The practice steams throughout the Cob embankment: on the appropriate are the peaks of Snowdonia and on the left glitter the waters of Tremadoc bay. The neatly painted locomotive, Merddin Emrys, inbuilt 1879, puffs in direction of the undisputed European capital of scenic railway journeys: Porthmadog. “It’s a shocking panorama,” says native resident David Jones, “The absolute best begin or end to any railway journey.” Jones is chair of Nice Little Trains of Wales, a bunch that promotes a dozen heritage traces across the nation. It comes as no shock to him that, in line with a brand new survey by shopper physique Which?, Wales is house to a few of the ten most scenic railway traces in Europe. “I believe we may have stuffed the complete high 10,” he says.
The survey sampled the opinions of Which? members on facets of Europe’s most picturesque traces, from views to consolation, cleanliness and worth for cash. The result's a star-studded array of Europe’s best, together with Switzerland’s spectacular Glacier Categorical and Norway’s vertiginous Flam Railway, which climbs 867 metres from fjord to mountaintop on one of many steepest standard-gauge tracks ever constructed.
But all got here second to the Ffestiniog, a former industrial line that was hauled from oblivion by groups of volunteers over three a long time. Whereas all of the contenders scored extremely on surroundings, the North Wales line edged out the competitors with its superior customer support. “It’s very gratifying,” says Paul Lewin, basic supervisor who began out as a teenage volunteer 43 years in the past. “A part of that service is telling the story of the panorama, significantly the slate mining. We all know that may enrich the expertise.”
The monitor descends from the previous slate quarries of Blaenau Ffestiniog to Porthmadog, the place it meets one other top-scoring line, the Welsh Highland, coming in from Caernarfon. A number of miles down the coast at Tywyn is one other magnificence: the Talyllyn, additionally a high 10 entry. It was right here within the early Nineteen Fifties that creator Tom Rolt noticed the potential in nice surroundings and industrial heritage. The route ran as much as the failing Bryn Eglwys slate quarry and possessed one dilapidated locomotive, Dolgoch, that was already virtually a century previous. In locations the monitor was solely held in place by grass. A pioneer of canal boating as a leisure exercise within the late Forties, Rolt put collectively a combined gang of former miners, clergymen and railway buffs to start out the world’s first heritage railway. His experiences led to a e book, Railway Journey, and impressed the 1953 Ealing comedy The Titfield Thunderbolt.
Although the group have been dismissed by many as crackpots, the Talyllyn established a profitable enterprise mannequin that's nonetheless being emulated worldwide. In Wales there at the moment are 16 heritage traces, seven of them linked to a mainline service, the unsung basic Cambrian Coast line.
However competitors within the scenic railway world is rising stronger as routes are rediscovered and reopened. In Romania the restored Mocanita practice, an previous logging service, is attracting new guests; in Slovenia the basic Habsburg empire line from Bohinj down the Soča valley is an exhilarating finish to a ski journey, and France has the gorgeous Pignes route up from Good to Digne les Bains. Britain has different contenders, too: the North York Moors Railway and the Settle-Carlisle line amongst them.
Lewin is just not nervous that Wales may lose its crown as scenic rail champion. “Nice work continues to be occurring,” he says. “There’s a giant push for high quality, helped by growing range – it’s not nearly previous white males with beards any extra.”
David Jones picks out the Vale of Rheidol line from Aberystwyth to Satan’s Bridge. “It has change into an actual success after years of restoration.” His personal ardour is the Bala Lake Railway, a 4½-mile lakeside route hauled by a group of 5 basic Hunslet locomotives inbuilt Leeds between 1885 and 1904. “We’re not so well-known but, however it should occur: the views are gorgeous,” he says.
Again in Talyllyn, the traditional locomotive that was there initially, Dolgoch, inbuilt Cumbria in 1866, is being lovingly restored by volunteer engineers. After a summer time overhaul, she might be again this winter pulling the Christmas specials.
The highest 10
1 Ffestiniog Railway, Wales
2 Bergen Railway, Norway
3 Bernina Categorical, Switzerland and Italy
4 Glacier Categorical, Switzerland
5 Brocken Railway, Germany
6 Talyllyn, Wales
7 Welsh Highland Railway, Wales
8 West Highland Line, Scotland
9 Flam Railway, Norway
10 Golden Move, Switzerland
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