Penrhyn Quarry Railway

Slate has been quarried at Penrhyn since the middle ages. In 1785 Richard Pennant, who became the first Lord Penrhyn, took over the estate and the quarry and introduced ambitious plans for their development. In 1790 a harbour was built at Port Penrhyn near Bangor and a road from there to Bethesda. A 1ft 10¾in gauge railway, 6¼ miles long, from the quarries to Port Penrhyn was completed in 1801. This was the first railway to be built for the carriage of slate. The rails were of iron fixed to slate sleepers. The wagons were hauled by horses. Penrhyn Quarry thus obtained a cheap and reliable route to the sea and made them early leaders in the blossoming Welsh slate industry.

In 1876 the railway was rebuilt on a new course with steel rails laid on wooden sleepers. The new alignment avoided inclines on the original route. Steam locomotives were introduced, supplied by De Winton & Co. Engineers of Caernarvon. One of these, George Henry is to be seen in this museum. Between 1882 and 1909 the Hunslet Engine Company of Leeds supplied sixteen four wheeled locomotives for use in the quarry and on the line to Port Penrhyn. From 1922 onwards a further fifteen locomotives were bought second hand from various sources.  The railway was private, providing no public service for either goods or passengers. Quarrymen’s trains were run, paid for by the quarrymen themselves.

Declining demand for slate and greater use of motor lorries caused the railway to close in 1962. All the surviving locomotives were sold for preservation, among them Blanche and Linda, built by Hunslet in 1893, which are now at work on the Festiniog Railway. Further locomotives and rolling stock are to be seen in the museum at Penrhyn Castle.

Penrhyn Quarry was extensively modernised in 1964-1967. It is still very much in operation, owned and operated by Welsh Slate (now the dominant force in the industry operating Penrhyn, Oakeley, Cwt y Bugail and Penyrorsedd Quarries), and is still the largest in the industry. It still produces over 10,000 tons of slate annually. All of this leaves the quarries by road, but some of it is destined for export and is taken to Port Penrhyn for shipment.