Felin Fawr Locomotive Shed

Chain hoist suspended from the gantry of the travelling overhead crane

Date	17 March 2012
Location	Coed-y-parc, Bethesda	SH 61552 66344; 53.17612°N, 4.07295°W
Information	The locomotive shed forms part of Penrhyn Quarry’s former Felin Fawr mill and workshop complex and is now the centre of activity in the ongoing efforts to restore the narrow-gauge Penrhyn Quarry Railway. In 1798, Benjamin Wyatt, Lord Penrhyn’s agent, built a horse tramway to transport flint between Port Penrhyn and a mill at Llandygai. The tramway was extended to Penrhyn Quarry in 1801 so that slate could be more easily transported to the port. The five-mile-long line took a fairly direct route and had inclines at Tanysgafell, Dinas near Tregarth, and Marchogion near Maesgeirchen. So that locomotives could operate on the line, the quarry railway was re-routed in stages between 1876 and 1879 in order to avoid the abrupt changes in height previously accommodated by the inclines. The railway closed in 1962, being superseded by road haulage by lorry. This was followed in 1965 by the closure of both the quarry’s internal rail system and also the Felin Fawr works. The six miles of track lifted at that time were donated to the Festiniog Railway. The site is owned by Felin Fawr Cyf, to whom grateful thanks are due for kindly granting access to the loco shed. Penrhyn Quarry Railway; Felin Fawr Cyf; Felin Fawr Slate Works (Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales)

Acquired in October 2011, diesel locomotive no. 26 was built by Ruston & Hornsby in 1943 for the Royal Naval Armament Depot at Broughton Moor, Cumbria.

Front lamp, No. 26.

Restored boxvan painted in Penrhyn grey

Overhead crane gantry

Diesel locomotive no. 25, built by Ruston & Hornsby

No. 25

No. 26

Pawl and ratchet detail, No. 25

Ruston No. 25

Loco shed

Track leading out of the north end of the shed

Original chairs, stamped P.Q.R. and dated 1887. These were purchased back from the Festiniog Railway which had been given track lifted from the Penrhyn Railway after it closed in 1962.