Croesor Tramway

Coordinates: 52°58′55″N 4°2′25″W / 52.98194°N 4.04028°W / 52.98194; -4.04028

Croesor Tramway
The trackbed of the Croesor Tramway in Cwm Croesor, 2007
Locale	Wales
Dates of operation	1864–1922
Successor	Welsh Highland Railway
Track gauge	2 ft  (610 mm)
Length	6½ miles
Headquarters	Porthmadog

The Croesor Tramway was a Welsh narrow gauge railway line built to carry slate from the Croesor slate mines to Porthmadog. It was built in 1864 without an Act of Parliament and was operated using horse power.

The tramway was absorbed into the Croesor and Port Madoc Railway in 1865 and later became the Portmadoc, Croesor and Beddgelert Tram Railway in 1879. Part of its route, from Croesor Junction to Porthmadog, was taken over by the Welsh Highland Railway in 1922, and upgraded to allow the operation of steam locomotives. The remainder of the line continued as a horse drawn tramway, and operated as such until the mid-1940s.

History

Slate quarrying in the remote Cwm Croesor (Croesor valley) dates back to at least 1846 when the Croesor quarry opened. Quarrying expanded in the early 1860s and transportation to the shipping wharfs at Porthmadog became a limiting factor. In 1862 discussion began to construct a tramway to connect the valley with the sea. An initial company, the Croesor Valley Railroad was proposed under the ownership of Hugh Beaver Roberts and two other quarry proprietors.

In the meantime, slate from the Croesor Quarry was being hauled by pack mule over to the adjacent Cwm Orthin and down to the Ffestiniog Railway at Tanygrisiau, a long and dangerous journey.

In 1863 Beaver Roberts commenced construction of the tramway, by now known as the Croesor Tramway. It opened to goods and mineral traffic on or before August 1. 1864. The Rhosydd Quarry at the head of the valley was connected that year.

The Rhosydd quarry failed in 1873, but a new company was formed to reopen it as the New Rhosydd quarry in 1874.

In 1879 the railway company was renamed the Portmadoc, Croesor and Beddgelert Tram Railway Company and authorised to build a branch, although this was never constructed. The company went into receivership in 1882 and was sold in 1902 to the Portmadoc, Beddgelert and South Snowdon Railway, one of the precursors of the Welsh Highland Railway.

Route

• 

  Map of the Croesor Tramway

• 

  Croesor valley from the top of the Blaen y Cwm incline

Post closure

After the demise of the original Welsh Highland Railway, the stub of the tramway from Parc north to Croesor continued in use to carry agricultural products for local farms, until the late 1950s.

The section from Croesor Junction to the slate quarries will probably never re-open as the quarries have long since closed. However the part of the Croesor tramway that ran from Croesor Junction to Porthmadog has been rebuilt as part of the resurrection of the Welsh Highland Railway from Caernarfon to Porthmadog. The section between Croesor Junction and Pont Croesor opened in May 2010. The section from Pont Croesor to Porthmadog reopened on 8 January 2011,^[1] whereby it linked up with the Ffestiniog Railway to allow through trains to Blaenau Ffestiniog railway station via the Porthmadog cross town link.

See also

• British narrow gauge slate railways

References

Notes

1. ^ "Ffestiniog Railway: Be the first to experience the completed Welsh Highland!". http://www.welshhighlandrailway.net/news.asp?dismode=article&artid=501. Retrieved 19 January 2011. 

Sources

• Awdry, Christopher (1990). Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-8526-0049-7. OCLC 19514063. 
• Boyd, James I.C. (1988). Narrow Gauge Railways in South Caernarvonshire - Volume 1. Headington, Oxford: The Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-8536-1365-6. OCLC 20417464. 

External links

• AditNow "Photographic database of mines in north Wales". http://www.aditnow.co.uk/ AditNow. 
• "Interactive Map at Live.com". http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cid=230D1A79E4437B66!339.