The Ffestiniog Railway Society AGM weekend will soon be upon us and we have some exciting items on the agenda for our FR Society members as we celebrate our 70th year!
Join us as we welcome two visiting engines; Chuquitanta and Lily; delight at the popular gravity trains due to run on Saturday, Sunday and Monday mornings and take a fascinating walk around the ever changing Boston Lodge workshops on our tours.
Booking will open for this weekend on the 1st of April 2024, and pre-booking will be required if you are planning to join us. There isn’t a charge for Members, but donations are always very welcome!
YOU CAN BOOK IN PERSON AT THE BOOKING OFFICE, OR OVER THE PHONE 01766 516024. TO BOOK ONLINE FOLLOW THE LINK
Friday 3rd of May
We kick off proceedings with the Members check-in (taking place between 16:00 – 19:00) at Spooner’s… the perfect opportunity to catch up with old friends and make a few new ones..!
Upon checking-in you will collect your tickets and receive a lanyard.
During the check-in on Friday evening, the two visiting locomotives, Chuquitanta and Lily, will be on display at Harbour Station, showcasing the railway engineering of Decuaville. The locomotives are respectively the oldest and one of the youngest, in the product range. This is a fantastic opportunity to get some photos of the locomotives, which will be running around the railway over all 3 days with their ‘RAG Train’ (see below). We would like to take this opportunity to offer a big thanks to Jeremy Martin for arranging their visit!
A Curry Night will take place in Spooner’s on Friday evening, priced at £11.95 per person.
A second hand book stall will be at Harbour Station over the weekend. We have now catalogued our stock of old Ffestiniog Railway Society Magazines and therefore we may now be able to supply ones that you might have missing from your collection. These will be available for £3.00 each. If you have specific numbers you would like, please email shops@ffwhr.com We can accept good condition second hand railway interest books but no magazines please.
Saturday 4th of May
On Saturday, there will be another opportunity to check-in for the weekend at Spooner’s between 08:30 – 09:30.
Saturday’s activities will kick off with the Members only train to Blaenau, which departs Harbour Station at 09:45.
Breakfast will be available at Spooner’s from 08:00, with Snacks and Hot Drinks also available to take onto the train. Refreshments will be available on the train, but no Hot Drinks will be served.
Members can also pre-book a lunch box to collect at Blaenau Ffestiniog Station online when they book their tickets.
Similar to last year, we are arranging different activities in Blaenau for you to enjoy including the opportunity to meet the Alco Team at Glanypwll. This is also an ideal opportunity to take a closer look at Phase One of the work at Blaenau station, which has been completed this winter, funded by your Society. The train will have a longer stopover in Blaenau so there’s more time than last year to explore the town.
Guided town walking tours, led by Alwen Williams will be available, starting at 11.15, 12.15 and 13.15, lasting approx. 45 minutes and must be pre-booked.
There will be a coach operating around Blaenau to take Members around, so you don’t have to walk. Pant yr Afon Hydro will also be open.
This train will return to Porthmadog at 15:45, which leaves enough time to enjoy something to eat before the AGM begins at 18:30 in Ysgol Eifionydd, finishing at approx. 20:00.
A Lasagne Evening Meal will be served in Spooner’s between from 16.00 -18.00, priced at £11.95 per person.
If you would rather spend the day exploring Porthmadog, we would recommend the Maritime Museum where a new display explains the relationship between the Blaenau quarries and the railway in detail. There is also the fascinating museum at the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway which is a worth a visit too. You will need to buy tickets to visit these museums. If that isn’t enough, there will also be footplate rides at Harbour station for you to enjoy!
Additionally, as part of the NLHF project a number of volunteers have been working hard all winter to become tour guides for what is known as the Boston Lodge General Tour. This tour follows a slightly different route to the tours you may have been on in the past. The guides would love to share their tour with you, which explains the history of the engineering works and the buildings; as well as the stories of the people that have worked at and influenced Boston Lodge.
Booking in advance is required for these tours (limited capacity) which take place on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
There will be morning and afternoon departures from Porthmadog Harbour Station.
This will be a very different experience from the usual Boston Lodge tours as it will not include the erecting shop or the carriage works. Maybe, if you are lucky… there could even be a chance to see Prince!
The tour will be open to the public later in the summer, so your constructive feedback would be appreciated.
Sunday 5th of May
On Sunday, there will be a rare opportunity to join our Chairman, Graham Cole on an inspection train, which departs Porthmadog Harbour Station at 09:00. This will be a unique chance to see some of the FR civil engineering and visit Rhiw Goch box in the company of Mr Fred Howes. There will be very limited seats available and therefore we ask that you must book in advance.
We will also have shuttle trains running between Porthmadog and Minffordd, where the Gweithdy will be open and hosting a display showcasing the Ffestiniog Story, throughout the day. This will showcase the story of the volunteers who banded together to dig the railway out of oblivion and hew a new line through the mountains to by-pass a man-made lake and onwards to Blaenau. There will also be an opportunity for you to meet some of the many characters from our railway as they share their memories of the last 70 years.
We also hope to have tours of Minffordd yard, as well as the hostel and an opportunity to visit Lottie’s cottage.
Sunday Carvery will be served at Spooner’s between 12:00 – 15:00, priced at £13.95 per person.
The Maritime museum, the WHHR Railway and the NLHF Boston Lodge tours will all be available for you to visit on Sunday too.
Jon Knowles will lead a rough mountain walk from the Barlwyd Reservoir along the leats which supply the power stations. This will also include a visit to the Maenofferen Power Station and part of the Rhiwbach Tramway. This is limited to only 8 members. Attendees need to be physically fit and have waterproofs and walking boots. The walk starts and finishes at Llechwedd Slate Caverns and is a full day which must be pre-booked.
That’s not all, similar to last year, we are also hoping to give you the opportunity to visit Porthmadog Signal Box.
Monday 6th of May
On the final day of the ‘Friends of Ffestiniog’ event, we are planning a community event at Blaenau station and you will be very welcome to join in, either to help or visit. There will be footplate rides, stalls and a train ride to Tan y Bwlch.
An early train, departing Harbour Station at 09:25 will take you there to make the most of the day.
Our special weekend is one of the many benefits of supporting the Ffestiniog Railway Society as a Member. We express a big thank you to everyone within the Company that has helped to pull the weekend together for us, it is very much appreciated.
If you are thinking about bringing a guest remember this is a Members Only weekend, some activities may be open to the public, if there is availability and there will be a charge, e.g. a return train ticket from Porthmadog to Blaenau Ffestiniog will be the same as a ‘Mountain Spirit’ ticket; £46.00
To be guaranteed seats, then it is best to be a Member! Don’t forget Membership cards take at least 2 weeks to arrive on your doorstep.
Please bring with you, your lanyard from last year if you still have it, your Membership card, your camera, smile and a bag of rags for Matt! You can add these to the RAG TRAIN – let’s see if FR Society members can fill it by the end of the weekend.