The first week of November I ventured to Wales UK to participate in a series of photo charters, my first exposure to international steam operations.

We toured for 8 days, visiting four narrow gauge railways: the Rheilffordd FFestiniog, Welsh Highland, Rheilffordd Talyllyn, and Vale of Rheidol. The weather was varied, from cloudless sunny day to dark overcast with wind and rain – temperatures between the 30s and 50s Fahrenheit. Yes it does rain a lot there, the reason for the lush endless fields of green. Our travels luckily timed the autumn colors quite nicely.

Two elements that quickly intrigued me was the scenery and the people interacting with the machines, I focused on both with my cameras.

In regards to preservation, an interesting fact about each of the railroads visited:

- The Festiniog Railway Company which owns the railway is the oldest surviving railway company in the world.
- The Talylynn is the world's first preserved railway.
- The Vale of Rheidol Railway, unlike most other preserved railways in the United Kingdom, did not have a period of closure between its being part of the national rail system and becoming a heritage railway, and so has operated a continuous service for residents and tourists.

For me these photos are merely a reminder of my experiences, the locations and scenes, and most importantly the new friends made.

A special thank you goes out to Bob Branch, coordinator and leader of these excursions.

Follow the link below to my gallery of images.

https://www.losttracksoftime.com/p574679325

Enjoy,
Matthew

I have attached a trip story of a cruise on the Hebridean Princess of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Following that, I took the train from Glasgow to Wales, where I rode the Great Little Trains of Wales. At that time, you could buy a passport to ride all 9 of them, breaking even if you rode 3. I rode 8 of the 9, but the 9th one involved an hour and a half ride each way for a 30 minute train ride. The Vale of Reodol was the most beautiful of all, but the oyhers were great also.
I was able to ride the footplate on a number of the locomotives. It was a fantastic experience. I was able to get pins from all the railroads that I prodly wear on my conductor's vest oin the railroad I volunteer on.

Beautiful work as always, Matthew. And it’s great to see another WDLR Baldwin back among the steaming!

I think Strasburg may have something to say about that "oldest railway company in the world".

Perhaps you should check that thought again.


It appears that the "Festiniog Railway Company" is about 2 weeks older than the Strasburg Rail Road.


May 23rd 1832: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ffestiniog_Railway

June 9th 1832: https://www.strasburgrailroad.com/dig-deeper/history/

Hello,

Wonderful photos! The rebuilding of the WHR was quite an accomplishment in recent years. Their NGG16s are serious machines at 48 ft long on a 2 ft gauge!

Would love to ride the FFestiniog slate wagon gravity train as a bucket list item before I leave this world.....the rider videos make the trip look like a hoot! You would need a pillow, might be a harsh ride! ;-)

Regards,

Randy

Sounds and looks like it was a great trip! I have a G scale live steam model of Welshpool & Llanfair light railway 0-6-0 "The Earl". Another one of the great narrow gauge railways of Wales. Thanks for posting!