The Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railway unveiled a brand new train valued at well over half a million pounds with a trip from Tan y Bwlch to Beddgelert and back for VIPs on April 28.
The VIPs included Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas, Baron Dafydd Wigley, the High Sherriff and Lord Lieutenant of Gwynedd and Gwynedd county councillors. Members of the team responsible for the design and building of the carriages were on hand alongside senior management from the railway.
With the opening of the Welsh Highland throughout in 2011, it became clear that the gleaming new WHR stock rather outshone the carriages of its older sister. But in 2016, all that is set to change.
The Ffestiniog will not simply get a new carriage or two; it will get an entire new train, with a specification matching or even exceeding that of the Welsh Highland stock. The first four carriages for the new FR 'B' Set are super saloons 117 and 119, service / kitchen car 125 and Pullman observation car 150.
In pride of place is the £250,000 luxury Pullman observation car 150 which builds on the railway's expertise with Glaslyn, one of the Welsh Highland’s Pullman cars named by the Queen in 2010.
Designed and built entirely in-house, 150 will now enter public service, together with its companion £150,000 service car 125, which will enable FR passengers to enjoy the standards of service offered on Welsh Highland trains.
Along with the new observation car, two new standard class super saloons - offering what would be considered first class accommodation on most heritage railways - will form the core of the new train, which will eventually consist of 10 carriages capable of running over the entire 40-mile route between Blaenau Ffestiniog and Caernarfon.
Each of these carriages carries a £100,000 price tag. A further third class saloon is currently under construction at Boston Lodge.
Boston Lodge has built new carriages since the dawn of the restoration era 60 years ago. The reason is simple: standard gauge heritage lines have an ample supply of ex-British Rail carriages awaiting restoration, but narrow gauge railways have no such luxury.
There is no strategic reserve of narrow gauge rolling stock and certainly none that meet the standards of comfort and safety demanded in the 21st century.
Since the Ffestiniog reopened for traffic in the 1950s, the railway has steadily introduced new carriages and their design has evolved over the years. The Ffestiniog has been at the forefront of passenger carrying innovation for over 150 years and is now the second-largest carriage maker in the UK, according to carriage shop manager Norman Bond.
In a few years’ time the F&WHR will boast two full sets of the larger WHR stock – new WHR saloon is nearing completion in the carriage works - while the FR will have two made up of slightly-smaller carriages and a third capable of operating on both lines.
Rather than an appointment with the scrapman's torch, the old FR carriages replaced by the new builds are being refurbished and finding a new lease of life at other UK narrow gauge lines.
Picture caption:
All four new carriages together with an original Ffestniog Railway carriage from 1880 in the foreground. Behind the observation car is original Welsh Highland Railway carriage 23, built in 1894. Left to right are carriages 119, 117, service / kitchen car 125 and Pullman observation car 150.
Pic: Andrew Thomas
No comments:
Post a Comment