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Porthmadog Harbour railway station, the terminus of both the Ffestiniog Railway and Welsh Highland Railway, Porthmadog, Gwynedd, North Wales.

 

The Station is the head office and operational headquarters of the Festiniog Railway Company, marketed as Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways.

 

The station is built at the western end of the Cob, the great embankment across the Traeth Mawr, on a peninsula from Ynys Madoc constructed in 1842 to form a slate wharf and a harbour wall. It was opened for passenger service on 6 January 1865. Welsh Highland Railway trains served the station from 1923, but these ceased running in 1936. The station was closed to passengers on 15 September 1939, although slate trains continued operating through the Second World War until 1946. The buildings continued in use as the principal offices of the Festiniog Railway Company and the home of Manager (Mr Robert Evans) including throughout the years of almost total closure from 1 August 1946 to 24 September 1954. The station reopened for passengers on 23 July 1955. Welsh Highland Railway services were restored in 2011.

 

The present stone buildings, replacing earlier wooden buildings dismantled and reused elsewhere on the railway, date from 1878/79 and the goods shed was added in 1880. They were linked to the former goods shed by way of a major extension in 1975. Passenger facilities include a booking and enquiry office, a large tourist and hobby shop and a large cafeteria with licensed bar. The erection of the platform awning was completed in 1988.

 

With the resumption of services in 1955, all traffic on the line has been controlled from an office in Harbour station, known simply as "Control". With the exception of some early morning and late night movements by works trains, this office is manned constantly when passenger-carrying services are in operation. Its remit was expanded in 1997 with the commencement of public services on the Welsh Highland Railway between Caernarfon and Dinas and its subsequent expansion south towards Porthmadog.

 

The station signals were rebuilt as part of the Welsh Highland Railway's arrival. The work won the Signalling Award at the 2014 National Railway Heritage Awards.

 

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Uploaded on May 28, 2016
Taken on April 21, 2014