My daughter was working on the Festiniog Railway for three days so we took the chance to get out and about, catching up with friends whom we had not seen for 20 years or so (Sunday); walking from Tanygrisiau to Tan y Bwlch using FR trains to help (Monday); and a walk around Cwm Bychan at the end of the Aberglaslyn pass, through the village of Nanmor, then to Hafod y Llyn, by train to Beddgelert for a quick ice-cream and a wild dash back down the Aberglaslyn to the car park (as the WHR train was running over 50 mins late) so that I could drive back to Porthmadog to catch the 4pm train before finally heading home! We did make it ..just! We stayed in the Travelodge at the far end of Porthmadog, which was very pleasant and the staff friendly.

On a glorious Saturday and drizzly Sunday the Ffestiniog's upper works area was tidied up considerably - so much so that the place was barely recognisable by the end of Sunday.. Sadly the weather prevented us from finishing the fence painting, but the current result is still pretty impressive. Both adults and children volunteer for this weekend event and a great time is had by all. The Saturday night train to Tan-y-bwlch is a great time to socialise and the food at TyB was great value. Several bottles of Purple Moose losened tongues and the packed train returned with very happy revellers! Other tasks included building work and gardening at Minffordd. Shame about the weather, but it was still a good if tiring weeked.

On a superb day weatherwise an engine failure left the WHR in chaos. The staff however rallied round brilliantly and by the last train people would hardly have known of the earlier problems. The cause was a broken brake rod on 143 - a phot of which is shown here

Rail journeys and associated views from this summer's holiday. As usual the real images are much larger and better quality. Feel free to contact me via the contact page on www.chestermodelrailwayclub.com

Some more scenic photos taken around Scotland this year.

Sort of what it says in the title plus a couple of other bits.

Tour starting from Bidston - Wrexham - Shrewsbury - Machynlleth - Porthmadog - Blaenau Ffestiniog - Llandudno Jnc - Shooton - Upton. A fantastic but long day - soon to be impossible?

A journey on the Welsh Highland Railway to Beddgelert

Pictures taken at Narrow Gauge North 2009 - more details later.

Sort of does what is says on the title! 1st November we walked up to Pistyll Gain and Rhaedr just up from Dolgellau, went over to Porthmerion, walked the cross town link on public footpaths and went on the FR's halloween train in the evening - a very busy but enjoyable day - the weather was really good considering how it has been.