Stwlan Dam Level Crossing, Ffestiniog Railway, Gwynedd

Welsh name: Argae Stwlan

Date filmed: 28/06/2023
Videos filmed at 11:50 | 11:56

Route: Rheilffordd Ffestiniog / Ffestiniog Railway
Tanygrisiau is the closest station

Crossing type: Automatic Open Crossing Locally-monitored by traincrew (AOCL)

Location: 52.985701, -3.966374
Trains featured:
Main activation (0:00):
Ffestiniog Railway Double Fairlie No. 10 'Merddyn Emrys' - 0:36
Porthmadog ➡ Blaenau Ffestiniog "Mountain Spirit"
-
Hunslet 2-4-0 Saddle Tank + Tender Locomotive 'Blanche' - 1:19
Blaenau Ffestiniog ➡ Porthmadog "The Quarryman"

For more information about the railway: https://www.festrail.co.uk/

An open, un-gated level crossing found near the Stwlan Dam hydro-electric power station and next to Tanygrisiau Reservior in the mountains near Blaenau Ffestiniog. It's found on the narrow gauge (1ft 11 and a half inch / 597mm) Ffestiniog Railway near a passing loop at Tanygrisiau, the last stop before Blaenau Ffestiniog. This level crossing was renewed in the late 2010s but kept un-gated, and it curiously has just the single alarm on the far side, rather than multiple. The morning "Mountain Spirit" service (well worth a ride!) is seen passing in this video, and just after that a bonus video is featured of the railway's 'The Quarryman' service heading out of Tanygrisiau down the mountain to Porthmadog, which was hauled by a Hunslet locomotive providing quite a lot of wheel slip thanks to the very slippery rails. Both trains passed each other in the nearby station, but the former was running about ten minutes late by the time it arrived.

On a clear day, the scenery is dominated by vast slate mountains characteristic to Blaenau and the surrounding areas, but at the time of filming, the foul Welsh Weather had other ideas than to let any of these be visible.

Thanks for watching!