Welsh Highland Heritage Railway

The Welsh Highland Heritage Railway is a short reconstructed heritage railway in Gwynedd, Wales. Its main station is in Porthmadog.HistoryThe origins of the WHHR lie in a small group of railway enthusiasts, including some disgruntled volunteers from the Festiniog Railway, forming the Welsh Highland Railway Society in 1961, to preserve and rebuild the original WHR which had operated from 1922 to 1936. Construction of the line started in the 1970s following the acquisition of land from British Railways running alongside the Cambrian Coast line at a location known as Beddgelert Sidings. A substantial works and engineering facility has been constructed on the site of the former farm that was situated in the triangle of land between the Beddgelert Siding and the Cambrian Coast Railway. The works have been expanded with newly constructed shed accommodation in addition to the utilisation of some of the original farm buildings, which include one of the oldest buildings in Porthmadog. There has been, for some time, a museum part to the works tour and from 2009, with construction of a new building, this will be more than doubled in size and its nature.The original Welsh Highland Railway has been reconstructed by the Festiniog Railway Company and the Welsh Highland Railway Limited. Both companies will have running rights over the WHR main line from to and the WHHR branch from to the existing WHR Ltd. station in Porthmadog. The precise terms of these running rights, however, is not yet settled.