Number 2 Enid has travelled the short flat section from the Snowdon
Mountain Railway's terminus and is beginning the steep climb that will take
its passengers to the summit of our highest mountain south of the Scottish
border. Along with number 3, Enid is the oldest engine in use, being built
in 1895, one year before the line's opening. No 1 LADAS was destroyed in an
accident on the opening day, which also saw the line's one and only fatality.
And here's the opposite extreme - the railway's latest acquisition at the
upper terminus, Snowdon summit. These Swiss-built single car units operate
in a similar fashion to 153s on the national network and the benefits are
very clear: whereas the traditional trains are limited to one coach, two or
three of these units can be coupled together and without the overhead of a
locomotive taking valuable space in the short platforms. At busy times, the
service is subject to long waiting times because of lack of capacity and with
such a short season, the SMR don't want to turn away customers. Enjoy the
steam while you can.
Llanberis, a small village in northern Snowdonia three miles from my home, was once the terminus of three lines. The others were the Dinorwig Quarry system and the LNWR branch from Bangor via Caernarfon. In the following pages we'll take a closer look at the SMR and see what remains of the others.