Snowdon Mountain Railway, Wales

The Snowdon Mountain Railway, when I realised what I'd signed up for, wasn't the thing I looked forward to most about my trip to North Wales. A double-trouble fear of heights and anxiety regarding train journeys made me slightly nervous, let's put it like that. I do, however, love the views in Wales - a bit of an uphill walk can lead you to the most amazing places, and where better than Mt Snowdon? A compromise (read: challenge) was struck up - we'd catch the train up and walk down, after running it by the kids it was decided and I made a telephone booking for the Sunday of our trip. We'd ... more

When he wanted a railway carriage compartment to himself, the late, great Vivian Stanshall used to grin invitingly to potential occupants and beckon them in. I don't have to go to such lengths. My naturally forbidding visage puts off all but the most thick-skinned passenger. But on the Snowdon Mountain Railway (SMR), intimacy with fellow travellers is unavoidable. I just hoped that my miserable countenance would deter too much small talk. In the end, I was disappointed. The elderly couple from Essex with whom we were forced to rub knees for an hour were complaining about cold draughts before ... more

With all the school children now back at school, we thought that this would be timely for a trip on the Snowdon Mountain Railway (Rheilffordd yr Wyddfa in Welsh) owned and operated by Heritage Great Britain PLC to the Snowdon summit. How wrong we were!! We arrived at Llanberis station, the starting point for the railway trip, only to find the car park crowded. We paid our £4 which entitled us to stay there for the day and walked across the road to the station complex which was equally as crowded. We headed straight to the ticket office planning to take the next train up. However, this was not ... more

A few years ago I wrote a list of all the things that I wanted to do before I shook off my mortal coil so to speak. The list included things such as a ride on the Orient Express and a climb to the top of St Paul’s Cathedral, both of which I have since done. It also still has many things yet to be achieved and taking the mountain railway up to the top of Mount Snowdon was one of them. As you may well know I have just been to Anglesey for a week’s holiday and as we toured around North Wales we found the mountain railway at Llanberis. We decided to return later in the week and take a ... more

On 5th June 2006 I took the Snowdon Mountain Railway to the Summit of Snowdon - and what an adventure for my family it was! Since going as a child I wanted to take my family back to experience the stunning views. On the day we travelled it was cloudy but this only added to the excitement. Sure the carriages are a bit tight but it is a narrow gauge railway so I was told by the friendly guard on the train. We sat on the one side of the carriage on the way up and the other on the way down so we cold appreciate the views. There is a mixture of steam and diesel locomotives at the railway. We ... more