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The restoration of the Welsh Highland Railway has a colourful and complex history. This article provides the modern history: ==The Background of the Welsh Highland Railway (WHR)== The ''Welsh Highland Railway'' (WHR)was a poorly funded job creation scheme, conceived in the early 1920s, to complete the construction of a 22-mile narrow gauge railway route from Dinas, three miles from Carnarvon (now Caernarfon) to Portmadoc (now Porthmadog). An earlier scheme to achieve this - the ''Portmadoc Beddgelert and South Snowdon Railway'' (PB&SSR) had been abandoned in 1905/6 after it ran out of money. The ''Welsh Highland Railway (Light Railway)'' Company (WHLR) was created in 1922, by a Light Railway Order(LRO), under the Light Railways Act 1896 and construction began that year. The work involved joining two pre-existing railways, with a new section of track. The northern half of the WHR incorporated the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways(NWGR), built in the 1870s, from Dinas to Rhyd Ddu 91/2 miles, at the foot of Snowdon, together with its branch from Tryfan Junction to Bryngwyn - another three miles. The southern end of the route incorporated an upgraded 3-mile section of the Croesor Tramway, built in the 1860s. Between Rhyd Ddu and Croesor Junction, some new construction on the link between these earlier railways had been carried out by the (PB&SSR) around Beddgelert in 1905/6 but these works lay unfinished. The PB&SSR section of the route, had originally been intended to use electric traction and would have utilised very steep gradients (1 in 23 in places). However the WHR was to use steam traction and, as steam locomotives could not cope with such steep gradients, only ''some'' of the unfinished PB&SSR formation could be incorporated into the WHR. As a result, new formations had to be built, giving rise to the reverse curves above Beddgelert, that gave an even gradient of 1 in 40 (2.5%) over a slightly longer route. At its southern end, the WHR was linked to the Festiniog Railway (FR) at Portmadoc and the FR provided a new station (Portmadoc New) to serve both lines. FR locomotives and rolling stock became a familiar sight on the WHR with through workings. Construction of the WHR was largely funded by the Ministry of Transport, the local authorities and the construction company McAlpines (who did the construction work). These made loans to the WHLR Company, by taking out debentures - totaling £70,000 and thus the railway was in debt from the moment it opened. The railway was opened throughout in 1923, however his turned out to be the railway's best year; it declined and it went into receivership in 1927. With various local government officers appointed as receiver, the WHR continued to operate, primarily as a tourist attraction, until the end of 1933, when the local authority debenture holders declared their intention to close it. This prompted the Festiniog Railway to take out a 42-year lease on the WHR from 1 July 1934, but the poor traffic became poorer and the FR ceased to operate the WHR after the 1936 season. Unfortunately for the FR, the lease made no provision for early termination, which meant that even though they were no longer operating the WHR, the FR were forced to continue paying the rent! It took until 1942 before a court terminated the lease, thus releasing the FR from its obligation. This legal decision followed the requisitioning of the WHR's track, locos and rolling stock, in the World War II scrap metal drive. Having managed to rid itself of the WHR lease, the Festiniog Railway continued to operate on a freight only basis throughout WWII (having suspended its passenger service on the outbreak of war in 1939), but closed completely in August 1946. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Welsh Highland Railway restoration」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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