Welsh Highland Railway (Porthmadog)

Welsh Highland Heritage Railway (Rheilffordd Ucheldir Cymru)
Lyd2 No. 60 awaits work in Gelerts Farm Works yard
Locale	Wales
Terminus	Porthmadog and Pen y Mount
Commercial operations
Name	Welsh Highland Railway Ltd
Built by	Welsh Highland Railway Ltd
Original gauge	1 ft 11 1⁄2 in (597 mm)
Preserved operations
Owned by	Welsh Highland Railway Ltd
Operated by	Welsh Highland Heritage Railway
Stations	3
Length	1 mile (1.6 km)
Preserved gauge	1 ft 11 1⁄2 in (597 mm)
Commercial history
Opened	1980
Preservation history
1961	Welsh Highland Railway Society formed
1964	WHR Society reformed as Welsh Highland Light Railway (1964) Limited
1980	WHR Ltd opened for passenger service
1987	Original locomotive Russell restored
2003	Original locomotive Russell taken out of service for expensive major overhaul.
2005	Celebrates 25 years of passenger train service
2007	Extended to Traeth Mawr
2008	Last train to Traeth Mawr
2009	Operational name changed to Welsh Highland Heritage Railway. Terminus reverts to Pen y Mount.
2014	Original locomotive Russel back in service.

The Welsh Highland Heritage Railway is a short reconstructed heritage railway in Gwynedd, Wales. Its main station is in Porthmadog.

The origins of the WHHR lie in a small group of railway enthusiasts, including some disgruntled volunteers from the Festiniog Railway, forming the Welsh Highland Railway Society in 1961, to preserve and rebuild the original WHR which had operated from 1922 to 1936. Construction of the line started in the 1970s following the acquisition of land from British Railways running alongside the Cambrian Coast line at a location known as Beddgelert Sidings. A substantial works and engineering facility has been constructed on the site of the former farm that was situated in the triangle of land between the Beddgelert Siding and the Cambrian Coast Railway. The works have been expanded with newly constructed shed accommodation in addition to the utilisation of some of the original farm buildings, which include one of the oldest buildings in Porthmadog. There has been, for some time, a museum part to the works tour and from 2009, with construction of a new building, this will be more than doubled in size and its nature.

The original Welsh Highland Railway has been reconstructed by the Festiniog Railway Company and the Welsh Highland Railway Limited. Both companies will have running rights over the WHR main line from Caernarfon to Porthmadog Harbour and the WHHR branch from Pen-y-Mount Junction to the existing WHR Ltd. station in Porthmadog. The precise terms of these running rights, however, is not yet settled.

The railway is now nearly entirely run by volunteers. There is a group for the young volunteers, known as 'The Young Highlanders'. The group was formed in 1996 by Mark Herbert (publicity manager), Tim Heeks (volunteer) and the late Gordon Roe (volunteer).