Stwlan Dam Level Crossing

Ffestiniog Railway Double Fairlie Steam Loco No.10 "Merddin Emrys" in brown and Ffestiniog Railway Double Fairlie Steam Loco No.11 "Earl of Merioneth/Iarll Meirionnydd" in green both cross at this rural crossing, heading to Tanygrisiau and Dduallt respectively. This crossing had the strangest alarm that will ever be seen at a level crossing, and was even strange for a heritage railway crossing. It restarts when the red lights start to flash. However this has now been replaced with LEDs and another alarm during the March 2017 works programe. This crossing near the village of Tanygrisiau is named Stwlan Dam after the reservoir and dam further up the mountain. There used to be two AOCLs here but the Penstock Road crossing (seen in the distance in the second clip) had its lights taken away since the road rarely saw a car on it. It is now an open crossing, and it can be seen with its lights on the Ffestiniog Railway's Travelers Guide DVD. This road is the most Western point in Blaenau Ffestiniog as the mountains are further West. Slate inclines can be seen all around here. The Cwmworthin waterfalls are also close to the crossing. If the Tanygrisiau Reservoir for the Hydro-Electric power station was not built here, then this crossing would probably not exist as the line was moved around the reservoir from its original line when it was rebuilt by volunteers in the 1970s. This deviation created the Dduallt spiral, the only railway spiral in the UK. Mmmm... uniqueness.

Type: AOCL
Route: Ffestiniog Railway
Location: Gwynedd, Wales, UK
Train 1: 0:25
Closure 2: 1:19
Train 2: 1:40