On the 2nd August 2025 we will be commemorating the 45th anniversary of the first train on the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway in Porthmadog.
On the 2nd August 1980 Ruston & Hornsby 40DL Diesel Locomotive ‘Kinnerley’ (formerly employed at Blockleys Ltd, Hadley, Telford), hauled a single carriage from Porthmadog to Pen-y-Mount via Gelert’s Farm works.
We’re aiming to have ‘Kinnerley’ restored and repainted in time for the August anniversary.
Unlike other preserved railways that started with a mothballed branch line, we started with nothing; everything you see on the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway has been built, restored and preserved by volunteers – this is something we’re really proud of.
So we’re proud to be playing our part in the Railway200 celebrations by commemorating our 45 year of passenger trains on the two foot gauge in Porthmadog, North Wales.
Come and ride the trains and visit our hands-on interactive museum at Gelert’s Farm and learn how the narrow gauge pioneered in North Wales spread around the world.
Climb into the cabs of our Peckett steam locomotive ‘Karen’ and our LYd2 diesel locomotive and experience the driver’s eye-view.
The only original Welsh Highland Railway steam locomotive; Hunslet 2-6-2T ‘Russell’ will be on display, and our WW1 War Department Baldwin ‘590’ will be in steam.