The Welsh Highland Heritage Railway's RUSSELL on the Ffestiniog Railway:

[45669]

 

 

 

[2750Papyrus]

17 minutes ago, 45669 said:

 

 

 

Thanks for that.  My Mum and Dad rode behind Russell the summer before they were married in 1935. II have a picture my Dad took at Beddgelert).

 

I would love to make a through trip Caernarvon - Blaenau and back behind Russell and/or 590.

Edited March 21 by 2750Papyrus
silly spelling errors - blame the Marlborough sauvignon blanc!

[Andy Kirkham]

Isn't Russell too big to run all the way to Blaenau? (which is why it butchered in the 1920s) Or was it only the now-bypassed Moelwyn tunnel that imposed the restriction?

[Covkid]

On 21/03/2024 at 20:29, 2750Papyrus said:

Thanks for that.  My Mum and Dad rode behind Russell the summer before they were married in 1935. II have a picture my Dad took at Beddgelert).

 

I would love to make a through trip Caernarvon - Blaenau and back behind Russell and/or 590.

 

On 21/03/2024 at 23:11, Andy Kirkham said:

Isn't Russell too big to run all the way to Blaenau? (which is why it butchered in the 1920s) Or was it only the now-bypassed Moelwyn tunnel that imposed the restriction?

 

I believe so Andy. They chopped the upper half off - cab dome and chimney IIRC.

 

Although the continuous journey sounds fun,  I would prefer the break at Port.  Whe nwe did it there was a special timetable in place for two weeks.  We caught DMUs to Llandudno Jn, then up to Blaenau and connected into a train to down Portmadoc, where we had lunch in Spooners. An hour later we caught the train to Caernafon which was pulled out of the platform by the double ended Funkey diesel. Our journey was completed by bus to Bangor the DMUs to Chester and Crewe then an EMU back to Penkridge. 

 

Worked out really well, particularly the lunchbreak in Spooners 

[Oldddudders]

"Doing" the two lines on separate occasions, perhaps successive days, works best, I think. A decade ago, having been in the South West, I changed trains at New St and Machynlleth and stayed overnight at Portmadoc. The next day I rode to Caernafon and back, bumping into a group of former senior colleagues including three area managers and a TOC MD, and then off to Blaenau the next day and via Llandudno Junction. 

 

Long ago - 1985 - I had been on a one-off course at Crewe, and we spent a day going via Shrewsbury to Portmadoc, then to Blaenau and again back via Llandudno Junction. Quite legit, as many on the course were  newcomers to the industry at very senior level, and the whole event was headed by a senior Civil Servant from Marsham St. All part of induction!

[Jeremy Cumberland]

On 21/03/2024 at 23:11, Andy Kirkham said:

Isn't Russell too big to run all the way to Blaenau? (which is why it butchered in the 1920s) Or was it only the now-bypassed Moelwyn tunnel that imposed the restriction?

Garnedd Tunnel, between Tanybwlch and Dduallt has the same dimensions, but the track was lowered in the 1960s to provide more room at the eaves for the "barn" coaches.

 

Apart from the two tunnels, the Ffestiniog Railway has height restrictions at Rhiw Plas bridge under the A497 (or A487 as was) and a number of footbridges on the upper half of the line. All of these were rebuilt in the preservation era with an increase in height.

 

Looking at the video, see how the locomotive towers over the carriages, and notice that the cab is just as wide as the carriages. The back two carriages are essentially built to the old Ffestiniog loading gauge, and although changes made in the preservation era allowed significantly greater height, the height of the eaves only changed by a couple of inches, as can be seen in this picture of a carriage built to the traditional loading gauge (right) and one rebuilt to the new loading gauge (centre):

 

The changes to Russell in the 1920s were brutal, and still it didn't fit: