Porthmadog Harbour railway station

(Redirected from Portmadoc Harbour railway station)

Porthmadog Harbour
Station on heritage railway
Porthmadog Harbour railway station in 2011. The point work of the WHR's Cross Town Rail Link (CTRL) can be seen in the foreground, with the FR's 0-4-0 locomotive Palmerston waiting in the then single platform station to pilot a WHR train back into the platform from the Cob
General information
Location	Porthmadog, Gwynedd Wales
Coordinates	52°55′26″N 4°07′37″W / 52.9239°N 4.1270°W / 52.9239; -4.1270
Grid reference	SH571384
Owned by	Festiniog Railway Company
Managed by	Ffestiniog Railway
Platforms	2
Key dates
6 January 1865	Station opened
1923	Welsh Highland Railway services commence
1936	Welsh Highland Railway services cease
15 September 1939	Closed for passengers
23 July 1955	Reopened for passengers
19 February 2011	Reopened to Welsh Highland Railway services

Porthmadog Harbour railway station (formerly known as Portmadoc Harbour railway station) in Porthmadog (formerly Portmadoc), Gwynedd (formerly Merioneth), North Wales. It is the passenger terminus of two narrow gauge railways: the Ffestiniog Railway, which was opened in 1836 to carry dressed slate from the Quarries around Blaenau Ffestiniog to the sea port of Porthmadog, for export by sea; and the Welsh Highland Railway, incorporated in 1923, which ran to Dinas. After rebuilding in 1997-2011, the other terminus is at Caernarfon, in sight of the Castle.

History

The station is built at the western end of the Cob, the great embankment across the Traeth Mawr, on a peninsula from Ynys Madoc constructed in 1842 to form a slate wharf and a harbour wall. It was opened for passenger service on 6 January 1865. Welsh Highland Railway trains served the station from 1923, with a short period when all passenger traffic was diverted to Portmadog New station near the crossing with the Cambrian railway, that building being long since demolished. The ill-funded WHR closed in 1936. Harbour Station was closed to passengers on 15 September 1939, although slate trains continued operating through the Second World War until 1946. The buildings continued to be in use as the principal offices of the Festiniog Railway Company and the home of Manager (Mr Robert Evans) including throughout the years of almost total closure from 1 August 1946 to 24 September 1954. The station reopened for passengers on 23 July 1955.

Welsh Highland Railway

Main article: Porthmadog cross town link

Since 2011, following completion of the Cross Town Rail Link (CTRL), the station is also the terminus of the Welsh Highland Railway, which is owned by the Festiniog Railway Company. This line runs trains, via the cross town link through Porthmadog, to Beddgelert, Rhyd Ddu, Waunfawr, Dinas and Caernarfon. The WHR was closed to all traffic in 1936 and the track lifted during the War, but has been entirely rebuilt and even extended. Starting from Caernarfon in 1997, the final section (from Pont Croesor) was connected in 2009, with regular passenger services resuming in 2011.

Buildings

The present stone buildings date from 1878/79, replacing earlier wooden buildings dismantled and reused elsewhere on the railway. The goods shed was added in 1880. The buildings were linked by a major extension in 1975. Passenger facilities include a booking and enquiry office, a large tourist and hobby shop, and a restaurant with licensed bar. The erection of the platform awning was completed in 1988.

Harbour Station is the head office and operational headquarters of the Festiniog Railway Company, marketed as Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways.

Operations

With the resumption of services in 1955, all traffic on the line has been controlled from an office in Harbour station, known simply as "Control". With the exception of some early morning and late night movements by works trains, this office is staffed constantly when passenger-carrying services are in operation. Its remit was expanded in 1997 with the commencement of public services on the Welsh Highland Railway between Caernarfon and Dinas and its subsequent expansion south towards Porthmadog. Additionally, for 2007 and 2008, when a connection was in use with the WHR(P), there was a requirement to coordinate with its operations on the new main line.

From 2011, with the WHR now connected to the station via the CTRL, a new short platform and point work was added to the eastward side of the existing platform structure/Spooners Bar. This being too short to hold the longer WHR trains, WHR trains were pulled onto the Cob; then a pilot locomotive was attached to the rear to drag the complete WHR train into the station. This operation was reversed on departure, and because of the need for both lines to use the Cob and the single platform, only one train could be in the station at any time. This was always a temporary solution, until funds could be found to rebuild the station.

Having foreseen this problem, the FR proposed a £1.3M rebuild of Harbour Station, to provide two separate and individually controllable platforms, each with their own run-round loops. The project took three years to complete, requiring extension of the Cob structure into the Irish Sea, compacting, extension of the platform, and finally a shift westwards of the alignment of the existing single platform and FR storage loops and sidings. A helpful grant from the Terminal Stations Improvement Scheme was arranged by the Welsh Government. Completed in March 2014 within the projected cost, the project delivered, as well as two platforms, a new electronically controlled signal box with a distinct FR heritage appearance. The signalling work won the Signalling Award at the 2014 National Railway Heritage Awards.

Services

Preceding station	Heritage railways		Following station
Terminus		Ffestiniog Railway Porthmadog - Blaenau Ffestiniog	Boston Lodge Halt
Pen-y-Mount Jcn (special events only) Pont Croesor		Welsh Highland Railway Porthmadog - Caernarfon	Terminus
Connection with Porthmadog (WHHR) on the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway
	National Rail
Interchange with Porthmadog on the Cambrian Line

Sources

Boyd, James I.C. (1975) . The Festiniog Railway 1800 - 1974; Vol. 1 - History and Route. The British Narrow Gauge Railway. Blandford: The Oakwood Press. ISBN 978-0-85361-167-7. OCLC 2074549. B1A.
Boyd, James I.C. (1975) . The Festiniog Railway 1800 - 1974; Vol. 2 - Locomotives and Rolling Stock; Quarries and Branches: Rebirth 1954-74. The British Narrow Gauge Railway. Blandford: The Oakwood Press. ISBN 978-0-85361-168-4. OCLC 874117875. B1B.

"Porthmadog Harbour railway station reopens after £1.3m rebuild". BBC News. 23 March 2014. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
"Sir Peter Hendy, Commissioner, Transport for London, presents the 2014 Awards". December 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2015.

External links

The Festiniog Railway Company (Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways) website
Ffestiniog Railway Timetables Archived 21 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine
Welsh Highland Railway Timetables Archived 22 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
Multimap Map of Porthmadog Harbour station

v t e Festiniog and associated railways
Current operators	Ffestiniog Railway Welsh Highland Railway Welsh Highland Heritage Railway
Rolling stock	Ffestiniog Railway Welsh Highland Railway Welsh Highland Heritage Railway
Stations and halts	Ffestiniog Railway Welsh Highland Railway
Support groups	Ffestiniog Railway Society Festiniog Railway Heritage Group Welsh Highland Railway Society Welsh Highland Railway Heritage Group
Other articles	Festiniog Railway Letter Service Welsh Highland Railway restoration The Great Little Trains of Wales
Trains Wales

v t e Ffestiniog Railway
Stations	Porthmadog Harbour Boston Lodge Halt Minffordd Penrhyn Rhiw Goch Plas Halt Tan-y-Bwlch Campbell's Platform Dduallt Tanygrisiau Blaenau Ffestiniog
Other locations	Boston Lodge Works
Quarries	Blaen y Cwm Bwlch y Slaters Conglog Cwmorthin Cwt y Bugail Diphwys Casson Graig Ddu Llechwedd Maenofferen Moelwyn Slate Nyth-y-Gigfran Oakeley Rhiwbach Votty & Bowydd Wrysgan
People	Henry Archer Robert Francis Fairlie George England The Spooners of Porthmadog Allan Garraway Alan Pegler
Rolling stock	Ffestiniog Railway rolling stock Princess Little Wonder Fairlie locomotive Lyd Dandy waggon
Related railways	Croesor Tramway Cwmorthin Tramway Festiniog and Blaenau Railway Gorseddau Junction And Portmadoc Railway North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways Porthmadog cross town link Portmadoc, Beddgelert and South Snowdon Railway Rhiwbach Tramway Welsh Highland Railway Welsh Highland Heritage Railway
Trains portal Wales portal

Railway stations in Gwynedd

Mainline

Cambrian Coast Line	Aberdovey Abererch Barmouth Criccieth Dyffryn Ardudwy Fairbourne Harlech Llanaber Llanbedr Llandanwg Llandecwyn Llwyngwril Minffordd Morfa Mawddach Penhelig Penrhyndeudraeth Pensarn Penychain Porthmadog Pwllheli Talsarnau Talybont Tonfanau Tygwyn Tywyn
Conwy Valley line	Blaenau Ffestiniog
North Wales Coast Line	Bangor

Heritage

Bala Lake Railway	Bala Lake Halt Llangower Llanuwchllyn Pentrepiod Halt
Corris Railway	Corris Maespoeth Junction
Fairbourne Railway	Barmouth Ferry Beach Halt Estuary Halt Fairbourne Golf Halt Loop Halt
Ffestiniog Railway	Blaenau Ffestiniog Boston Lodge Halt Campbell's Platform Dduallt Minffordd Penrhyn Plas Halt Porthmadog Harbour Tan-y-Bwlch Tanygrisiau
Llanberis Lake Railway	Cei Llydan Gilfach Ddu Llanberis Penllyn
Snowdon Mountain Railway	Clogwyn Halfway Hebron Llanberis Rocky Valley Halt Summit Waterfall
Talyllyn Railway	Abergynolwyn Brynglas Dolgoch Nant Gwernol Pendre Rhydyronen Tywyn Wharf
Welsh Highland Railway	Beddgelert Bontnewydd Caernarfon Dinas Meillionen Nantmor Plas-y-Nant Pont Croesor Porthmadog Harbour Rhyd Ddu Snowdon Ranger Tryfan Junction Waunfawr
Welsh Highland Heritage Railway	Gelerts Farm Halt Pen-y-Mount Junction Porthmadog

Categories:

Misplaced Pages