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The Bala Lake Railway

The Bala Lake Railway (Welsh: Rheilffordd Llyn Tegid) is a narrow-gauge railway, 600 mm, along the southern shore of Bala Lake in Gwynedd, North Wales. The line, which is 7.2 km long, is built on a section of the former standard-gauge Ruabon–Barmouth Great Western Railway (GWR) route that closed in 1965. The railway, which opened in August 1868, was built by the Bala and Dolgelley Railway Company. Its original 31 km route ran between the Corwen & Bala Railway at Bala Junction and Cambrian Railways' station at Dolgellau. In 1877 it became part of the network operated by GWR. In 1896 Llanuwchllyn was redeveloped with the addition of a passing loop and second platform, extended building and a new signal box. Passenger services through Bala Junction ceased in 1965. By 1969 the track had been lifted. Reuse of the line as a narrow-gauge railway began as a local initiative and  Bala Lake Railway opened in 1972. In its first season, it operated a small industrial diesel engine with two open carriages on 2.4 km of track between Llanuwchllyn and Pentrepiod. Extension work continued throughout this period with the help of local ex-British Rail employees. The line was extended to Llangower by the start of 1973. In 1975 the line reached a new temporary station at Pant-yr-hen-felin. The following year the line reached Bala (Llyn Tegid), now known as Bala (Penybont). There were expansion plans to extend the line into Bala's town centre by 1981 but these plans were abandoned the same year. In 2010, the company revived new plans to complete the final 1.2 km of the railway to Bala town centre. The Red Dragon Project, under the auspices of the Bala Lake Railway Trust, was established to build the £2.5 million extension. The plans also include: a new engine shed, a visitor centre, the rebuilding of the carriage shed, which was completed in 2019, and a new set of carriages. In  2017, the Trust announced that it had acquired land required in Bala for the new railway terminus. In 2019, the Trust purchased land from Bala Rugby Club for the extension of the line. A further area of land adjacent to the new station site was acquired in 2022 and will be used for sidings. In active service by The Bala Lake Railway are three steam locomotives and four diesel locomotives. The Llanuwchllyn Heritage Centre is a museum of Welsh narrow-gauge railway located at Llanuwchllyn railway station. It won the 2020 Railway Heritage Association award for Outstanding Visitor Attraction.

January 3rd 2025

 

 
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