Railway DVDs

Welsh Highland Railway – A Driver’s Eye View (BLU-RAY)
The Welsh Highland narrow gauge steam railway runs from coast to coast through the mountains of the Snowdonia National Park, and what better way of seeing it than from one of the Beyer Garratt steam engines. This is more than just a Driver’s eye view. With cameras mounted on the buffer beam and around the cab, we can see the line and the scenery even better than the driver does. Our ride begins at Caernarfon close to the famous castle, venue of the investiture of Charles the Prince of Wales. We not only see the railway from the locomotive, but also from the stations, the trackside, the carriages and even from the air. The 25 miles of scenic line was only reopened throughout in 2011 and Arfon Haines Davies’s narration gives all the fascinating facts and chequered history of the line. This is your chance to see this magnificent route as never before.

Welsh Highland Railway – A Driver’s Eye View (DVD)
The Welsh Highland narrow gauge steam railway runs from coast to coast through the mountains of the Snowdonia National Park, and what better way of seeing it than from one of the Beyer Garratt steam engines. This is more than just a Driver’s eye view. With cameras mounted on the buffer beam and around the cab, we can see the line and the scenery even better than the driver does. Our ride begins at Caernarfon close to the famous castle, venue of the investiture of Charles the Prince of Wales. We not only see the railway from the locomotive, but also from the stations, the trackside, the carriages and even from the air. The 25 miles of scenic line was only reopened throughout in 2011 and Arfon Haines Davies’s narration gives all the fascinating facts and chequered history of the line. This is your chance to see this magnificent route as never before.

Welsh Highland Railway – The Complete Journey (DVD)
The new Welsh Highland Railway, with archive footage of track laying and construction. Spectacular High Definition aerial, trackside & Incab footage of this now completed narrow gauge railway.

Welsh Highland Railway – 360º Interactive Journey (DVD)
Welsh Highland Railway 360º Interactive Journey Explore the Welsh Highlands while riding loco 138. Porthmadog to Caernarfon, journey through the Aberglaslyn Pass; voted the most beautiful spot in the UK by members of the National Trust. DISC ONE – INTERACTIVE JOURNEY Use this disc in your PC or Mac computer. It plays a 360° video which allows you to drag with your mouse to change your view as you explore the Welsh Highlands while riding 138. DISC TWO – DIRECTOR’S VIEW Use this disc in any standard DVD player to watch the non-interactive journey from the Director’s view. A SPHEREVISION PRODUCTION.

Ffestiniog & Conwy: Porthmadog / Blaenau Ffestiniog / Llandudno DVD – Video 125 (DVD)
Driver’s Eye View: * Porthmadog – Blaenau Ffestiniog (Narrow gauge steam) * Blaenau Ffestiniog – Llandudno (Standard gauge DMU) Narrated by Arfon Haines Davies The 13 .5 mile narrow gauge line was originally built to carry slate and for many years was worked by gravity. We travel aboard one of the famous double Fairlie steam engines – “Merddin Emrys” for a ride that is typically rocky in places. The terrain changes from the wide open “Cob” at Porthmadog, to the fertile wooded valley in the vale of Ffestiniog and the Snowdonia national park, to the slate capital of Wales itself, Blaenau Ffestiniog. Within the first mile of the former LNWR line, on board a class 101 DMU, we pass amongst the old mine and quarry workings and enter the 21.4 mile long Ffestiniog tunnel. At the end of the tunnel is the wild and remote Lledr valley. After Betws-y-coed the line levels out and we dash along the Conwy Valley to Llandudno Junction, on the Holyhead main line. Finally, we traverse the three mile long double track branch to Llandudno, in 1991 still block-worked with semaphore signals. Running time – 91 minutes DVD only.

Ffestiniog Railway (DVD)
The Ffestiniog Railway in North Wales was originally constructed to convey slate from the quarries in Blaenau Ffestiniog to Porthmadog. The line was built on a steep incline to facilitate the use of gravity trains. In 1863, the increase in traffic forced the owner to consider different forms of motive power. After many trials and much development work, a special design of locomotive incorporating power bogies took to the narrow gauge rails. During the Spring of 1988, the railway celebrated 125 years of steam power with a gala weekend spanning 3 glorious days which saw the return to service of the newly restored Fairlie double engine Merddin Emrys, vintage trains hauled by Prince, visiting W.H.R. Locomotive Russell, and much more besides. Our cameras were there to record the event in full, and this film, produced in conjunction with, and the full cooperation of the Ffestiniog Railway Society includes exclusive footage shot on the double headed run up the line with Blanche and Mountaineer.

Ffestiniog Railway Locomotives – Graham Whistler (DVD)
Stephenson’s Rocket was still just running when Ffestiniog received Princess, the first engine in the world to be built for such a narrow gauge. She, and Prince her still working companion, can be seen there today. The Ffestiniog was at the forefront of 1870s rail technology, employing the revolutionary and now unique Fairlie Articulated engines. They too can be seen today over a hundred years later. The Ffestiniog has the oldest, newest and largest of the world’s 2 foot gauge engines, including the huge Garratts working out of Caernarfon. The railway has just built new a replica of the legendary Taliesin, a locomotive lost in the 1930s. Ffestiniog Railway Locomotives spans 170 years of railway history. Action shots in the wonderful Snowdonia countryside compliment the informative commentary offering 60 minutes of visually stimulating video.

Ffestiniog History – Graham Whistler (DVD)
Ffestiniog – the first narrow gauge railway, the darling of the Victorians with amazing historic photographs – you need to see more! In 1887 at the height of the Victorian era, the proud owners of the Ffestiniog Railway recorded the wonders of their line for posterity. In 1998 this unforgettable video was made when the fact became clear that so many of the shots in photographer R.H. Bleasdale’s unique record were perfectly recognisable today. You will see the transition flow from the black and white of 100 years ago to colour on the screen. The Ffestiniog Railway really is a preserved line with unique items of original equipment still giving service after a century. This DVD takes you up the line and gives viewpoints from the distant past, complete with equipment still at work today – there’s nothing else like it anywhere! The second programme contains some vintage colour footage along with a record of the historic Gala of 1995, where the original equipment was gathered to work rare services as they were long ago. The celebration had a wartime theme as it was the 40th anniversary of VE Day and thus many special things happened that will never be repeated as they have passed into history.

Little & Large Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railway (DVD)
From Porthmadog to Blaenau Ffestiniog up through Aberglaslyn Pass to Caernarfon.
The Rly is proud pioneers of ‘Double Fairlie’, an engine that looks like it has ‘two ends’ but has a double bogie engine, a solution to the problem of need for heavier trains & very sharp corners, invented by Robert Fairlie.
Two further Double Fairlies have been built in preservation at Boston Lodge works, ‘Earl of Merioneth’ & ‘David Lloyd George’.
Today Rly runs from Blaenau Ffestiniog to Porthmadog with option to switch trains & travel on Snowdonia’s newest narrow gauge rly, Welsh Highland Rly which runs through Snowdonia’s National Park to Caernarfon.
A whole collection of engines run throughout the season from small England Engines first ran back in 1864 to largest two foot engines in World, Beyer Garratts NG/G16’s acquired for Welsh Highland Rly from South Africa.
Filmed from 2009-2013 featuring freight, passenger, vintage & gravity trains from many locations route.
Ffestiniog Rly 150th Anniversary Gala – 3-6 May 2013.

Footage inc:
Return of ‘Prince’ oldest working steam engine in world.
‘Small England’ No.2 ‘Prince’
‘Small England’ No.4 ‘Palmerston
Hunslet Engine Co. ‘Linda’
Hunslet Engine Co. ‘Blanche’
Hunslet Engine Co. ‘Britomart’
Hunslet Engine Co. ‘Hugh Napier’
‘Single Fairlie’ No.9 ‘Taliesin’
Manning Wardle No.14 ‘Lyd’
‘Double Fairlie’ No.11 ‘Earl of Merioneth’
‘Double Fairlie’ No.10 ‘Merddin Emrys’
Beyer-Peacock ‘Garratt’ NG/G16 No.87
Beyer-Peacock ‘Garratt’ NG/G16 No.138
Beyer-Peacock ‘Garratt’ NG/G16 No.143