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| | Ffestiniog Railway (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-31) |
 | | Of 1ft 11½in gauge, the Ffestiniog Railway was opened as a horse-drawn tramway in 1836 to transport slate from the Blaenau Ffestiniog quarries to the harbour at Porthmadog, the horses hauling the empty wagons to the top of the line, then riding down on the 'Dandy' wagon at the rear of the train. |
 | | The track was lifted piecemeal until, in 1954, a group of enthusiasts, buoyed by the initiative shown by pioneers of the railway preservation movement on the Talyllyn Railway, stepped in to rebuild the line. |
 | | Using the Ffestiniog Railway and its links to the national network, it is possible to complete a figure-of-eight circumnavigation of Wales by rail, duplicating only a short piece of track between Shrewsbury and Craven Arms on the Marches Line. |
| members.aol.com /WalesRails/fest.htm (1536 words) |
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