Can anybody describe what the signalling arrangements are/were at Blaenau Ffestiniog for operation of the branch to Trawsfynydd please?
I think that this line could be/have been a valuable addition to the scene/area if done right, sustainable too, but I feel the window of opportunity has probably already passed. Were this the late 90s/early 2000s, all the infrastructure still readily usable, Railtrack open to providing access to the platform at Blaenau Ffestiniog (such as later happened with Whitby), with the driving force of a sensible outfit, the line would be a characterful one to preserve for a relatively low price. Keep it simple, One Engine in Steam beyond BF, one or two GWR pannier tanks, three or four carriages, a Diesel for backup. An eventual extension to Trawsfynydd old station. Keep it simple. It'd make far more sense than many other set ups. I could see a modest, realistic operation complementing the FR, tapping into its supply of passengers, rather than drawing people away from it. It'd be something to do at the 'other end' of the FR anyway!
Surely now though the Pway isn't in a usable condition? Conversion to narrow gauge as an FR extension doesn't make sense to me. It'd be costly and wouldn't make it much more of an attraction, beyond initial novelty, just more of the same. Unless a new Power Station reuses the branch and someone else picks up the tab for restoration of the line, it probably isn't worth the attempting a revival.
It pretty much sums the scheme up if the Ffestiniog - a railway with experience in this sort of project, doesn't think it's worth doing.
I love the F&WHR, but I wouldn't value the Ffestiniog's opinion on whether it's 'worth doing' that highly. Elements of the Ffestiniog are solely enthused by its traditional core product, the FR itself. They rather had their hand forced into rebuilding the WHR. They built something brilliant, yet there are still some Ffestiniog faithful who believe that should have been prevented, or at least, the FR shouldn't have been involved.
Agreed, and it would fit in with all the mountain bikers that go to Coed y Brenin
I think that's a different market of cyclist isn't it? If not, they can have Blaenau - Trawsfynydd if we can have Coed y Brenin back for rallying.
But seriously, having held onto the route for this long, any idea that it should be turned over by NR now for cycling should probably be held off for a few more years until it can be determined whether it will or won't serve any use for future developments on the site of Trawsfynydd power station.