The Llanberis Lake Railway () is a narrow gauge heritage railway that runs for 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 is one of the Great Little Trains of Wales.

History

Early proposals

The Llanberis Lake Railway runs along part of the trackbed of the defunct Padarn Railway, a gauge line which connected the quarry with Y Felinheli (Port Dinorwic) on the Menai Strait. The Padarn Railway closed in October 1961 and was lifted between 16 May 1962 and February 1963. Following the closure of the Padarn Railway, various plans were made to open a gauge tourist railway on the trackbed. The first serious attempt was made by G. Ward, a local resident, who proposed a railway that would circle Llyn Padarn using the trackbeds of the British Rail Llanberis branch and the Padarn Railway. This plan would have utilized track and locomotives from the Dinorwic slate quarry, but the company did not pursue the proposal.

Quarry closure and formation of the railway company

In July 1966, A. Lowry Porter of Southend-on-Sea proposed a shorter railway running from the quarry company's workshops at Gilfach Ddu near Llanberis to Penllyn, along the easternmost three miles of Padarn Railway trackbed. Negotiations were progressing with the company, when in July 1969 the quarry closed at short notice.

Operations

The railway uses three steam locomotives ("Elidir", "Dolbadarn" and "Thomas Bach") all of which ran on the internal gauge lines of the Dinorwic Quarry. There are also several diesel locomotives which are used for works trains and when the steam locomotives are unavailable for passenger trains.

When the Quarry closed down in 1969 the lakeside section of the trackbed was utilised for the current Llanberis Lake Railway, originally running from the National Slate Museum at Gilfach Ddu to Pen Llyn. Gilfach Ddu was the main engineering workshop of the Dinorwic Quarry and provided repair facilities for all of the steam locomotives of the quarry system.

Locomotives

Current locomotives

{|class="wikitable"

!Number

!Name

!Builder

!Type

!Works number

!Date

!Notes

!Image

|-

|1

|Elidir

|Hunslet

|

|493

|1889

|Built for the Dinorwic quarry; originally named Enid then later renamed Red Damsel

Operational

|120px

|-

|2

|Thomas Bach

|Hunslet

|

|894

|1904

|Built for the Dinorwic quarry; originally named Wild Aster

Operational (overhauled 2020)

|120px

|-

|3

|Dolbadarn

|Hunslet

|

|1430

|1922

|Built for the Dinorwic quarry

Operational

|120px

|-

|7

|Topsy

|Ruston Hornsby

|

|441427

|1961

|Built for Bestwood Colliery. Initially named Coed Gorau when it arrived at Llanberis.

|120px

|-

|8

|Twll Coed

|Ruston Hornsby

|

|268878

|1952

|Worked at the Lodge Hill and Upnor Railway

|

|-

|11

|Garrett

|Ruston Hornsby

|

|198286

|1939

|

|

|-

|19

|Llanelli

|Ruston Hornsby

|

|451901

|1961

|

|120px

|}

Former locomotives

These are locomotives that ran on the Llanberis Lake Railway in the past, but have now moved to other locations.

{|class="wikitable"

!Name

!Builder

!scope="col" |Type

!Works number

!Date

!Notes

!Image

|-

|Maid Marian

|Hunslet

|

|822

|1903

|Built for the Dinorwic quarry. Based on the Llanberis Lake Railway from 1972 to 1975. Subsequently, operating on the Bala Lake Railway

|120px|center

|-

|Cyclops

|Jung

|

|7509

|1937

|Based on the Llanberis Lake Railway from December 1971 to February 1980. Now renamed "Ginette Marie" and in storage at Strumpshaw Hall Steam Museum

|

|-

|Helen Kathryn It stayed until 1991, when it moved to the South Tynedale Railway

|120px|center

|-

|No. 8

|O&K

|

|12722

|1936

|Used at various construction sites in northern Germany until 1957. Moved to the UK in 1970, where it ran on the Llanberis Lake Railway and then the Brecon Mountain Railway. Acquired by the Bredgar and Wormshill Light Railway in 1999.

|120px|center

|-

|Charelfawr

|Ruston Hornsby

|

|277265

|1949

|Purchased new for Dinorwic Quarry, it was purchased at the 1969 auction and assisted in the construction of the lake railway. In the 1971 (first) season it was used to shunt release passenger trains due to the lack of a run round loop at Gilfach Ddu. It was exchanged in 1975 for a 60HP Simplex from Alan Keef.

|120px|center

|}

Locomotives formerly on site

These are locomotives that were stored at the Llanberis Lake Railway in the past, that have now moved to other locations. They did not run on the LLR during their stay.

{|class="wikitable"

!Name

!Builder

!scope="col" |Type

!Works number

!Date

!Notes

!Image

|-

|Diana

|Kerr Stuart

|

|1158

|1917

|First ran on the Kerry Tramway, then moved to the Oakeley Quarry, then the Pen-yr-Orsedd Quarry. Stored in derelict condition on the Llanberis Lake Railway in the 1970s. Moved to the Brecon Mountain Railway in 1972. Restored to working condition in 2015, and in 2018 is based at the Amerton Railway

|120px

|}

See also

  • British narrow gauge railways
  • Dinorwic Alice Class

References

  • Official website