Visitors to Porthmadog will have the chance to try out a new interactive museum and climb into the cab of a vintage steam engine and try blowing the whistle.
There’s also chance to find out how a steam locomotive works with a new on screen simulator which shows how heat from the fire turns water into steam to drive the wheels round.
The new museum tells the story of the small railways of Porthmadog, whose rails are just two foot (60 cm) apart, and how they influenced the world, despite their small size.
James Hewett, Chairman of the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway said:
“The narrow gauge trains of Porthmadog showed that it was possible to build railways in mountainous areas like Snowdonia, where larger trains just aren’t possible.
“In the 19th century, engineers came from Russia, India and the United States to learn from the way things were done here in Wales.”
Today, the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway takes visitors on a short train ride through the Snowdonia countryside before stopping at the museum on the return journey.
At the museum, there’s a chance to climb inside the cab of several locomotives, including one of the most powerful narrow gauge diesel locomotives in the UK, and one of the smallest locomotives ever built.
Later this year, visitors will be able to try their hand at new games where they can shunt the slate trucks in the harbour and attempt to rebuild a steam engine.
A miniature railway runs around the outside of the museum. Though the tracks are less than seven and a half inches apart, it manages to take people over a wooden viaduct and through a tunnel.
