History of the LVR&HCo Page 3
The Early Days
The tramway project was a considerable undertaking; a railway engineer was required for such an enterprise. Fortunately through Lord Newbrough and his good friend Jeffreys Parry de Winton of Caernarfon good advice and influential contacts were made and the services of Charles Spooner were secured for the survey and design of the tramway. The route was surveyed and work put in hand to build the line and the new incline from the quarries. All endeavours were made to avoid the problems associated with the old 3’-6” line, the lease on the land was secure and at a very favourable rate, no external parties were involved and the construction was to be of the highest quality. The tramway and the quay at Pont Llyfni duly opened, more or less on schedule, in 1882/3 respectively.
The volume of traffic steadily increased over the years and the tramway eventually caused a bottleneck in the transfer of slate from quarry to quay. Either passing loops were going to have to be installed to allow increased traffic, or more wagons would need to be moved at once requiring a locomotive. As the line had been well constructed the general opinion was that a small locomotive would not cause any problems to the track work and as the additional loops required further land to be leased and would probably only offer temporary relief a locomotive was decided on. Whilst quotations were being obtained for the supply of a locomotive Mr De Winton raised the possibility of purchasing second hand, this would enable trials to be made at less expense and he happened to know of a very good example of a small quarry Hunslet for sale locally. So the tramway acquired its first locomotive, an 0-4-0 saddle tank Gwilym, which was set to work immediately.
Not entirely unexpected the bottleneck now moved to the quay at Pont Llynfi where the limited facilities did not allow the use of the locomotive and larger ships could not access. Lord Newbrough had already indicated his intention to enlarge the quay to form a harbour enabling slate to be transferred directly from wagons to larger ships, this work was put in hand with some urgency and completed in 1891.
The improved facilities at Pont Llyfni attracted a lot of interest from the North side of the Nanttle valley and a number of quarry owners expressed an interest in using the new quay if only the Tramway ran to Nanttle. Lord Newbrough and the worthies of Pont Llyfni, who saw benefits for their respective enterprises, encouraged Mr Stott to extend the line to Tal y Sarn and link it to the Nanttle tramway and thus to the LNWR. Negotiations to cross the Afon Llyfni and gain access to Tal y Sarn were blocked by the many vested interests operating on that side of the river and agreement to a horse drawn tramway link operated by the Nanttle Tramway and its contractors was the best that could be negotiated. Mr Stott felt sure that in time agreement would be reached and decided to extend the line. Thus in 1894 the The Llyfni Vale Railway opened.
The tramway project was a considerable undertaking; a railway engineer was required for such an enterprise. Fortunately through Lord Newbrough and his good friend Jeffreys Parry de Winton of Caernarfon good advice and influential contacts were made and the services of Charles Spooner were secured for the survey and design of the tramway. The route was surveyed and work put in hand to build the line and the new incline from the quarries. All endeavours were made to avoid the problems associated with the old 3’-6” line, the lease on the land was secure and at a very favourable rate, no external parties were involved and the construction was to be of the highest quality. The tramway and the quay at Pont Llyfni duly opened, more or less on schedule, in 1882/3 respectively.
The volume of traffic steadily increased over the years and the tramway eventually caused a bottleneck in the transfer of slate from quarry to quay. Either passing loops were going to have to be installed to allow increased traffic, or more wagons would need to be moved at once requiring a locomotive. As the line had been well constructed the general opinion was that a small locomotive would not cause any problems to the track work and as the additional loops required further land to be leased and would probably only offer temporary relief a locomotive was decided on. Whilst quotations were being obtained for the supply of a locomotive Mr De Winton raised the possibility of purchasing second hand, this would enable trials to be made at less expense and he happened to know of a very good example of a small quarry Hunslet for sale locally. So the tramway acquired its first locomotive, an 0-4-0 saddle tank Gwilym, which was set to work immediately.
Not entirely unexpected the bottleneck now moved to the quay at Pont Llynfi where the limited facilities did not allow the use of the locomotive and larger ships could not access. Lord Newbrough had already indicated his intention to enlarge the quay to form a harbour enabling slate to be transferred directly from wagons to larger ships, this work was put in hand with some urgency and completed in 1891.
The improved facilities at Pont Llyfni attracted a lot of interest from the North side of the Nanttle valley and a number of quarry owners expressed an interest in using the new quay if only the Tramway ran to Nanttle. Lord Newbrough and the worthies of Pont Llyfni, who saw benefits for their respective enterprises, encouraged Mr Stott to extend the line to Tal y Sarn and link it to the Nanttle tramway and thus to the LNWR. Negotiations to cross the Afon Llyfni and gain access to Tal y Sarn were blocked by the many vested interests operating on that side of the river and agreement to a horse drawn tramway link operated by the Nanttle Tramway and its contractors was the best that could be negotiated. Mr Stott felt sure that in time agreement would be reached and decided to extend the line. Thus in 1894 the The Llyfni Vale Railway opened.