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From this month's featured article Charles Easton Spooner (1818-1889) was the Secretary and Engineer of the Festiniog Railway Company from 1856 until 1886. He was also Engineer to the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways Company and was involved in the family company of Spooner & Co., which at times appeared to conflict with the FR. Charles was the third son of James Spooner and was born in Maentwrog in 1818. As a teenager he, along with his oldest brother, James, assisted his father in laying out the Festiniog Railway. He and James continued to assist their father and Thomas Prichard during construction. Charles was thus trained as a civil engineer, gaining much practical experience that would stand him in good stead in his later life. During the early 1840s, Charles' training continued under both Joseph Locke and Isambard Kingdom Brunel. He continued to be involved with the railway under his father, who was Secretary to the Company. (more...) Recently featured: Horse operation – Rhiwbach Tramway – Merddin Emrys Purpose Festipedia is dedicated to recording the history of the Festiniog Railway from the 19th Century to the present day. There is a user friendly index to help you find your way around the main categories. You will also find much detail on the Welsh Highland Railway

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This month's featured picture The Rhiwbach Tramway was a narrow gauge railway connecting the remote slate quarries to the east of Blaenau Ffestiniog with the Festiniog Railway. Built to the same gauge as the FR and completed in March 1863, it ran from the FR's Duffws station, three miles east to to Rhiwbach Quarry, serving the Cwt-y-Bugail, and Blaen y Cwm quarries on the way. Just before Rhiwbach itself was reached, a branch lead to Bwlch y Slaters (Manod) quarry, now operated by Rigcycle and known as Cwt y Bugail, the original quarry of that name having closed in the early 1960s. The line was actually built by the FR but paid for by the Festiniog Slate Company. It was designed by Charles Easton Spooner, then Secretary and Engineer to the Festiniog Railway Company. The quarries connected to the tramway had no practical road access as they lay at an altitude of around 1560' above sea level in a remote moorland. The photo shows No. 1 incline in May 2013. Photo credit: User:Dan Crow Recently featured: Prince – GWR wagon 44 – Princess Rules for Contributions The rules for contributions are simple: Do not post copyright material unless you have permission from the copyright owner Do not post personal details of living individuals (address, telephone number, email address, etc.) unless you have their permission to do so Keep on topic - you can put anything you want on your user pages but articles should be about the Ffestiniog Railway or related subjects Be courteous Do not delete anything unless it needs to be deleted Where possible please record the sources of your information Please record a comment on the change you have made in the box at the bottom of the page No obscene language Abusive or libellous postings are banned If you want to notify us of a possible copyright infringement, please use the Contact Us option in the box in the top left of the page. We have voluntary editors that look after Festipedia. They can be contacted via email or by using their User pages. Response may not be immediate, but they will reply, as long as you leave a contact point!!