Recently, the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railway held its ‘Railway 200 – FR Platinum Jubilee Weekend’.

The highly anticipated event ran over four days from June 19th – June 22nd and marked 70 years of passenger trains on the Ffestiniog Railway.

They kicked off the event with a re-enactment of the first passenger train, originally taking place on the 23rd July 1955.

Locomotive Mary Ann ran two trips across the Cob with carriage 23 and van 12 and performed a ‘chain shunt’.

On the second day, Upnor Castle ran the Early Bird train to Blaenau Ffestiniog, followed by Britomart with Vans 11 and 12.

Mary Ann, Prince, and Merddin Emrys gathered at Harbour Station for a memorable moment and photo opportunity.

Saturday saw them switch from the preservation era to the deviation.

Taliesin kicked off the day, followed by Merddin Emrys hauling a good train featuring 200 wheels up to Blaenau Ffestiniog, where the wagons returned down the line as a gravity train.

Sunday is where the event really shone, with their ‘200 Wheels on the Cob’ cavalcade.

The entire Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railway fleet made its way onto the Cob.

Most of the locomotives were assembled in order at Minffordd station, with the Welsh Highland locomotives assembling at Boston Lodge.

Locomotives appeared in the order that they entered service, and each engine had a story of its history told by Tim Dunn and Anthony Coulls.

Prince began the cavalcade with a special banner where Railway 200 was celebrated with 234 wheels on the Cob and 25 engines lined up.

If you missed out on being able to see this spectacular event, keep an eye out on the RailAdvent Shop for a DVD coming soon!

“I was the refreshment manager that day – I had a folding table, a huge pile of boxes of Smith’s crisps, the ones with the blue paper wrap of salt, and crates of pop. I was also told by Allan Garraway not to sell any tickets until I saw him coming over the Cob – I think there were a lot of very late nights to keep PRINCE in service that first summer. I can’t believe that we have now arrived at the 70-year anniversary – and what a huge place this has become. I am so very grateful to be able to say I was there.

Rob Smallman, who worked on the first train