Llanberis Station: Refreshments, Gifts, Souvenirs

There has only been one fatality on the SMR, this occurred on the first day of operation. A fault with the rack and pinion mechanism caused the train to run to run backwards, the driver jumped from the locomotive resulting in his death. A year later the problem had been corrected and to the present day there have been no similar setbacks.

Gradients are up to 1:5 so ordinary traction by rail would be impossible. Instead the locomotive has cog wheels that engage with teeth set within the track, this rack-and-pinion system was developed in Switzerland. The gauge used is 2ft 7½ inches, which is 800mm a popular size used by many mountain railways.. 

There are totally independent brakes on the carriage which is not  not coupled to the engine for safety reasons. Should the train ever start going too fast the brakes would be automatically applied.

The SMR has seven steam engines which were manufactured in Switzerland which date from 1895, 1896 and 1922. Four diesel locomotives built in Britain are also used.

Llanuwchllyn Station: Refreshments, loco shed, signalbox, gift shop

Work started  at  Llananuwchllyn where there was a station already, the first 1¼ mile of track opened in August 1972. By the end of 1972 trains were running the 2½ miles to Llangower, the destination at Bala was reached in 1976.

Advantage was taken of the fact that there was surplus equipment available from the numerous slate quarries in North Wales as they switched from rail to road transport. The first trains were pulled by a four wheeled Ruston diesel which came from a Blaenau Ffestiniog slate quarry.

Five steam locomotives are at the railway, four were manufactured by Hunslet in Leeds they are 'Holy War', 'Maid Marian', 'Alice' and  'George B'. The other engine was built by Peckett of Bristol and is called 'Triassic'.

Fairbourne Station: Refreshments, model railway, mainline railway

There has been a railway at Fairbourne since 1895 when carriages were horse drawn. In 1912 the Cambrian Railways opened Fairbourne mainline station bringing many more tourists to the area.

Narrow Gauge Railways Limited were seeking suitable locations for its 15 inch gauge lines and in 1916 they purchased the Fairbourne tramway. The track was re-gauged from its original 2ft to 15 inches, a single engine built by Bassett-Lowke called 'Prince Edward of Wales' provided the locomotive power.

The Fairbourne Steam Railway (FSR) changed owners a number of times between World War I and II. At the end of the war in 1945 the track was in a poor state of repair, it seemed unlikely that the railway would run again.

Three businessmen from the Midlands purchased the FSR in 1946 and quickly started restoration.  By 1948 the line was completely re-laid to Barmouth Ferry.

Increasing traffic through the 1950s saw a proper station built at Fairbourne, colour light signals and a passing loop at the golf course.

Ownership changed in 1984, the decision was made to change the line to 12¼ inch gauge in 1986. Again in 1990 the railway was put up for sale, unfortunately it took five years to find a buyer.

Four steam locomotives are available they are 'Sherpa' 0-4-0ST, 'Beddgelert' 0-6-4ST, 'Russell' 2-6-4T, 'Yoe' 2-6-2T and one diesel locomotive.

Talyllyn Railway

There are five halts not shown 

Tywyn Wharf Station: Refreshments, railway shop, narrow gauge museum, mainline railway

Abergynolwyn Station: Refreshments, shop, children's playground, picnic area

There are five operational steam locomotives No.1 'Talyllyn' 0-4-0ST, No.3 'Sir Hayn' 0-4-2ST, No.4 'Edward Thomas' 0-4-2ST, No.6 'Douglas/Duncan' 0-4-0WT and No.7 'Tom Rolt' 0-4-2T.

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