The North Wales slate landscape of Snowdonia was recently designated a World Heritage site by UNESCO. It’s a truly spectacular part of the UK and one of my favourite places in the world. It is well deserving of this new status. Being recognised as a world heritage site marks it as a place of cultural and historic significance.
Slate has been mined in this small area of Wales for about 2,000 years, and during the years of the industrial revolution Welsh slate was used around the globe. It is often said that this area roofed the world. Millions upon millions of slate roofing tiles made their way from the mines around Blaenau Ffestiniog, Llanberis, Abergnolwyn and others, to ports where they were transported around the world.
How did the slate get from the mines to the ports on the coast?
On the narrow gauge railways.
Railways like The Festiniog, The Tal-y-lyn, and Welsh Highland. Lines which are now huge tourist attractions in their own right. But there were also lesser, almost forgotten lines like the Padarn, the Croesor Tramway and even the planned electric line, the Porthmadog, Beddgelert and South Snowdon Railway. These names are interwoven in the history and lore of the region.
I can still remember my first trip on the Festiniog Railway when I was 11 years old, it was behind the Alco “Mountaineer”. That started a love affair with the line and region that has lasted to this day. To travel the FR, indeed to travel many of Snowdonia’s narrow gauge railways, is to travel through the history of this world heritage site itself.
These railway lines have etched themselves into the minds of many a railway and model railway enthusiast. From the Reverend Wilbur Awdry to myself. Small locomotives hauling long trains of slate tiles, making a huge contribution to the development of the modern world.
Layouts that have been inspired by these lines are many, and one just has to flick though the pages of a model railway magazine to see them. Any month of the year, you’ll find a magazine with a layout that owes something to slate carrying narrow gauge railways featured in their pages. Here are a few I remember;
“Llareggub” by Dave Rowe may be the first one I recall. Originally in a 4’ x 2’ cabinet it graced the pages of the model railway press in the 1970’s.
“The Dovey Valley Light railway”, featured in the pages of Railway Modeller back in the 1980’s. It was still on the exhibition circuit until a couple of years ago.
“Beddgelert 1910”, a model of a short section of the never opened, electric Porthmadog, Beddgelert, and South Snowdon railway. Just a simple oval of track where trains ran along an embankment to a road overbridge. You can still drive under the real bridge, It’s just outside Beddgelert.
I’m sure many of you have your own favourite layouts.
Even though the region is small, and criss-crossed with railway lines, you could always plot the route of a line through villages and hamlets with unpronounceable names for your own imaginary model railway scheme.
I myself, imagined a line running from slate mines alongside Lake Vyrnwy, through Ty-Uchaf, Rhiwagor, and Aberhirnant down to exchange sidings with the Great Western Railway at Bala Junction. I was going to build it in 009, but never even made a start.
I doubt now that I ever will, but I still have a hankering to recreate the slate railways of North Wales somehow.
Then within a few weeks of this UNESCO announcement PECO, in association with Japanese manufacturer Kato announced their 009 ready to run model of George England Locomotives "Prince" and "Princess". This was quickly followed by surprise announcement from Bachmann about their double Fairlie models. An embarrassment of riches for the 4mm scale narrow gauge modeller surely? I'm pretty sure that if I wasn't currently working towards my 16mm scale layout Nogg Mine. I'd be considering my long forgotten 009 project again.
This announcement by UNESCO should be celebrated by railway modellers. After all, North Wales didn’t just roof the world, it gave us a whole genre of our hobby.
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