Harbour Station (Pictorial Views)
| Harbour Station (Pictorial Views) | |
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|---|---|
| 2007 | |
| Previous Station | Pen-y-mount |
| Previous Location | Britannia Bridge |
| Status | Main Terminus & Head office |
| Next Location | Cob |
| Next Station | Minffordd |
[edit] Description and Views from around Harbour Station
The Portmadoc Harbour Station was opened for passenger service on 6th January 1865. The original station buildings lasted until 1878 when they were replaced with the stone buildings that exist today. Parts of the original buildings were used in the construction of Penrhyn Station.
| The first photo shows the station in its earliest days,with Welsh Pony on a short train. The wooden station building is visible in the background, along with the water tanks, standing approximately on the site of the future engine shed, or Spooners as it is now. In the foreground is the timber seasoning area for David Williams' shipbuilding yard. The schooners were built largely of local oak, with a good deal of it coming from the Maentwrog area. Other timbers used, were pitch pine (especially for the decks), yellow pine, and mahogany and teak for the furnishings, but they were all imported. |  |
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There was some covered accommodation for passengers and a seat. There was a goods shed at the quay end of the station buildings, to the left of this picture and just seen in the one below. |
| The new building and goods shed remained much the same over the next 80 years. With the arrival of the WHR in 1923 it became known as 'Portmadoc Old', to distinguish it from the 'Portmadoc New' of the Welsh Highland. |  |
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An almost new Portmadoc Harbour Station. Compare with the 2004 photo below |
| Taken late twenties/early Thirties showing the stub points which later transferred to Minffordd Yard | .jpg) |
The railway was closed to passengers on 15th September 1939 but continued in use as the principal offices of the Festiniog Railway Company and home of the General Manager Robert Evans throughout the years of closure.
During that time, the tracks were littered with various carriages and wagons. With no staff or work, and growth of weeds all around, the place soon looked derelict.
[edit] A New Dawn
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With the transfer of ownership, Harbour Station was cleared and was reopened to passengers on 23rd July 1955, and here's the station's condition just after a year afterwards with Prince about to depart. |
| The stub points in original location. These are now located in Minffordd Yard in front of the Maenofferen Bach shed |  |
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The Cleminson Wagon outside the Harbour Station Goods Shed, whilst the wooden fence and the disc signal were still in situ. |
The present buildings date from 1878/79 and 1884, and were linked to the former goods shed by way of a major extension in 1975.
The platform awning was erected between 1985 and 1988. The valance, specifically commissioned, was made at BR's Taunton Concrete Works and is similar to the standard GW timber valance.
| Porthmadog Harbour Station. Nearest is the former goods shed, now "Spooners" Bar. The 1975 extension can be seen with the white cladding on the upper floor. |  |
