C&NLR

At the beginning of the 19^th century, the quarries of Nantlle valley faced a dilemma, cost of transport of slate was rising and a solution, a horse worked tramway was the answer. It followed the valley before turning north to Caernarfon. Laid to a 3’6” gauge, it was fairly unique and didn’t match the gauge used in the quarries. As horses fell out of favour and the quarries started buying steam locomotives, the line was faced with a dilemma. It regularly carried passengers laying claim to being the first public railway in Wales but mixing passenger and goods trains resulted in the horses having to maintain a fast trot. Various schemes to re-lay the track to 2’ gauge for steam haulage all fell through, but here our story diverts from the truth.

In 1881 the quarries decided to re-lay the track in 2’ gauge and extend it to the small village of Clynnog where a port was to be built to handle and tranship the slate from the quarries and copper from the Drws y Coed copper mine. The Clynnog & Nantlle Light Railway continued on the course of the old line from Llyn Nantlle Uchaf to Penygroes deviating here and heading for the coast. The line changed very little over the next decade, but with the boom in holiday traffic at the turn of the century, more was made of Llyn Nantlle Uchaf and a more frequent passenger service installed. The line struggled on through the 1960s due to the supply of exceptional quality slate, before finally falling victim to economic conditions and a change in building practices in 1969.

Building the Line

The line was started in February 2006 and has evolved to its present condition slowly over the intervening time. Over the years we have made several different 16mm railways in the garden, most of which were only about 10ft long and were laid on old bits of wood just to get something running. It was in November 2005 that we decided to build a permanent railway in Sam's back garden. With permission to ruin the garden from Sam’s long-suffering parents, we began construction. We had both seen articles on lines with track plans that were reminiscent of spaghetti junction. This just didn’t appeal to us and we couldn’t afford the trackwork. Of course, lots of compromise was a necessity, and therefore the distances between stations have been curtailed. We settled for a complete circuit with one line leading off to a terminus. In January 07' we changed our minds and decided to modify the line to run from end to end, with two passing places in-between, making it more realistic and fun to operate. Clynnog Fawr, the seaward terminus, comprises a three road engine shed, three platforms and two sidings. The other stations are more diminutive and what you would expect from quiet country stations. The garden is approximately 60ft x 25ft so a fairly lengthy run can be realised.The whole line was raised from the ground by about 3ft. To do this we had to dig up the lawn to get the necessary earth to fill in the built up parts. The whole garden is now about 1ft lower than it was in Christmas ’05, before we started. The trackbed is of fairly robust construction after many abortive attempts to lay it on wood. Firstly a layer of gravel was put down, onto which bricks and at stations, slabs were laid. This is then levelled and track was affixed with screws and rawl plugs. It was then ballasted with a mixture of cement and gravel which was applied as a dry mixture and then sprayed with water. The trackwork was only finished at the start of 2007 but we have since had several problems caused by the expansion of the track in the unseasonable heat of Spring and the severe floods of Summer which caused serious subsidence.  

Scenery                                                                                                

This was built up using earth and compost to form contours after the track had been laid. Plants such as dwarf Conifers and box hedges were planted and grass-seed sown. Although not quite to scale, it thrives in the sun and looks fairly good when cut short. Large lumps of local limestone have been used to form rock cuttings and the waterfall at Talysarn. We feel that this gives the line a more mountainous feel and adds interest. The scenery will no doubt evolve with more time and effort. Half of the line is overhung with apple trees and large bushes, which drop copious amounts of leaves and apples on the line. This is not ideal and something to consider when planning a line.

Buildings             

Not one of our favourite subjects, but very important for the feel of the line. The station buildings are made of cardboard, balsa or polystyrene pizza trays. The latter make realistic buildings when painted and represent slate well. We were lucky to obtain a lot of large-scale brick paper from a dolls house shop that was closing down. Just like OO! Although it would be ideal to keep all of the buildings outside all the time, the extra skill and cost involved in making them robust and weather proof has dissuaded us. The Engine sheds and pub,  “The Firsty Ferret” are of ply and plaster construction, due to their size. As time progresses, more buildings will be added such as line-side huts. We also plan to interlock the points with the currently static signals. 

Locos and Rolling Stock       

When we started this project, neither of us knew anything about scratch building. Being teenagers, we didn’t read books or try and gain advice but instead simply had a go. Although the resulting models seen in this article are far from perfect, they are all we need and also keep us happy and are inexpensive. Currently the only steam engines on the line are Sam’s Accucraft Edrig “Harlech”, the Wrekin “Amethyst” Will’s Edrig “curently un-named” and Will's Accucraft Baldwin "590". Everything else on the railway has been scratch built from light ply, plastic and balsa with metal and plastic parts from I.P. Engineering & Cambrian Models respectively. There are many other locos, most of which have been scratch built by Will. The line started off with lots of freelance stock but this has been sold as our skills have increased, to finance replacement stock from various Welsh lines. Will soon hopes to purchase the Roundhouse “Russell” when funds allow! Harlech has been heavily modified by Sam and now has a full cab and radio control. There are other small modifications that have been made such as the addition of vacuum pipes and handrails, Amethyst has also had radio control and drain-cocks fitted. Will is also modifying his Edrig.The current stock list is as follows:

“Amethyst” 0-6-0 Accucraft Wrekin

“Harlech” 0-4-0 Accucraft Edrig

“Un-named” 0-4-0 Accucraft Edrig

"590" 4-6-0 Accucraft Baldwin

A Ffestiniog “Blanche” 0-4-0 with tender (battery) 

A Ruston 16/20 “Twll Du” (battery) 

A Simplex Motor Rail “Yr Aran” (battery) 

A Hudson Hunslet “Yr Elen” (battery) 

A 60S Simplex Motor Rail “Jonathan” from the Welsh Highland Railway (battery) 

A Hunslet  “Scooby” from the Welshpool and Llanfair (battery) 

A 10HP Ruston “Rusty Ruston” (battery) 

A 40DL Ruston “Glaslyn” from the Welsh Highland Railway (battery) 

An Alice class Quarry Hunslet “Una” from the Pen-yr-Orsedd quarry in the Nantlle Valley (battery) 

An Andrew Barclay 30HP shunter “Taxi 2” from the Welsh Highland Railway (battery) 

A trip along the line