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Part
4 – The Great Deviation
In 1970 an alternative route to
the west of the Tanygrisiau reservoir was agreed and the Dduallt
spiral, required to raise the line was completed in 1971. In the
same year the crucial legal battle for compensation, which had been
going on since the 1950s (!), culminated in a hearing at which the
Company was awarded £106,000 for loss of profits. But much more was
needed of both money and resources to get to Blaenau Ffestiniog.
First there was a new Moelwyn Tunnel, completed in 1977, which
allowed trains to run as far as Llyn Ystradau, just short of the new
power station. Then bridges had to be built over the four power
station water pipes to reach Tanygrisiau and get back on the old
track bed.
On 24 June 1978 the opening of the deviation between Dduallt and
Tanygrisiau was celebrated with speeches, a party and a 'golden
spike' ceremony. The 'seemingly impossible' had been achieved.
Only one mile of track remained to be restored to bring trains back
to Blaenau Ffestiniog, but there were still many problems. The rock
face just beyond Tanygrisiau was unstable and a serious rock fall
demanded costly repairs when money was tighter than ever.
Meanwhile, it had been generally agreed that Blaenau Ffestiniog
would benefit from a joint British Rail/Ffestiniog Railway station
near the town centre. By autumn 1977, Gwynedd County Council adopted
a scheme to allow the Ffestiniog Railway access to the centre.
Without financial support at national level, and internationally
from the European Economic Community, the work could not have been
completed as early as 1982. As with the Deviation, the slog back to
Blaenau became a joint effort of Company, volunteers, engineering
contractors and labour provided under a Manpower Services Commission
scheme. The Deviation organisation was reshaped and 'Project
Blaenau' was launched in July 1980 to coordinate the volunteer share
of the work.
Work was pushed ahead despite appalling weather to reach the opening
date, 25 May 1982, the 150th Anniversary almost to the day of the
Company's first Act of Parliament. This was the day towards which
all efforts since 1951 had ultimately been directed; the Ffestiniog
Railway once again ran from Porthmadog to Blaenau Ffestiniog. The
Rt. Hon. George Thomas M.P., then Speaker of the House of Commons,
officially opened the station at Blaenau Ffestiniog on 30 April
1983.
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Part 5 -
"Recent Times".... |
