The SMR is the only public rack and pinion railway in the United Kingdom, and after more than 100years of operation it remains a popular tourist attraction. The line is owned and operated by Heritage Great Britain plc, operators of several other tourist attractions in the United Kingdom.
The railway is operated in some of the harshest weather conditions in Britain, with services curtailed from reaching the summit in bad weather and remaining closed during the winter from November to mid-March. Single carriage trains are pushed up the mountain by either steam locomotives or diesel locomotives. It has also previously used diesel railcars as multiple units.
A mountain railway is a railway that operates in a mountain region. It may operate through the mountains, for example by following mountain valleys and tunneling beneath mountain passes. Or it may climb mountains, in order to provide transport to and from their summits.
Mountain railways often, but by no means always, use narrow gauge to allow for tight curves in the track and reduce tunnel size and structure gauge, and hence construction cost and effort. Where a mountain railway needs to climb steep gradients, it may use steep grade railway technology, or even operate as a funicular railway.
Snowdon (Welsh:Yr Wyddfa, pronounced[əɾ ˈwɨ̞ðva]) is the highest mountain in Wales, at an elevation of 1,085 metres (3,560ft)above sea level, and the highest point in the British Isles outside the Scottish Highlands. It is located in Snowdonia National Park (Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri) in Gwynedd, and has been described as "probably the busiest mountain in Britain". It is designated as a national nature reserve for its rare flora and fauna.
The summit can be reached by a number of well-known paths, and by the Snowdon Mountain Railway, a rack and pinion railway opened in 1896 which carries passengers the 4.7 miles (7.6km) from Llanberis to the summit station. The summit also houses a cafe called Hafod Eryri, open only when the railway is operating and built in 2006 to replace one built in the 1930s. The railway generally operates to the summit station from Whitsun to October. The daily running schedule depends on weather and customer demand.
The station opened on September 7, 1981 with service on the Orange Line only, though the Blue Line platforms were built at the same time. At the time it was the western terminus of the Orange Line, taking over from Place-Saint-Henri; it is thus the only station to have been the terminus of two different lines. Service on the Blue Line began on January 4, 1988.
Overview
The station was constructed as an anti-directional cross-platform interchange, with three lateral tunnels containing two stories each, joined by four cross-tunnels; both lines therefore have stacked platforms. This layout was intended to allow rapid transfer between a future extension into Notre-Dame-de-Grâce and service to downtown; this service never opened, and the station's layout means that most people who transfer between the Blue and Orange Lines must go down stairs.
A trip up Snowdon mountain from Llanberis to Clogwyn the summit station was closed due to the snow
published: 22 Apr 2016
Snowdon Mountain Railway - 14.6.17
A visit to the Snowdon Mountain Railway on 14.6.17. Walking along the Llanberis path as far as Halfway, filming steam and diesel trains in operation on the lower slopes of Snowdon.
published: 15 Jun 2017
Mount Snowdon UK Steam Train Adventure!
Part 2, we finally get our Mount Snowdon steam train ride to the top of the world.
Filmed in Wales UK 2017
published: 20 Aug 2019
Snowdon Mountain Railway - Experience of a Lifetime (VHS Circa 86-91)
Here's a VHS tape I can find nowhere else online, not even a mention or listing mentioning its existence.
This tape, which seems to exist to attract tourists to the Snowdon Mountain Railway, can be dated from between 1986 and 1991 due to the narration's mention of the railway having "two diesels", since they received their third diesel sometime in 1991. The mentions of "nearly 100 years old" also match up as the line's centenary was marked in 1996.
Interesting this VHS tape is presented in wide screen, which makes me wonder if this was intended for display in a smalelrtheater with a larger than usual television or projection screen attached to a VCR, such as in the base station of the railway itself.
I can only wonder if all this footage was filmed on a single day or not.
For many yea...
A visit to the Snowdon Mountain Railway on 14.6.17. Walking along the Llanberis path as far as Halfway, filming steam and diesel trains in operation on the lowe...
A visit to the Snowdon Mountain Railway on 14.6.17. Walking along the Llanberis path as far as Halfway, filming steam and diesel trains in operation on the lower slopes of Snowdon.
A visit to the Snowdon Mountain Railway on 14.6.17. Walking along the Llanberis path as far as Halfway, filming steam and diesel trains in operation on the lower slopes of Snowdon.
Here's a VHS tape I can find nowhere else online, not even a mention or listing mentioning its existence.
This tape, which seems to exist to attract tourists ...
Here's a VHS tape I can find nowhere else online, not even a mention or listing mentioning its existence.
This tape, which seems to exist to attract tourists to the Snowdon Mountain Railway, can be dated from between 1986 and 1991 due to the narration's mention of the railway having "two diesels", since they received their third diesel sometime in 1991. The mentions of "nearly 100 years old" also match up as the line's centenary was marked in 1996.
Interesting this VHS tape is presented in wide screen, which makes me wonder if this was intended for display in a smalelrtheater with a larger than usual television or projection screen attached to a VCR, such as in the base station of the railway itself.
I can only wonder if all this footage was filmed on a single day or not.
For many years this video's cheesy synth music calming narration, and low resolution mountain steam shots have served as a comfort and sleep aid for me, hopefully those out there interested enough to have read this description will enjoy this video as well.
Here's a VHS tape I can find nowhere else online, not even a mention or listing mentioning its existence.
This tape, which seems to exist to attract tourists to the Snowdon Mountain Railway, can be dated from between 1986 and 1991 due to the narration's mention of the railway having "two diesels", since they received their third diesel sometime in 1991. The mentions of "nearly 100 years old" also match up as the line's centenary was marked in 1996.
Interesting this VHS tape is presented in wide screen, which makes me wonder if this was intended for display in a smalelrtheater with a larger than usual television or projection screen attached to a VCR, such as in the base station of the railway itself.
I can only wonder if all this footage was filmed on a single day or not.
For many years this video's cheesy synth music calming narration, and low resolution mountain steam shots have served as a comfort and sleep aid for me, hopefully those out there interested enough to have read this description will enjoy this video as well.
A visit to the Snowdon Mountain Railway on 14.6.17. Walking along the Llanberis path as far as Halfway, filming steam and diesel trains in operation on the lower slopes of Snowdon.
Here's a VHS tape I can find nowhere else online, not even a mention or listing mentioning its existence.
This tape, which seems to exist to attract tourists to the Snowdon Mountain Railway, can be dated from between 1986 and 1991 due to the narration's mention of the railway having "two diesels", since they received their third diesel sometime in 1991. The mentions of "nearly 100 years old" also match up as the line's centenary was marked in 1996.
Interesting this VHS tape is presented in wide screen, which makes me wonder if this was intended for display in a smalelrtheater with a larger than usual television or projection screen attached to a VCR, such as in the base station of the railway itself.
I can only wonder if all this footage was filmed on a single day or not.
For many years this video's cheesy synth music calming narration, and low resolution mountain steam shots have served as a comfort and sleep aid for me, hopefully those out there interested enough to have read this description will enjoy this video as well.
The SMR is the only public rack and pinion railway in the United Kingdom, and after more than 100years of operation it remains a popular tourist attraction. The line is owned and operated by Heritage Great Britain plc, operators of several other tourist attractions in the United Kingdom.
The railway is operated in some of the harshest weather conditions in Britain, with services curtailed from reaching the summit in bad weather and remaining closed during the winter from November to mid-March. Single carriage trains are pushed up the mountain by either steam locomotives or diesel locomotives. It has also previously used diesel railcars as multiple units.
Guardian photographer Christopher Thomond bought a ticket for the first coal-fired steam service of the year on the peak known in Welsh as Yr Wyddfa....
... it was almost 32 hours later – at 10.10pm the following evening - when an ambulance finally arrived to take Mr Guy, a retired car valeter who once worked on the Snowdon mountain railway, to hospital.
But for now - litter remains a huge problem on the mountain, which is visited by hundreds of thousands of people every year, eager to reach the 1085m (3,560ft) summit - either by walking or taking the SnowdonMountainRailway to the top.
SnowdonMountainRailway trains ... For more information on Snowdon Mountain Railway visit www.snowdonrailway.co.uk or find us @SnowdonMR on Facebook and Twitter and snowdonmountainrailway on Instagram.
The mountain and its protectors are trying to fight back ...SnowdonMountainRailway operates the visitor train and Hafod Eryri, the caf� at the top, as well as a number of outlets at the mountain's base.
Workers will team up with staff from the historic SnowdonMountainRailway to carry the cable and equipment up the gruelling slopes ... Snowdon mountain in Wales will soon have the UK's highest ...
Local broadband engineers are working with the SnowdonMountainRailway to run the cable along the railway that carries nearly 150,000 passengers to the summit every year ...Mount Snowdon to be known as Yr Wyddfa from now on.
We made it here with the aid of the SnowdonMountainRailway, a narrow-gauge rack and pinion railway that has been helping less able tourists to enjoy the majestic views from Snowdon since 1896 (£35 return; snowdonrailway.co.uk).
