A day of contrast…
A second day of the real railway yesterday, and one of contrast. Sleepy rural branchline and heavy freight on a double line race track - welcome to the North Wales coast… I have wanted to witness the stone train at Penmaenmawr for sometime but the concept of blending that with the Blaenau Ffestiniog branch hadn’t occurred to me before now. This rural branchline survivor winds down from Llandudno, through surburban Deganwy to Llandudno Junction and then on to the scenic Conwy Valley, through small villages and lonely halts, via the wooded almost alpine tourist hot spot of Betws-y-coed and beyond to Blaenau Ffestiniog and its mountains of slate. I rode it last year for the first time and was rather taken with the scenery from the train window - if you haven’t been, it is well worth a pilgrimage. Amongst the curiosities which include a block signalling post where the modern DMU driver exchanges real tokens under semaphore signals at North Llanwrst, and lonely single platforms in the middl...
