2022 sees the Bala Lake Railway celebrate 50 years since the first train ran.

A number of events are to be held to celebrate the special year, including special visitors.

First up will be Bala At 50, which will be held over the weekend of 30th April to 2nd May. The weekend will help the railway to celebrate 50 years since the first track was laid at the railway back in 1972.

A highlight of the weekend will be the launch of a new Pictorial Album, which will showcase the development of the railway over the first 50 years.

The railway is also looking to welcome a visiting locomotive to the railway and extra trains will be in operation.

More information on the first event of the year can be found here.

Fast forward to August, Saturday 13th to be exact, and the second event is to be held. This time, the Bala Lake Railway are looking to celebrate 50 years since the very first train ran – which was on the original length of the line to Pentrepiod, before it was extended to Llangower and then to Pant-yr-Hen-Felin – reaching Bala in 1976.

This event aims look back into the early days of the BLR with a number of trains depicting the early years operations.

More information on the event, set to be held on the 13th August, can be found here.

The third and final event to celebrate this special year will be held from the 27th to the 29th August with a 50th Anniversary Steam Gala. This is a not-to-be-missed event over the August Bank Holiday Weekend.

Several visiting locomotives have been invited to the event, which will see double headed trains, demonstration goods trains and vintage bus connections with Bala.

More information on the 50th Anniversary Gala can be found here.

Like the featured image? It is available as a print from our Online Store,  as a Mouse Mat, or alternatively, you can get an A4 print of the image as part of our Bala Lake Railway DVD set – more information on that here.