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Snowdon Mountain Railway
On its way to the top. A train of the Snowdon Mountain Railway making its way to the Summit Station at Yr Wyddfa. The five mile journey climbs and descends 3,000 ft with an average gradient of 1 in 8 and a maximum gradient of 1 in 5 (the latter being quite difficult to walk) It is the only rack and pinion public railway in the UK and the only double offset pinion railway in the word. Since opening in 1895 there has been only one fatal accident when a passenger jumped to his death following a runaway train incident on the opening day (the carriages braked to safety) but the engine took flight into a lower valley, both driver and fireman jumping to safety. This incident prompted the installion of the second prinion.

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The image and caption on this page are © Denis Egan