The Welsh Highland Railway – Nick Booker
RCTS – West Midlands Branch Meeting Report
Monday 16th March 2026
Our speaker was Nick Booker with a presentation on ‘The Welsh Highland Railway’. The history of the railway is long and complicated. Nick started with dates, owners, engineers and directors, all involving numerous local companies and the quarries they served. We were shown some interesting pictures, all in B&W, dating back to the 1930s and beyond. Later he presented some video clips from more recent anniversaries and galas. Like many narrow gauge railways it was relying on traffic from the mines that they served and the provision of public transport, all of which was in decline and led to the line’s closure in 1941.
In the interim years many attempts were made to re-open the line in full to Portmadoc. Of the locos operating on the line the 2-6-2 side tank ‘Russell’ was the most notable. Built in 1906 by Hunslet, it has had many rebuilds and modifications. Subsequent ownership came from Brymbo Steel where it operated at the Hook Norton Ironstone Mines at Wroxton near Banbury, eventually returning to the WHLR (1964) Ltd in Portmadoc.
In the late 1980/90s various attempts to open the line for tourism failed. A Public Enquiry was opened later with a lot of opposition from local landowners and farmers. However in 1999, John Prescott, head of the Department for Environment & Transport, overturned the enquiry and saved the WHLR. He certainly deserves some kind of recognition - perhaps a loco named after him ??
Today the WHLR is now one of the tourist ‘Hot Spots’ in the North Wales economy.
We thanked Nick for a very entertaining afternoon.