Museum · Wales · Restored

Ffestiniog Railway

Rheilffordd Ffestiniog

The Ffestiniog Railway is a 1 ft 11½ in (597 mm) narrow-gauge heritage railway in Gwynedd, Wales, running from Porthmadog harbour to the slate town of Blaenau Ffestiniog through Snowdonia. Founded by an act of Parliament in 1832 to carry slate, it became the first British narrow‑gauge railway to carry passengers and today is operated as a restored tourist railway by the Festiniog Railway Company.

Recreate Museum to Explore →

Photograph via Wikimedia Commons

Its prime

1900

Today

Restored

As it stood in 1900

What Ffestiniog Railway looked like in its prime.

Low, narrow-gauge tracks curve along stone-and-slate-built formation beside a single curved platform with simple timber station buildings and pitched slate roofs. A small 0-4-0 saddle/tank steam locomotive with brass dome and short chimney stands by bogie passenger coaches and long low slate wagons. White-and-black semaphore signal posts and wooden picket fences edge the platform. The line stitches through heather-covered, rocky hills and open moorland, the track following natural contours on cuttings and embankments.

Step inside

12 places to explore in 1900.

The record describes 12 distinct spots at Ffestiniog Railway, including 2 interiors: locomotive cab interior, boston lodge works yard. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more photos, more angles and more of the immersive experience.

Approach to Tan-y-Bwlch stationTan-y-Bwlch station platformGoods siding with slate wagonsSemaphore signal looking northSteam locomotive and coaches at platformLocomotive cab interiorBoston Lodge works yardThe Cob embankment at Porthmadog harbourDduallt spiral formationMoelwyn Tunnel mouth and reservoir viewTanygrisiau station platformBlaenau Ffestiniog station approach

Build Your Own Castle