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Llanberis Lake Railway
Locale	Wales
Dates of operation	1971 – present
Track gauge	2 ft (610 mm)
Headquarters	Llanberis

The Llanberis Lake Railway (Welsh: Rheilffordd Llyn Padarn) is a narrow gauge heritage railway that runs for 2.5 miles along the northern shore of Llyn Padarn in north Wales in the Snowdonia National Park. The starting point is the town of Llanberis at the eastern end of the lake with the western terminus at Pen Llyn in the Padarn Country Park. The return journey takes around 45 minutes.

Contents 1 History 2 Llanberis Extension 3 Locomotives 4 References 5 See also 6 External links

The railway was built in 1971, specifically for the tourist market. It uses three steam locomotives (“Elidir“, “Dolbadarn” and “Thomas Bach”) all of which ran on the internal 2 ft (610 mm) gauge lines of the Dinorwic slate quarry. There is also a diesel loco “Twll Coed“, which is used when the steam locomotives are unavailable.

The railway runs along part of the trackbed of the defunct Padarn Railway, a 4 ft (1219 mm). gauge line which connected the quarry with Y Felinheli (Port Dinorwic) on the Menai Strait. The Padarn Railway was lifted in 1969 and the lakeside length was replaced by the current Llanberis Lake Railway, originally running from the Welsh Slate Museum at Gilfach Ddu to Pen Llyn. Gilfach Ddu was the main engineering workshop of the Dinorwic Quarry and provided repair facilities for all of the steam locomotives of the quarry system.

In June 2003 the railway was extended the town of Llanberis, with a new station close to the start of the Snowdon Mountain Railway. The original terminus at Gilfach Ddu is now a through station serving both the Welsh Slate Museum and the nearby Dolbadarn Castle. On the return journey from Pen Llyn, passengers may stop off at the Cei Llydan station for a picnic and a chance to enjoy the magnificent views of the Snowdonian mountains above Llanberis Pass.

Number	Name	Builder	Type	Works number	Date	Notes
1	Elidir	Hunslet	0-4-0ST	493	1899	Built for the Dinorwic quarry
2	Thomas Bach	Hunslet	0-4-0ST	894	1904	Built for the Dinorwic quarry; originally named Wild Aster
3	Dolbadarn	Hunslet	0-4-0ST	1430	1922	Built for the Dinorwic quarry
7	Topsy	Ruston Hornsby	4wDM	441427	1961	Built for Bestwood Colliery
8	Twll Coed	Ruston Hornsby	4wDM	268878	1952	Worked at the Lodge Hill and Upnor Railway
11	Garrett	Ruston Hornsby	4wDM	198286	1939
12	Llanelli	Ruston Hornsby	4wDM	451901	1961

• Thomas, Cliff (2002). The Narrow Gauge in Britain & Ireland. Atlantic Publishers. ISBN 1-902827-05-8. 

• British narrow gauge railways

• Official website

Heritage railways in Wales

Amman Valley Railway - Bala Lake Railway - Brecon Mountain Railway - Bridgend Valleys Railway - Corris Railway Society Fairbourne Railway - Ffestiniog Railway - Gwili Railway - Llanberis Lake Railway - Llangollen Railway - Narrow Gauge Railway Museum Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway - Rhyl Miniature Railway - Snowdon Mountain Railway - Swansea Vale Railway - Talyllyn Railway Vale of Glamorgan Railway - Vale of Rheidol Railway - Welsh Highland Railway - Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway

Heritage Railways: England - Scotland - Wales - Northern Ireland - Isle of Man - Channel Islands