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.
Another excellent with magnificent scenic backdrops enhancing the railway experience. I wish I had known about this when I was travelling through Wales back in 1990 in my VW campervan around the world. You bring it to life. Thank you for posting. Greetings from Australia.
Thank you very much. What a shame you weren't able to visit when travelling, even the walk to the halfway point is wonderful and I believe the views get even better the higher you go. I like the sound of the VW campervan, always wished I could have owned one
Cheers Steve, thankfully the path we walked doesn't climb quite as steeply as the railway does! Can't believe the conditions were as good as they were for our first visit
Many thanks. It is a spectacular setting for a railway. Just regret not having visited years ago when all the trains were steam hauled. We rode to the summit this year but opportunities for filming were limited sadly
I 'did' the LLanberis path in August 2017, and whilst I have mixed feelings about the Snowdon Mountain Railway, the sound of the steam locos is, I think, quite haunting on the mountain side, the diesels rather less so.
Yes, I agree with you. It's a shame that there aren't more steam services. I really wish I'd filmed there many years ago when steam was the sole motive power. Thanks for watching
Thank you, oh yes there are plenty of videos about of the SMR. Have a look at this excellent one by a friend and fellow RU-vidr ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-e4yYE5aBrDM.html
Many thanks Julian, we'd been keeping an eye on the weather forecast and it seemed promising so decided to go. Next time we intend to take the train to the summit and walk down.
Another excellent video, Austin, with splendid capture of action, scenery and animal life. Much preferred the steam from the diesel - if a helicopter had to turn up at all, the timing gave the preferable outcome! It must be something like 25 years since we rode on the SMR (steam only then) as part of a railway holiday - it was very windy then and as a result they only took us part of the way, to a place called Hat Valley (yes, derived from the amount of lost headgear); we stopped, got out and wandered around a bit in the cold and the rode back down again. Very glad you got some decent weather, Bob.
Wonderful backdrop to the locos working there way up (and down) this steep line Austin. Hope you ns Pam enjoyed your walk as well. I took the family there for a ride many years ago only to find the cost was way beyond our funds and nobody wanted to take a walk (well it was typical Welsh weather). So I get to see some of it at last. Thanks for sharing. Chris
Thanks Chris, it's something we have been planning to do for a while and given that the forecast looked good for Wednesday decided to go. The first part of the path is very steep but after that it wasn't too bad. I don't think we'd be up to walking to the summit though so intend to take a train up and walk back to Llanberis, filming on the way
Great video Austin. But what terrible, noisy things those diesels are - like being pushed uphill by a bulldozer! I've decided I'll only go on the SMR if it's a steam powered service.
Thank you. I agree about the noise from the diesels. I think in the high season there are likely to be more steam workings, but it largely depends on bookings
First of all Austin, congratulations to you and Pam for putting in the efoort to capture this magnidicent footage of the SMR. The steam locos were the best for me, and the cips of the first steam run up was outstanding...what was the reason for the second light engine working?....An unforgettable experience for you both, and amazingly, the weather up there was great for your visit...Regards...Bob
Many thanks Bob, it certainly was unforgettable and we both still feel on a high after doing the walk even though it was only halfway. I think we were extremely fortunate with the weather too. I can only assume that the light engine was being tested after some maintenance work and it was nice to catch a little more steam
Excellent video as always Austin. Haven't visited the SMR since the early 80s but have just returned from a railway videoing holiday in Switzerland where I visited the Brienz Rothorn Railway (videos on RU-vid). Their older steam locos are very similar to those on the SMR whereas the more recent modern oil fired builds are very clinical by comparison. I did manage to briefly see one of the older locos and it took me back to that visit to Snowdon many years ago. Keep up the good work. Regards Peter
Thanks Peter, I visited the Brienz Rothorn way back in 1973. I presume you know that there are plans to bring one of their locos to the SMR in September. It would be interesting if it goes ahead
Yes, I had heard there was a possibility - just hope it is one of the older locos. Certainly an excuse for another long-overdue visit to the SMR (not that one is needed!).
It is No.2 - one of the BRBs original locos from 1892. I have been lucky enough to visit the BRB a number of times and while I agree the modern steam locomotives are "clinical" they are a vast improvement on the diesels from either Snowdon or the BRB. However nothing can beat one of the original locos from either line.
Superb video Austin....Those Loco's certainly worked hard up that gradient ! Nice to see You get some Sunshine at the end...Looked a whole lot of fun...Best wishes both....Steve...in the lowlands of Somerset -:)
Thanks Steve, it certainly was an unforgettable day and we still feel on a high now, goodness knows what we'd be like if we'd walked to the summit! A return visit is a must.
Hello Austin, perfect location to get kind of cam shots you like (and we, too). (14:48) Very interesting how they manually check railway. No lasers, no computers, no GPS, simply mechanical. - Heinz
Thanks very much, the locos do work hard and the conditions meant that the sound carried a long way, we could hear the steam locos as they approached the summit
fond memories, unfortunately we never went to the top, (I think there was some maintenance work going on) but I remember it was cold and windy (April).
That must be the only passenger carrying line in the UK where they don't have train brakes and more than one train is allowed in a single line section (as long as they're going the same way) at a time.
Steam locomotives of this line have unique technique: they are the only ones in the UK with counter-pressure brakes: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter-pressure_brake Heinz
This was a reply an earlier comment received. ''The light engine working was No.5 Moel Siabod - it was withdrawn from service in 1990 and like No.7 and No.8 was expected not to run again. The decision was however made to restore it - the test runs were being made before it goes back in service again after 17 years''
I'm gonna make a guess that the locomotives push the carriages up the mountain rather than pull them, due to the unlikely event that the coupling might snap and disaster would ensue. But if this is the case, do the carriages have any safety mechanism that takes advantage of the rack and pinion? or is it just the locomotive that engages with the rack on the ground?
I believe that loco and coach aren't actually coupled and as far as I know the coaches do not engage with the rack and pinion but they do have a handbrake
The light engine working was No.5 Moel Siabod - it was withdrawn from service in 1990 and like No.7 and No.8 was expected not to run again. The decision was however made to restore it - the test runs were being made before it goes back in service again after 17 years
Don't those steam locos make a wonderful noise. The diesels though are just noisy. Gosh, I wonder the drivers don't wear ear defenders. And the passengers.
Quite agree, the steam locos are wonderful and it seems that they are very popular as the light loco on test in the video has been brought back into service after 17 years so maybe there will be more steam operations in future. I think the carriages used by the steam locos look more roomy compared to the newer ones on the diesel service
