King’s Cross to go narrow gauge for spring half-term

TWO narrow gauge locomotives that once worked on slate mines in Snowdonia are to take pride of place at King’s Cross station.

The Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways will be bringing Quarry Hunslet 0-4-0ST Velinheli and de Winton vertical-boilered locomotive Chaloner for display at the station’s ticket hall from February 16-24.

The railway has previously staged similar promotional events at King’s Cross and Paddington. This year’s event will focus on the heritage of the Snowdonia narrow gauge lines.

Velinheli is on loan to the Ff&WHR from owner James Evans, while Chaloner appears with permission from the Leighton Buzzard Railway.

The de Winton factory where it was built in 1877 was near the Welsh Highland Railway’s new £2.2 million terminus. It now forms a key part of the £16 million Waterfront Development Project, led by Gwynedd County Council, to give a major boost to this historic area.

Opening to the public at the end of March 2019, Caernarfon’s new station building will offer much improved facilities for visitors arriving both by road or by rail from Porthmadog, where a major station improvement project was completed in 2014.

Read more News and Features in Issue 251 of HR – on sale now!

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