Sad to say, I have lived in Wales
for almost 20 years and not experienced a ride on one of it's famous narrow
gauge railways. A sunny day in July 2001, time to spare, I decided to change
that situation.
First, you buys yourself a ticket. I started at the
Portmadoc end of the 14 mile line. All the rolling stock is 'garaged'
nearby. This is the first train of the day.
Having pulled the coaches out of the sidings, little 'Linda'
shunts around so that it can be at the front bit.
One of the many unpaid volunteers changing the points for
Linda to couple up.
So, more levers are pulled...
...and Linda, alias Mountain Prince, prepares for action.
A little bit of hissing from the movey bits...
... a toot on the whistle...
...and the passengers are locked in (for our own safety!) to
either first or second class carriages.
