Arts & Culture

Welsh Highland Railway

St Helen's Rd, Caernarfon LL55 2YD

🌐 www.festrail.co.uk/welsh-highland-railway

🕐Daily 09:30 - 17:30 (Timetabled services)

About

Witness the ultimate spectacle of narrow-gauge power—the Welsh Highland Railway. Stretching 25 miles from the towers of Caernarfon Castle to the sea at Porthmadog, it is the longest heritage line in the United Kingdom. This monumental restoration traverses the rugged heart of Snowdonia National Park, where massive South African Beyer-Garratt locomotives—the most powerful steam engines in the world for their gauge—conquer the 1-in-40 gradients of the Aberglaslyn Pass in a breathtaking display of engineering might.

Heritage

The Snowdonia Giant

The Welsh Highland Railway (WHR) is a monumental feat of restoration. After closing in the 1930s, the line was entirely rebuilt over several decades, finally reopening in full in 2011. Now the UK's longest heritage railway, it offers passengers an unparalleled journey through the rugged heart of North Wales, using uniquely powerful locomotives that were originally designed for the heavy mineral lines of South Africa.