possibly the only place in the world to be able to see both Garrett and Double Fairlie designs of steam loco's in active service - these are taken from recent trip to North Wales and a visit to both the Festiniog and Welsh Highland railways...

it's not everyday that you see a narrow gauge Garrett locomotive travelling down the high street.....




Here is one of the Garretts in more normal scenery, this is the Aberglaslyn Pass




Double Fairlie 'Earl of Merioneth' climbs into Tanygrisiau station on the Festiniog railway




Festiniog railway Double Fairlie 'David Lloyd George' at Harbour Station, Porthmadog



A bit like threading the eye of a needle..Welsh Highland railway Garrett heading into Harbour station Porthmadog

[CreationBear]

Very cool--I took the train from Welshpool to Llanfair Caereinion a couple of years ago really on a whim, but it seems as if there's a whole "rail fan" culture built up around those narrow-gauge lines. (FWIW, kicking around Snowdonia remains on the bucket list, though if my wife accompanies me, an inn-to-inn trek like Glyndwr's Way might be an easier sell.)

[Tonytee]

Wonderful series. Always so interesting to see these old style gals just keep steaming along. Beautiful scenery.

Many thanks for sharing.

Antonio

[Janse]

A very nice series Top banana!

[Top banana]

Wonderful series. Always so interesting to see these old style gals just keep steaming along. Beautiful scenery.

Many thanks for sharing.

Antonio

Many thanks for the comment - in the case of the two Double Fairlie loco's seen in the pictures, they are not so 'old' gals...these two are both effectively 'new builds' from 1979 and 1992 although they do use components from much older loco's. The Festiniog realised that due to increased traffic on the line they would need to build in their own works some new engines, and the decision was taken to replicate their original Double Fairlies that are still in service with a improved design using modern tooling and engineering practices.

The Garratt locos are also not that old - these were originally built for a copper mine in South Africa and were supplied in 1958. they came to the UK in 1997

[nicolpa47]

Attached is a photo taken 30+ years ago as a slide. I scanned the slide a year or so ago. The photo was entered in a FRPS competition and was published as a Christmas Card. The camera was a Pentax MX, I believe. The loco is the original Earl of Merioneth, previously Taliesin, and later Livingston Thompson - I think I've got that right.

[Kerrowdown]

Garrett's and Double Fairlie's

The thread title looks like a whole new language...

Great shots that many of the railway folk here will appreciate I'm sure.

[Sailor]

A terrific series, for sure - and . . . . . like Kerrowdown . . . . . . I've added new words to my vocabulary (although I'm still not entirely sure what the mean).

Jer

[Top banana]

Attached is a photo taken 30+ years ago as a slide. I scanned the slide a year or so ago. The photo was entered in a FRPS competition and was published as a Christmas Card. The camera was a Pentax MX, I believe. The loco is the original Earl of Merioneth, previously Taliesin, and later Livingston Thompson - I think I've got that right.

Great photo of one of the 'original' Double Fairlie's had at work - she now sits in the National Railway Museum in York on loan from the Festiniog.

Can you remember the location it was taken? - it looks like somewhere between Tanybwlch and Ddualtt judging by the scenery in the background

[nicolpa47]

Great photo of one of the 'original' Double Fairlie's had at work - she now sits in the National Railway Museum in York on loan from the Festiniog.

Can you remember the location it was taken? - it looks like somewhere between Tanybwlch and Ddualtt judging by the scenery in the background

You are correct about the location. Just behind the viewpoint was a right hand bend in the track heading to Garnedd(?) Tunnel and on toTan-y-Bwlch. We walked from that station down the road and found a footpath up to the railway.