Dinas railway station (Festiniog Railway)

Dinas station was built by the Festiniog Railway (FR). It was the first passenger station in Blaenau Ffestiniog, then in Merionethshire, now in Gwynedd, Wales. This station is not to be confused with Dinas some miles distant on the Welsh Highland Railway; nor is it to be confused with the Festiniog and Blaenau Railway's northern terminus in the centre of Blaenau Ffestiniog which was sometimes referred to colloquially as "Dinas".^[6]

Dinas (FR)
General information
Location	Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd Wales
Coordinates	52.9991°N 3.9476°W / 52.9991; -3.9476
Grid reference	SH 693 464
Platforms	1[1][2]
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Festiniog Railway
Key dates
6 January 1865	Opened
August 1870	Closed[3][4][5]

Context

The evolution of Blaenau's passenger stations was complex, with five different railway companies providing services to the area.

Opening

The station opened on 6 January 1865, carrying passengers to Portmadoc and points between. This was the first steam-hauled passenger service in Britain to use tracks of less than Standard Gauge, with the line carrying a quarter of a million people in its first year of operation.^[7] The station's first stationmaster was Mr John Lloyd,^[8] the initial service was five trains to and from Portmadoc each day except Sunday.^[9]

Location

The station was built among existing slate workings which had been rail-served for some years.^[10] The original route to the station and nearby workings was to be buried under slate waste from around 1900,^[11] but the railway still needed to access quarries near the former station, so a replacement branch was built from Glan-y-Pwll, allowing the original line to be buried.^[12]

The station building was joined to Dinas engine shed which long outlived the station, finally closing in 1900, when it was replaced by a new building at Glan-y-Pwll.^[13] The original shed housed the railway's "Top Shunter",^[14] a locomotive long given to providing unofficial services to lineside dwellings.^[15]

Closure

In 1866 the FR opened Dinas Junction,^[16][17] from which its new "Branch Line" (the original line to Dinas being the "Main Line") ran to the new Duffws (FR) station nearer to the centre of the town.^[18] Trains from Portmadoc alternated between the two stations,^[19] but Duffws was better sited for passenger traffic,^[7] so Dinas closed in 1870. Slate traffic to the Dinas station area nevertheless continued well into the 20th Century.^[20]

Modern times

The station was eventually covered by slate waste, under which it is now completely buried.^[21]

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Terminus		Festiniog Railway Narrow gauge		Tanygrisiau Line closed, station open

References

1. Stretton 1999, p. 22.
2. Boyd 1975, Plate 12R.
3. Boyd 1988, p. 68.
4. Butt 1995, p. 79.
5. Quick 2009, p. 89.
6. Boyd 1988, Photos following p.54.
7. Richards 2001, p. 63.
8. Boyd 1975, p. 82.
9. Boyd 1975, p. 84.
10. Jones & Hatherill 1977, p. 3.
11. Boyd 1975, Plate 39H.
12. Boyd 1975, pp. 120, 162, 281 & 234.
13. Griffiths & Smith 1999, p. 194.
14. Boyd 1975, Plate 6H.
15. Boyd 1975, pp. 279–280.
16. Stretton 1999, p. 76.
17. Boyd 1975, pp.120, 136 & 156 and Plate 11R.
18. Boyd 1988, p. 66.
19. "Triangular junction: bear left for Dinas (FR), swing right for Duffws". Google.
20. Scott-Morgan 1978, p. 63.
21. Mitchell & Smith 2010, Plate 69.

Sources

• Boyd, James I.C. (1975) [1959]. The Festiniog Railway 1800 - 1974; Vol. 1 - History and Route. The British Narrow Gauge Railway. Blandford: The Oakwood Press. ISBN 978-0-85361-167-7. OCLC 2074549. B1A.
• Boyd, James I.C. (1988) [1972]. Narrow Gauge Railways in South Caernarvonshire – Volume 1. Headington: The Oakwood Press. ISBN 978-0-85361-365-7. OCLC 20417464.
• Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
• Griffiths, Roger; Smith, Paul (1999). The Directory of British Engine Sheds and Principal Locomotive Servicing Points: 1 Southern England, the Midlands, East Anglia and Wales. OPC Railprint. ISBN 978-0-86093-542-1. OCLC 59458015.
• Jones, Ivor Wynne; Hatherill, Gordon (1977). Llechwedd and other Ffestiniog Railways. Blaenau Ffestiniog: Quarry Tours Ltd. ISBN 978-0-9502895-9-5.
• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2010). Bala to Llandudno: Featuring Blaenau Ffestiniog. Midhurst, West Sussex: Middleton Press (MD). ISBN 978-1-906008-87-1.
• Quick, Michael (2009) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (4th ed.). Oxford: Railway & Canal Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-901461-57-5. OCLC 612226077.
• Richards, Alun John (2001). The Slate Railways of Wales. Llanrwst: Gwasg Carreg Gwalch. ISBN 978-0-86381-689-5.
• Scott-Morgan, John (1978). The Colonel Stephens Railways: A Pictorial Survey. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-7544-0.
• Stretton, M.J. (1999). Ffestiniog Railway in Camera: One Hundred Years 1871-1971. Penistone, South Yorkshire: Challenger Publications. ISBN 978-1-899624-40-9.

Further reading

• Southern, D. W. (1995). Bala Junction to Blaenau Ffestiniog. Scenes from the Past, Railways of North Wales. Stockport: Foxline Publishing. ISBN 978-1-870119-34-4. No. 25).

External links

• "The station on navigable OS Maps". National Library of Scotland.
• "The station and line". Rail Map Online.
• "The station's history". Disused Stations.
• "The station's history". Festipedia.
• "The history of the line to the station". Festipedia.
• "Informed discussion about the station's hinterland". Signalbox.