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So much has been written, particularly in recent years, on the subject of the Festiniog Railway, that anything we can say in a brochure of this sort seems almost superfluous.

The railway was originally authorized by the Festiniog Railway Act of 1832, and opened in 1836, for the carriage of slate from the quarries of Blaenau Ffestiniog to the harbour of Portmadoc, whence they were shipped to destinations all over the world.

Steam locomotives superseded horses in 1863, and in 1865 authority was obtained for the carriage of passengers.

The fortunes of the line suffered in the years before and after the 1914-18 war, and at the outbreak of the Second World War, passenger traffic ceased. The line was finally closed to all traffic in 1946, and lay idle and decaying until 1954, when it passed into the hands of the present management. The figures of passengers carried since then tell their own story -

18,000 in 1955, over a single mile; 38,000 in 1956 over 2 miles;

54,000 in 1957 over 3 miles; 60,000 in 1958 over the 7 miles to Tan-y-bwlch, and then 75,000 in 1959, 102,000 in 1960, 109,000 in 1961,

114,000 in 1962, 129,000 in Centenary of Steam Year, 1963, and an all-time record of 144,000 in 1964.

The Festiniog Railway Society assists the Company by providing funds, by organizing volunteer labour, and by co-operating in many different ways, through a membership which in 1964 exceeded 3,000.

Though much has been achieved, the tasks ahead are still tremendous. We hope that our non-member guests will be sufficiently impressed by our achievements to feel that ours is a cause worth joining.

Full details of membership of the Society may be obtained on the train, or from Mr. R. H. R. Garraway, 35, Holmwood Road, Cheam, Sutton, Surrey.