ay up guys i am at roman bridge request stop this morning uh and i'm gonna have a look at
the conwy valley line a plan is i think um the next train's due in about 20 minutes so
i'm going to take that i's heading towards blaenau Ffestiniog so i'm going to take that
and then when it gets there it'll just stop for a short while and then we'll head all the way back
up to llandudno junction and then on past deganwy up to llandudno and the seaside
should be a good little trip the weather is reasonable at the moment it's dry at the
moment and so yeah fingers crossed for that i'll see you when i get on the train cheers for now
yeah i was originally going to park up at blaenau ffestiniog and get mugged by the
pay and display machines but instead i decided to drive five minutes up the road um yeah just park
here for free now there's only space for about four cars though so yeah it's at your own risk
now roman bridge or roman bride as it says on the bench here is a request stop on
the conwy valley line at the penultimate stop before blaenau ffestiniog when travelling safe
now the line is operated by transport for wales who run about six trains a day
about four on a sunday and i thought i might as well flag down the train to blaenau for one very
good reason alone which you'll see in a moment i would then stay on it as it formed the 11:35
heading back up to llandudno with an expected arrival time there of 12:47 in the afternoon
yeah it's a very quiet spot isn't it and for what iss quite a large station building actually
built in 1879 there's no village here it's just named after an ancient bridge over the
nearby river lledr and like many others the station house is now privately owned
but it still retains many of its original external features as well as a covered bench in the station
building there is a modern shelter further along the platform i prefer the old one to be honest
now interestingly rail replacement buses don't call here as i guess they're probably too big
to get down the lane instead passengers have to trudge up to the telephone box on the main road
now my train was going to be a little bit late according to the dot matrix board so
i had a little extra time to wander around and i found this old public pay phone which
obviously had seen better days hadn't it before long though
my train screeched interview 150 241 a two-car class 150 a diesel multiple unit
i flagged it down and fortunately it stopped i don't think they get many passengers catching the
train to blaenau from here passenger numbers overall in 2018-19 were only 1094.
and that dropped down to just 64 in 2020-21 which is like just over one a week isn't it
no wonder it's one of the least used stations in wales
anyway i was using it today so i hopped on board and found a seat uh next minute i
know the guard appeared like out of nowhere bit like the shopkeeper in mr ben i thought
and i bought a ticket and uh we made our way down to blaenau ffestiniog where we made a quick turn around
and um headed back up the line and note here that the station is shared with the popular
and very scenic ffestiniog railway which takes you down to the coast and the town of porthmadog
and looking at the scenery here you can see that the whole area
is littered with the remnants of the old slate mines and it's just everywhere you
look isn't it now quarrying for slate reached its peak in the 1860s and 70s
and of course both the ffestiniog railway and the conwy valley line were originally built to
transport the product to waiting ships on the coast at porthmadog and at deganwy respectively
in order for the conwy valley line to reach its final destination workers had to tunnel under
nearby moel dyrnogydd and this is the attraction i was referring to earlier on because this tunnel
the ffestiniog tunnel to give it its proper name is actually the uk's
longest single track tunnel currently in use at a whopping 3407 meters long
now how long do you reckon it takes for our train to go through it well let's find out shall we
by the way i think transport for wales have done a good job in refurbishing these trains
they're nice and bright on the inside and the seat moquette is clean and fresh now i
think red white and grey is a good choice and it goes well with the exterior of the trains
too much better than the older arriva color scheme it replaced in my opinion
okay we're out and just over four and a half minutes and
no wonder it took six years to build that tunnel
and so yeah back to the seats and now there's decent enough padding in the vertical and
horizontal sections and a drop down armrest in between a legroom is a bit tighter in the
airline style seating but i've seen worse there's decent rack storage above the seats and it's good
to see plenty of conventional and usb power socket availability as well ventilation as
you can see is simply provided by the opening of the window the best way i think right uh
let's head up the line past roman bridge without stopping to the next station on route which is dolwyddelan
we soon arrive into betws-y-coed which is probably the most touristy station
on the route i would say and right in the heart of the snowdonia national park
if you like walking this is the place for you but the town is also quite famous for
its spectacular swallow falls and as we leave the station look to the
right and you will see the conwy valley railway museum and its miniature railway
the valley's really opening out now as we head further north from llanwrst the river conwy
is now quite wide though you can easily imagine where sea levels must have been in days gone by
and now we arrive at tal-y-cafn which i think is the prettiest station on the line in my
opinion and it's so well kept isn't it here even though the trains no longer stop on the
western platform the passing loop was removed back in the 1960s unfortunately now the station
is unmanned but uh did you notice the level crossing there that is still worked by hand
so let's have a look at the accessible toilet on board and yeah it'll look quite smart i thought
with a full length mirror and additional mirror above the sink which was illuminated in blue
the soap and water was dispensed there but the air dryer didn't seem to work
i'm not really a fan of having to use toilet paper to dry my hands to be honest
toilet flush is here with an additional button above um for
what was i'm not quite sure it seemed to have some sort of spray bottle motif on the button
uh baby changing facilities were nice and clean uh located above the bin
where i was able to throw away my hand drying material and that was that really
reasonably okay apart from the hand dryer
after running alongside the estuary for a while we arrive at llandudno junction which is on the
north wales coast line between crewe and holyhead an important junction this and one of the busiest
stations in north wales with four operational platforms at the time of this recording
now we're using platform three today and after a brief stop we proceed on our way
crossing the eastbound mainline track and branching off north towards deganwy
there's some fantastic views here looking back across the estuary towards conwy and
the imposing conwy castle you can just make out the road bridge in the distance but these days
traffic through conwy is much alleviated following the construction of a tunnel
which passes underneath the water pretty much where we're looking out from now
deganwy is another beautiful little station with equally fantastic views
check out the footbridge here as we pass underneath
the price i paid for today's journey was £9.30 and that's basically a normal adult
day return from blaenau ffestiniog to llandudno and back and not bad
value for money i don't think for a journey which is over an hour each way
as we approach lllandudno look at how big the platforms are and where the tracks used to be
it was clearly a very busy station back in its day with a total of five platforms then
and you can imagine the summer specials arriving
back in the day with hundreds of holidaymakers heading for the beach
sadly platforms 4 and 5 have been disused since 1978 and many of the station's original buildings
have been demolished too nevertheless it is still quite an impressive terminus in my opinion
and it's still quite popular with tourists with the town itself boasting a pier a long promenade
and the natural beauty of the great orme which has some interesting modes of transport all of its own
as i got off the train into the fresh sea breeze I took a minute to sum up the journey along
what i think it's one of the most scenic railway lines in wales
there you go guys llandudno i tell you what it's a nice trip that isn't it it's about an hour and
a little bit something like that some beautiful scenery on the way make sure you sit on the left
hand side of the train if you're coming up from blaenau ffestiniog yeah fantastic i really enjoyed
it now i've got a couple of hours now to have a look around uh llandudno so um yeah blue skies sun is out
let's enjoy it and i'll catch you on another adventure soon cheers for now