Llan Ffestiniog Station (updated 16/08/2022)

This is one of the intermediate stations on the mothballed section and when originally built was the terminus for the Bala & Ffestiniog Railway which connected to Blaenau Ffestiniog via a narrow gauge railway that was later converted to standard gauge allowing through trains to Blaenau Ffestiniog. The line had a carriage works at this location which is in an area now owned and built on by private individuals.

The Trust is currently in negotiations regarding acquiring a lease on some of the former station site (centered around the town side platform), upon successful completion of these negotiations we will be arranging further working party weekends with a view to consolidating the site and preparing it for a future rebuild of the old Station building with the same footprint that it used to have. Due to current building regulations the building would need to be built to modern standards but the intention is that it would be sympathetic to the original design.

Working Party Weekends

  No dates currently

Proposal

It is proposed by the trust that Llan Ffestiniog become one of 6 stations on the line

It is proposed to restore the station platforms and buildings to as original as we can subject to planning permission and compliance with up to date regulations. We would also like to try and maintain the track diagram on the right as much as possible to allow flexibility at this location and some additional storage space for stock in the long term.

Progress

The Trust identified the owners of the Llan Ffestiniog Site, which had been split in two, in 2020. The Trust met up with the owners of the core sections which included both Platforms in July 2020 and agreed an outline agreement to arrange clearance work on the site pending a formal lease.

The clearance work is to enable the Trust and the owners of the site to be able to provide a more clearly defined area of working to the benefit of both parties. It was hoped to finalise a formal lease agreement in September 2020 but Coronavirus restrictions prevented meetings to make this happen. It is now anticipated that an agreement will be signed in the 2nd half of 2022.

As a part of the discussions around the planned lease / purchase the Trust met up with the owners and discussed limits of the sites to satisfy both parties. The Trust hopes to agree a purchase price and lease cost during the 3rd Quarter of 2022.

The Trust has completed a few weekend of work on the site which gave it a better idea of the level of work needed on the site.

The Trusts plans moving forward would be to continue to develop the site to ensure ease of maintenance leading to construction of a traditional wall dividing the site.

The long term plan is to rebuild the old station building on its original footprint subject to any planning permission requriements. The current thoughts for the building are to become another focal point for the local community in the form of a cafe that would also be open to tourists taking part in the local trails

Site plans

The Trust identified the work needed on the site to bring about the rebuilding of the station building, the details of the work are laid out below as well as a progress indicator.

Clearance Stone Wall Platform Repairs Track Laying

Sleeping Coach Landscaping Power and Water Supply Building preparatory works

Site pictures

The following section has some pictures taken of the site.

View of the cleared cattle dock, future work here will see the bricks taken up and relaid flat for safety reasons.	View of the entrance to the site showing some of the work carried out.
View of the cleared site.	Another view of some of the cleared site.
View of the site prior to clearance.

The site available to the Trust is edged in red on the image above, this is still subject to negotiations and may change.