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The Llanberis Lake Railway

The Llanberis Lake Railway (Welsh: Rheilffordd Llyn Padarn) is a 597 mm narrow gauge heritage railway that runs for 4 km along the northern shore of Llyn Padarn in north Wales in the Snowdonia National Park. The starting point is the village of Llanberis at the eastern end of the lake, with the western terminus at Pen Llyn in the Padarn Country Park. The return journey takes around 60 minutes. The railway's roots lie in the Padarn Railway, a 1.219 mm gauge line built in 1843 to transport slate from the Dinorwic Quarry to the port at Y Felinheli (Port Dinorwic). This industrial railway operated successfully for over a century, playing a vital role in the export of Welsh slate. By the 1960s, the decline of the slate industry led to the closure of the quarry and the Padarn Railway in 1961. Following the quarry’s closure, parts of the railway were repurposed to create the Llanberis Lake Railway as a tourist attraction. The railway was re-gauged to the present gauge and reopened in 1971, using steam locomotives and rolling stock from the Penrhyn Quarry Railway, which had also closed. By the end of the first season, more than 30.000 passengers had been carried. In the winter of 1971 the railway was extended to its current terminus at Penllyn. In 2003 the railway was extended to the town of Llanberis, with a new station close to the start of the Snowdon Mountain Railway. The original terminus at Gilfach Ddu is now a through station serving both the National Slate Museum and the nearby Dolbadarn Castle. On the return journey from Pen Llyn, passengers may alight at Cei Llydan station, where a picnic site is available with views of the Snowdonian mountains above Llanberis

January 3rd 2025

 

 
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