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Snowdon Mountain Railway
Yr Wyddfa (No. 3) built in 1895 moves to collect the 56 waiting passengers at the Llanberis station. The engine will push the carriage by means of a unique double offset rack and pinion system to the summit station just below the top of Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon). The journey is 5 miles over which 3,000 ft will be climbed. The average gradient of the track is 1 in 8 with a section of 1 in 5 (quite steep to walk). Note the tapered boiler to keep the water level on the gradients The engine always stays on the �down side� of the carriage. Both engine and carriage have independent braking systems that apply over speeds of 7 mph. No steam or smoke here, which would have made the shoot. Yr Wyddfa was not in the mood.

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The image and caption on this page are © Denis Egan