Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railway

In May 2026, I travelled to Porthmadog, in Wales, to ride the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railway trains. These railways run some very interesting locomotives: On the Ffestiniog Railway, the motive power is a Double Fairlie, which is an unusual locomotive as it has a single boiler, but two separate fireboxes, and two stacks. These are mounted on a single frame while the driving wheels and the associated cylinders are on bogie, allowing them to move independently. On the Welsh Highland Railway the motive power is a Garratt. The Garratts used by the Welsh Highland Railway were originally built for the South African Railways and were brought back to Britain and restored to run on the railway. The railways are run by volunteers and they are really enthusiastic about their trains and the whole operation. They were very happy to talk to me about their locomotives and their work. If you get the chance to visit Wales, this is one railway that I would recommend you catch.