Ddaullt Spiral Loop
With Double Fairlie 'Merddin Emrys' up front working the 10.45 Blaenau Ffestiniog-Porthmadog (11.15) 'Mountain Sprit' service, we cross over the line into Ddaullt Station (the slate bridge abutments and the fence line in the foreground) that we have just passed along as we climb the Ddaullt spiral loop.
In 1956 the British Electricity Authority compulsorily acquired the Ffestiniog Railways line above Moelwyn Tunnel to construct a reservoir and hydroelectric power station near Tanygrisiau.
A new route was surveyed, involving a spiral loop around Dduallt Station in order for the line to gain height and then pass through a new tunnel and along the west side of the reservoir before regaining the original alignment at Tanygrisiau Station.
The Dduallt spiral was completed in 1971 and the new route to Tanygrisiau opened in 1978.
26th March 2023
Ddaullt Spiral Loop
With Double Fairlie 'Merddin Emrys' up front working the 10.45 Blaenau Ffestiniog-Porthmadog (11.15) 'Mountain Sprit' service, we cross over the line into Ddaullt Station (the slate bridge abutments and the fence line in the foreground) that we have just passed along as we climb the Ddaullt spiral loop.
In 1956 the British Electricity Authority compulsorily acquired the Ffestiniog Railways line above Moelwyn Tunnel to construct a reservoir and hydroelectric power station near Tanygrisiau.
A new route was surveyed, involving a spiral loop around Dduallt Station in order for the line to gain height and then pass through a new tunnel and along the west side of the reservoir before regaining the original alignment at Tanygrisiau Station.
The Dduallt spiral was completed in 1971 and the new route to Tanygrisiau opened in 1978.
26th March 2023