50th Anniversary

13th August 2022

In 2022 we celebrate 50 years since the first train ran on the Bala Lake Railway. Throughout the year we will be holding several special events to commemorate our first half century.

It was on this exact day in 1972 that our first train ran.

That first run and the extent of the line upon opening was to Pentrepiod, but the line was soon extended to Llangower, then to Pant-yr-Hen-Felin, before finally reaching Bala in 1976.

We will be marking the day with a look back into the early days of our operation with the following series of additional trains from Llanuwchllyn depicting operations in those early years:

  • 10:15 departure to Pentrepiod top and tailed by diesels Lady Madcap and Chilmark to represent the destination and type of loco on the opening train, using the two original carriages.
  • 11:15 departure to Llangower with diesel locomotive Meirionnydd representing the next stage and the line’s first new build engine.
  • 1:30 departure to Pant-yr-Hen-Felin, with one of our first steam engines Maid Marian and diesel Chilmark.
  • 3:15 to Bala with Maid Marian representing current operations.

Our normal Blue Timetable will also be in operation.

Day Rover Tickets are available for travel on all of the additional trains listed above, along with tickets for each individual departure.

 

 

 

 

Timetable: blue
Llanuwchllyndep11.0012.50 2.30 4.05
Llangower / Llangywairdep11.10 1.00 2.40 4.15
Balaarr11.25 1.15 2.55 4.30
Baladep11.40 1.30 3.10 4.35
Llangower / Llangywairdep11.55 1.45 3.25 4.50
Llanuwchllynarr12.10 2.00 3.40 5.05