In episode 26 of our Throwback Thursday series, we travel back to 2015 and a visit we made to the Snowdon Mountain Railway, in Llanberis North Wales,  on a lovely clear sunny day.

The railway has both Steam traction or Diesel traction.

The picture is of Steam Loco No. 6 ‘Padarn’  at Summit Station, below this is a view from the summit looking towards Caernarfon and Bangor, you can see the track winding its way down the hill.

The Snowdon Mountain Railway is the only railway in the UK to use the “Rack & Pinion” system.

The Pinion (like a cog wheel) is connected to the locomotive and the rack is in the centre of the rails (the rack is a special rail which the cog wheel runs along)

The rack and pinion system is used during the 4 mile journey from Llanberis to the Summit. As the gradients are too steep for normal engines, the rack and pinion allows the engine to accelerate and brake without slipping on the rails.

• Visit the Snowdon Mountain Railway Website
  For more information, times and fares

Save

Save