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This section contains:
A route description (250KB PDF file), including comments on appropriate driving techniques, and a table of distances
This is a much-expanded and corrected version of a text you may already have seen.
My suggestions concerning locomotive handling are written from the vantage point of a steam driver, and are to some extent (inevitably...) subjective. Even so, I hope they'll serve as an introduction to the WHR for any loco volunteer (steam or diesel driver, fireman or cleaner) who's not previously worked up there, and to the Phase 3 extension in particular for anyone who (unlike me, perhaps) may not have had time to investigate or research it.
As you might expect, the Waunfawr to Rhyd Ddu section is written up in much more detail than the familiar (to some!) Caernarfon to Waunfawr part of the line: some (but not much) of this is conjectural - mainly as-yet-unresolved matters of PSRs, TSRs and line speed. (E-mail me if you'd like to be brought up to date on these things, as information emerges.)
Copies of the large-scale construction maps (© FR Co) used for the 1997 TWA (Transport & Works Act) application
Low resolution gifs, but nevertheless hugely detailed. My thanks to Steve Harris for these.
Detailed gradient profiles (© John Sreeves) from the 1995 line survey
Again, only low resolution gifs, but packed with information. My thanks to John for these.
A simplified gradient profile of the complete Welsh Highland Railway
Easy to take in at a glance: and everything from Caernarfon to Porthmadog is included.
The latest edition of the Phase 3 construction map (© John Sreeves)
The current (perhaps even more up-to-date?) version can be found on Ben Fisher's website: see below...
>The 2003 public timetable (16KB PDF file)
This is the same version (i.e. the same information, but in a different format) as you'll find on the FR's website. However, the idea of passing trains at Plas y Nant has since been abandoned, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to find times in the timetable leaflets (when eventually published) differing slightly, and (hopefully) a little closer to those in the working timetable. My thanks to Laurence Armstrong for this user-friendly file.
A sample working timetable (30KB WORD document) for High Summer 2003
Please don't regard this as in any way official: it's only a draft, and therefore subject to revision. My thanks to Seán Britton for this.
A folder of recent photographs
These were all taken on Friday 29th November 2002 - a miserable day, with flat light and misty skies: so no prizes expected! But I hope these will give an impression of the line to those of you who've not yet been able to explore it. I've filed these in 'line-sequence' in case you want to view them as a slide show. Of course you can find plenty of similar (and better!) material on Ben's, Barrie's and Andy's websites: details below...
The following websites, including appropriate links, are strongly recommended:
Ben Fisher's website is the 'official' (FR-endorsed, so uniquely authoritative) WHR site - http://www.bangor.ac.uk/ml/whr. You'll probably find the detailed route description
http://www.bangor.ac.uk/ml/whr/route3.htm, the account of the rebuilding of the Waunfawr to Rhyd Ddu section http://www.bangor.ac.uk/ml/whr/phase3.htm, and John Sreeves' map http://www.bangor.ac.uk/ml/whr/maps/maplatest.gif particularly interesting.
Andy Goodman's site is devoted to photographs taken on the Black Hand Gang's working parties - http://www.blackhandgang.com.
Peter Lawson
January 7, 2003
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