Festiniog railway station
| Festiniog | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Place | Llan Ffestiniog |
| Area | Gwynedd |
| Coordinates | 52°57′33″N 3°55′49″W / 52.9591°N 3.9304°WCoordinates: 52°57′33″N 3°55′49″W / 52.9591°N 3.9304°W |
| Grid reference | SH 704 419 |
| Operations | |
| Original company | F&BR (Narrow Gauge), B&FR (Standard Gauge) |
| Pre-grouping | Great Western Railway |
| Platforms | 2 |
| History | |
| 29 May 1868 | Narrow gauge opened to Blaenau |
| 1 November 1882 | Standard gauge opened from Bala |
| 10 September 1883 | Standard gauge replaced narrow |
| 4 January 1960 | Closed to passengers |
| 28 January 1961 | Line and station closed |
| 10 April 1964 | Line reopened, but not the station |
| 17 October 1998 | Line closed and mothballed |
| Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom | |
| Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z |
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Festiniog railway station served the village of Llan Ffestiniog, Gwynedd, Wales. This station was one of many 19th century institutions in Wales to be given an anglicised name. Over the years, and especially since the Second World War, most have been rendered into Welsh or given both Welsh and English names. Festiniog station closed before this happened. The village of Llan Ffestiniog - known locally simply as "Llan" - lies over 3 km south of the larger Blaenau Ffestiniog, and over three miles south by rail.
The station opened in May 1868 as the southern terminus of the 1 ft 11 3⁄4 in (603 mm)narrow gauge Festiniog and Blaenau Railway (F&BR).
The narrow gauge line's primary traffic was passengers, and workmen in particular, with goods traffic small by comparison. Receipts in 1879, for example, included £1409 from passengers against £416 for goods. Slate was brought to the station by packhorse and sled from Drum quarry. One source states that some slate was brought here from Tan-y-Manod in narrow gauge days.
In common with all other F&BR stations there were no platforms, carriages were very low to the ground, so passengers boarded from and alighted to the trackside. The F&BR station building contained a station office, store and passenger shelter. In common with Tyddyngwyn and Tan-y-Manod stations, the only published photographs were taken from a distance, they lend the buildings the appearance of corrugated iron. The sole close-up station photo is of the line's northern terminus – Duffws (F&BR). This shows the building to bear a striking resemblance to 21st century PVC weatherboarding. If the line's other stations were made of the same material, that would explain their corrugated appearance.
An apparently rudimentary shelter stood on the opposite side of the track; it served as a carriage and loco shed and repair shop. This latter structure became a slate shed after narrow gauge services ceased. A photo of a narrow gauge train at the station is reproduced in two significant works on the route without being captioned as being at that location in either. That the photo shows a train at Llan Ffestiniog is demonstrated by a much later shot in a third serious work, and corroborated by local readers.
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Wikipedia