20260620 Ffestiniog Locomotive No 4 'Palmerston'

Spotlight on Ffestiniog locomotive 'Palmerston', one of the earliest locomotives built for the railway. It was built by George England & Co. at Hatcham Iron Works in 1864. It continued in use (much rebuilt) until the mid 1930s. The locomotive was then converted into a stationary boiler for war work at Boston Lodge. It was thought beyond restoration and was sold to a private consortium in 1974, but returned to the railway, restored and re-entered service in 1993. Usually only seen operating on special occasions so it was good to see it on this particular occasion. Clips at Porthmadog were captured on the 20th June 2026 during the Extreme Steam Extravaganza Summer Gala Event. You will see it bringing the gravity train wagons into Porthmadog carrying suitably turned out volunteers, some of which had dressed historically for the occasion. It hooked up with diesel 'Vale of Ffestiniog' at Porthmadog and you will see the pair of them pull a service out of the station. The locomotive can also be seen pulling into Pont Croesor station and later at a Beddgelert on the 21st June 2026. At Beddgelert It was in the process of returning a carriage to Boston Lodge works when those particular clips were captured.