Steam Train Arriving at Porthmadog

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Today and tomorrow I’m on holiday with my wife in Porthmadog, North Wales.

The town is the terminus for two narrow gauge, preserved steam railways. The Ffestiniog railway, which runs from Porthmadog to Blaenau Ffestiniog, and the Welsh Highland Railway, which runs from Porthmadog to Caernarfon.

Today’s photo is of a steam train from Blaenau Ffestiniog arriving at Porthmadog in the late afternoon. The driver is on the left of the engine and the fireman on the right. The fireman has just handed the single line token to the signal man. The line is mostly single track, so the signal man must make sure there is only one train on the track. This is achieved by a single line token. There is only one token, either the driver has it, or the signal man has it. A train can only proceed when the signal man hands the token to the driver.