Gorseddau Junction and Portmadoc Railway

Gorseddau Junction and Portmadoc Railway
Locale	Wales
Dates of operation	1872 – 1887
Successor line	Croesor Tramway
Track gauge	2 ft (610 mm)
Headquarters	BPorthmadog

The Gorseddau Junction and Portmadoc Railway (the GJ&PR) was a 2 ft (610 mm) gauge railway connecting the slate quarries of the Cwm Pennant with the wharves at Porthmadog harbor. It was built in 1872, partly as a conversion of the earlier 3 ft (914 mm) gauge Gorseddau Tramway and opened to mineral and goods traffic in 1875.

Route and Operation

The main line followed the route of the original Gorseddau Tramway from Portmadoc through Tremdoc, Penmorfa and Ynys-y-Pandy to Gorseddau quarry. On conversion a branch was added from Braich-y-bib, just north of Ynys-y-Pandy. This lead west along the Cwm Pennant before heading north to Cwm Trwsgl where inclines served the Prince of Wales and Dol-ifan-Gethin slate quarries and the Cwm Dywfor copper and lead mine. This branch added an additional 5 miles to the length of the railway, for a total length of 13 miles. By 1875 the line from Braich-y-bib to Gorseddau quarry had been abandoned. The Prince of Wales quarry supplied most of the traffic for the railway during its existence.

Unlike its predecessor, the GJ&PR had a single, vertical boilered De Winton steam locomotive, although it continued to use horses for motive power for much of its existence. The locomotive was named Pert and it is believed to have been sold in 1896 to the Glodd-fa'r-Glai Quarry that was connected to the Nantlle Railway.

Abandonment

By 1887 the railway had fallen into disuse as the mines and quarries it served failed. The land the railway ran on was sold in 1897 by which time it had been dismantled, although a short section of line from the junction with the Croesor Tramway in Porthmadog survived until the early 1950's.

References

• Boyd, James I.C. (1988). Narrow Gauge Railways in South Caernarvonshire, Volume 1, 2nd edition, The Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-365-6.