Rhyd Ddu railway station

Infobox UK station
name = Rhyd Ddu


caption = Garratt No.138 arrives in the Down Platform at the newly extended Rhyd Ddu station on 16 April 2006, during the period when the Up Platform was not available for use by carriages.

manager = Ffestiniog Railway
owner = Ffestiniog Railway
locale = Rhyd Ddu
borough = Gwynedd
latitude = 53.051444
longitude = -4.133194
gridref =
platforms = 1
(down platform not currently used by passenger trains)
years = 1881
events = Opened
years1 = 26 September 1936
events1 = Closed
years2 = 18 August 2003
events2 = Re-opened
(using shortened down platform)
years3 = 8 April 2006
events3 = Rebuilt
(following extension of island platform, and construction of the Up platform face)

Rhyd Ddu is a station on the narrow gauge Welsh Highland Railway, which was built in 1881 as the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways Moel Tryfan Undertaking to carry dressed slate to Dinas Junction on the LNWR. The railway was extended southwards to Beddgelert and Porthmadog in 1923, and in its lifetime the station was variously also named "South Snowdon" and "Snowdon". Passenger services ceased to the old station site on 26 September 1936, and the station was reopened to passengers on 18 August 2003 on a new site slightly to the east (the car park occupies the original site) following the complete reconstruction of the railway from Waunfawr to Rhyd Ddu. The train services are operated by the Festiniog Railway Company.

Facilities

Rhyd Ddu station is the starting point of the 'Rhyd Ddu' footpath to the Summit of Snowdon.

There are public toilets and a car park adjoining the station. The Snowdonia Sherpa bus service to Beddgelert and Porthmadog or Pen-y-Pass calls at the station.

2003 Re-opening

Following reconstruction, the Section from Waunfawr to Rhyd Ddu was formally reopened by HRH the Prince of Wales on 30 July 2003. Prince Charles travelled from Waunfawr to Snowdon Ranger in the replica of a North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways coach and from there to Rhyd Ddu on the footplate of the Ffestiniog Railway Locomotive "Prince", built in 1863, which hauled the special train. Public passenger services commenced on 18 August 2003 and an honoured guest that day was Mr Richard Williams of Beddgelert who had travelled on the first train in 1923.

Welsh Highland Railway Phase 4 and 2006 Reconstruction

Work on the reconstruction of Phase 4, the long final section of the Welsh Highland Railway from Rhyd Ddu to Beddgelert and Porthmadog, started at Rhyd Ddu in 2005.

In February and March, 2006, the station underwent large modifications to allow through running trains to Porthmadog, these include two water towers for trains running in both directions, a "Rhyd Ddu Yard" with two sidings, one capable of stabling a train, and building a new southerly extension to the platform that extends it to the 200m standard length platform of this route. There is also a waiting shelter and occasional ticket office. Trackwork modifications were completed to permit right-hand running (normal WHR and FR practice) into and through the station. Unfortunately for the 2006 reopening of the station on 8 April, the trackwork for the Up loop had not been consolidated, sufficiently to allow carriages to use the Porthmadog bound platform, due to a mechanical failure of the tamper. For the period between the reopening and 1 June 2006, when right hand running commenced, temporary operating instructions were in place whilst trains continued to run into the left hand line.

Gallery

26 May 2003. Diesel loco Conway Castle hauls a PW train with a tamping machine in the background.
18 August 2003
14 May 2005
Looking_south_the_evening_(7 April 2006) before re-opening after major rebuilding in 2006.

References

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External links

* [http://whr.bangor.ac.uk The Welsh Highland Railway Project - official reconstruction site]
* [http://www.welshhighlandrailway.net Welsh Highland Railway (Caernarfon)]
* [http://www.isengard.co.uk/ Rebuilding The Welsh Highland Railway - an independent site]
* [http://www.greatorme.org.uk/WHR.html The Royal re-opening to Rhyd Ddu 2003]
* [http://www.welshhighlandrailway.net/timetable.htm Welsh Highland Railway Timetables]
* [http://www.frheritage.org.uk/wiki/Rhyd_Ddu FR Heritage Group Wiki]

* [http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?client=public&db=pc&cidr_client=none&lang=&pc=LL546TL&advanced=&scale=25000public&addr2=&quicksearch=LL413AQ&addr3=&addr1= Multimap Map of Rhyd Ddu]

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