Pen-yr-Orsedd Quarry tramways

Pen-yr-Orsedd Quarry tramways
Locale	Wales
Dates of operation	1862 – 1979
Track gauge	1 ft 111⁄2 in (597 mm) and 3 ft 6 in (1067 mm)
Headquarters	Nantlle

"Blondin" aerial cableways at Penyrorsedd in 2002

The Pen-yr-Orsedd Quarry tramways were the industrial narrow gauge railways serving the Pen-yr-Orsedd slate quarry and connecting them to the Nantlle Railway. Pen-yr-orsedd was one of the last slate quarries in north Wales to use narrow gauge internal tramways, finally closing in 1979.

History

The Pen-yr-orsedd quarry was one of the major slate producers of the Nantlle Valley, supplying over 10,000 tons of product in 1864. It was also the last quarry in the vale that commercially produced slate, closing in 1979.

In 1862 the quarry was connected to the Nantlle Railway, with 3 ft 6 in (1067 mm) gauge lines extended to all but the highest levels of the quarry. Most levels of the quarry had both 3 ft 6 in (1067 mm) and 2 ft (610 mm) gauge trackwork, many with mixed gauge tracks. The Nantlle Railway connection was used up until 1963, while the internal 2 ft (610 mm) gauge lines continued in limited use until the end of quarrying.

Locomotives

Name	Builder	Type	Date	Works number	Notes
Baladeulyn	De Winton	0-4-0VB			Sold to Glynrhonwy Slate Quarry in 1895
Starstone	De Winton	0-4-0VB			Thought to be sold to Glynrhonwy Slate Quarry in 1894 where it was renamed Padarn.
Inverlochy	De Winton	0-4-0VB	1877		Possible ex-Pen-y-Bryn Quarry. Scrapped 1937
Glynllifon	De Winton	0-4-0VB		1880	Scrapped 1937
Rhymney	De Winton	0-4-0VB		1875	Scrapped 1933
Chaloner	De Winton	0-4-0VB		1877	Sold to a private collector 1960; now preserved at the Leighton Buzzard Light Railway.
Gelli	De Winton	0-4-0VB		1893	Withdrawn 1945, still intact at quarry 1952; believed scrapped
Pendyffryn	De Winton	0-4-0VB		1894	Sold 1965
Arthur	De Winton	0-4-0VB		1895	Scrapped 1956
Victoria	De Winton	0-4-0VB		1897	Scrapped 1956
Kelso	Vulcan Foundry	0-4-0VB		1893	Withdrawn 1945, still intact at quarry 1952; believed scrapped
Britomart	Hunslet	0-4-0ST	707	1899	Sold in 1965, now privately owned and running on the Ffestiniog Railway
Sybil	Hunslet	0-4-0ST	827	1903	Sold in 1965, now privately owned
Una	Hunslet	0-4-0ST	873	1905	Sold in 1963, now at the [[{Welsh Slate Museum]], Llanberis
Diana	Kerr Stuart	0-4-0T	1158	1917	ex-Oakley Slate Quarry, Blaenau Ffestiniog
No. 1	Ruston & Hornsby	4wDM	235712	1945
No. 2	Ruston & Hornsby	4wDM	235711	1945
No. 3	Ruston & Hornsby	4wDM	226298	1943
No. 4	Ruston & Hornsby	4wDM	226264	1943
		4wPM			Sold or scrapped

References

• Boyd, James I.C. (1990). Narrow Gauge Railways in North Caernarvonshire, Volume 1: The West, 2nd. edition, The Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-273-0. 

See also

• British industrial narrow gauge railways