Welsh Highland Phase 4 Sponsors Day
April 8th 2006
Report and Pictures

WHR (Caernarfon) held a day of special events for Phase 4 Appeal sponsors on the day before the start of the main 2006 season.

Three return trains ran from Caernarfon to Rhyd Ddu. Although the extended Caernarfon platform had been brought into use for trains in February, the April 8th formations (ten carriages plus a bike wagon, hauled by no. 138 Mileniwm/Millennium) were the first to make use of its full length. The day also saw the revised watering arrangements brought into use, with locos now taking water on the loop rather than the previous siding. Also, the trains saw observation car no. 101's first use on WHR(C); it and Pullman car Bodysgallen were reserved for Gold sponsors and VIPs.

These were the longest passenger trains yet to run over the whole stretch from Caernarfon to Rhyd Ddu; even on a damp rail, the additional load did not seem to bother the NGG16 in the slightest. During the journey sponsors were presented with their medals and exclusive DVDs.

Although the extended station at Rhyd Ddu was set up for right-hand running, the trains terminated in the left-hand road. This was because the right-hand road had only just been tamped, and was being allowed to bed in under the weight of locos running round before being cleared for passenger use.

Sponsors arriving on the morning train were treated to a guided walk along the trackbed from Rhyd Ddu to Hafod Ruffydd, with minibuses laid on for those wishing to return from intermediate points, or Hafod Ruffydd. In the event, and having made good time, most made the full round trip on foot.

As the pictures suggest, sponsors experienced most of the types of weather Snowdonia can provide, in short order, from sunshine to sleet and hail; on return to Rhyd Ddu the new shelter immediately proved its value!

Following arrival of the lunchtime train, speeches were made by Director John Ewing and by Dr John Prideaux, Chairman of the FR Trust. Sponsors were thanked for their participation in the most succesful appeal in UK railway preservation, and advised of further developments within the Phase 4 Appeal and other fundraising initiatives. Following this, many sponsors set off by bus - one of the three being a vintage one - for a walking tour through the Aberglaslyn tunnels, taking in the new bridge at Bryn y Felin, after the buses first went by way of the Pont Croesor area to view clearance done there.