoe bend this time to the right with the gradient eased to about 1 in 45. Half way round this bend the P.B.S.S.R. route crosses the W.H.R. and there is an occupation crossing at almost the same point, the earlier route using a bridge as it was higher. Although the P.B.S.S.R. track was used here as a horse drawn tramway, it was never fully finished and the route peters out in the middle of a field before reappearing near the deep, wet, cutting described earlier.

The two routes join just before crossing the farm road for the third time, the bridge girders having been removed many years ago (G/R 585483, 4 ½ miles from Rhyd Ddu, 13m 75ch from Dinas). The abutments are P.B.S.S.R but the W.H.R. finished it with concrete girders. Now on a substantial embankment, the line crosses the Afon Cwm cloch for the third time (P.B.S.S.R. stone arch bridge) followed by another occupation crossing (girders missing) and into Beddgelert station. The gradient here is still 1 in 43 and apparently this will be allowed when the line reopens. I believe that some work was done in 1922 to open out the tunnel and maybe that included raising the roof.

Access to the station puzzled me for some while. There is a public footpath from behind the Royal Goat Hotel which crosses over the line on a bridge as it passes through a rock cutting. On the far (west) side of the line, the footpath becomes very wide, wide enough to be a road. This "road" continues past the station and crosses the Afon Cwm Cloch on a bridge which looks identical to the two remaining rail/river crossings nearby and joins the "farm road" mentioned earlier. Apparently this "road" used to run right though the station site, coming out by the side entrance to the "Royal Goat". The railway had to divert the "road" but it was the cause of some complaint as it was no longer suitable for vehicles which could not use the footbridge over the line. Apparently vehicular access to the station was via the truncated end of the road from the "Royal Goat".

Leaving the station, the line enters the rock cutting leading into a short tunnel (132 feet). Just uphill of the cutting is the remains of a small reservoir, the contents of which crossed the line in a wooden trough which was still to be seen recently lying at the track side. The water probably supplied the hotel but I wonder if it also supplied the station water tank; where else would it have come from? Also of interest in the cutting is several lengths of track. At one time I mistakenly thought these were original but apparently they were laid by the '64 Co. in the late 60's when they thought they would be running trains within a few weeks. I remember seeing rail dumps at Nantmor and Rhyd Ddu in about 1970 and there were still a few unusable lengths near Nantmor a year or so back.

Leaving the tunnel, the abandoned P.B.S.S.R. bridge crosses the Tremadog - Beddgelert road and further on the abutments for what would have been a bridge remain in the middle of a field. The W.H.R. route, however, turns sharp right without crossing the road. The P.B.S.S.R. laid some track here also to allow easy trans-shipment of materials and equipment from road transport. A few yards further on there is a level crossing of a road into Beddgelert cemetery (approx. 5 miles from Rhyd Ddu). A little further the gradient relaxes to 1 in 100 then 1 in 55 before dropping into the 40's again all the way to the Bryn y Felin bridge crossing the Afon Glaslyn. Somewhere along this section, or so I am told, is evidence of the start of a branch line that would have gone to a quarry above the line. After squeezing behind Bryn y Felin farm house, a left turn took the line onto the bridge, in such a state the even walkers were banned from using it in its latter days. It was removed in 1999. There will soon be a footbridge over the river here and I assume the rail bridge will be replaced with something similar. Originally the road ran more to the right here but was re-routed to pass over the line.

On the far side of the river, the line makes a 90° turn to the right to run along the east side of the river. This is where we meet the intended route of the P.B.S.S.R., it having crossed the river further north. The bridge was never built but the abutments and trackbed were finished. Some track was laid here around 1906 but was soon removed. There were schemes to take a line from about this point up the Gwynant Valley to Capel Curig and Betws-y-Coed where it might have joined the proposed narrow gauge line to Blaenau Ffestiniog. How about reviving that one when we have finished the W.H.R.?

At last we are on something like level (1 in 370 down) for over ¼ mile although it does rise a bit as we approach the first tunnel. A lot of work has recently been done here to prevent rocks from falling on the line. Falling gently again between the two short tunnels the descent returns to 1 in 40 through the long tunnel, the middle of which is exactly 6 miles from Rhyd Ddu. On leaving the tunnel the line immediately goes on to an embankment across Cwm Bychan. There is a public car park here now for walkers etc. presumably installed by the Park Authority but it used to be the starting point for an aerial ropeway to a mine up the valley. When I last went up there some 20 years ago, most of the masts were still in place although long disused. I would imagine the remains are still there (they are, and have been conserved - picture [December 1991] - BF). Strangely it would appear that the railway was never used for transporting the mine's products; they passed through an arch in the embankment and were presumably taken away by road.

The line then passes through a rock cutting, across a public road by level crossing to the site of Nantmor Halt still falling at mainly 1 in 40. It was intended to realign the road here when the W.H.R. opened but it never happened. In the next 600yds the line crosses a shallow embankment then enters a cutting where the gradient reduces to 1 in 67 and then level just before crossing the A487 Llanfrothen - Beddgelert road on a steel girder bridge which will no doubt need replacing; at the moment it has no decking. Originally the road climbed up to the track level but when the line was built it was diverted on to land reclaimed when the Cob was built and passed under the line. Once over the bridge the line is on an embankment for about 300yds falling first at 1 in 40, then 67 and finally 142 before it is down on the Glaslyn flood plain at last. The last sections of embankment are of some interest; they are extremely narrow. In some places erosion has reduced it almost to a point at the top but elsewhere I would have thought some extensive widening will be required. In places trees are either growing through the embankment or overhanging it but either side are fields. Once on the level there are a few rather wet patches which will need draining. A few yards more and the site of Hafod y Llyn halt is reached just over 7miles from Rhyd Ddu and about 1 ¾ miles before Croesor Junction is reached. Hafod y Llyn should not be confused with the former Festiniog station about 3 miles away: not the same hafod or even the same llyn!