This was one of a series of articles about the Welsh Highland Ry It appeared in the February, 2010 issue. A Brand New Narrow Gauge RR ... Sort Of I know that you have been lying awake at night, tossing and turning and crying out, “Why? Why can't I st ride a two foot gauge vintage steam train across Wales?” This being the 21 century, if you want practically anything, especially it it's expensive and yet of no practical use, someone is ready to sell it to you. Case in point: the crazy dedicated people who have been keeping the Ffestiniog Railway running in Wales. As if that weren't a full time job, they have spent the last 27 years rebuilding an adjoining two foot railroad that they call the Rheilffordd Eryri. But to keep my spell checker from quitting in protest, we'll refer to it by it English name, the Welsh Highland Railway. As of now, all the track has been laid, but they still have to finish ballasting, installing signals and traffic controls, and hiring and training crews. That is scheduled to take all of 2010. When completed in 2011, you will be able to ride the WHR from Caernarfon, which is on the coast, but pretty much out in the middle of nowhere, across a wedge shaped bit of Wales to Porthmadog which is on another part of the coast. There you can transfer to the Ffestiniog and continue on to the slate mining town of Blaenau Ffestiniog, which really is out in the middle of nowhere. The engines they will use are advertised as “the most powerful two foot gauge steam locomotives in the world” which would appear to be a pretty safe statement, as would “just about the only two foot gauge steam locomotives in the world.” They are Beyer-Garratt 2-6-2 + 2-6-2's, 48 feet long, and 62 tons. They are very possibly the biggest and most powerful 2 foot gauge steam engines ever built. From December, 2010. What The Big (or Bigger, Anyway) Roads Are Up To Rheilffordd Eryri / Welsh Highland Ry The Welsh Highland Ry has been completed, and is now running test trains along the entire 25 mile route. The first commercial run will be February 19, 2011, so mark your calendars. If you have ever dreamed about riding from nowhere, to nowhere behind a vintage two foot gauge Beyer-Garratt, your dream is almost a reality. I first wrote about this brand new old railroad in the February, 2010 issue. Since then the crew has been busy installing signals, ballasting, and cleaning up. They have also had time for what I suppose is officially called Marketing, but sounds suspiciously like fooling around. In July, they hosted a Race the Train event where the non- train competitors are running along the adjoining bike path. The distance is just over 3 miles, but it is all uphill. There don't appear to have been any prizes, and I couldn't find whether the train or a person won. The new line runs from Caernarfon, which is on the coast, over the hill and through Snowdonia National Park to Porthmadog, which is also on the coast, and is the connection to the Ffestiniog Ry. .