Tan-y-Bwlch station has a brand new attraction for children to play on – a wooden train in the popular play area beside its Tea Room.
The Friends of Tan-y-Bwlch commissioned the train, and gained sponsorship from the Ffestiniog Railway Society.
The construction process prioritised using recycled materials.
Renowned sculptor and designer Howard Bowcott and his assistant Ed Dance made the train from windfall oak, rather than from the pine or plastic from which such play trains are usually built. The cab roof and van roof are both made of recycled-plastic sheet, and the wheels are old Ffestiniog Railway Telegraph posts.
The train's locomotive is named ‘Sandra' after the Tea Room's Manager, Sandra Bond, and resembles Quarry Hunslet locos, such as ‘Britomart'.
The train also features decorations to enhance children's play, including around a dozen small, engraved pictures (about 2x3ins) of local birds and wildlife, and many sculpted details carved or installed on the loco and wagons, including a kettle, mugs, oil cans and flag.
The train is already proving popular with young visitors.
The next stage of the project will be to build a station platform between the train and the stone wall behind it.
The Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways (F&WHR) Infrastructure Department will supply old railway sleepers for the base, which will be boarded and finished with a station fence against the wall.
The train is one of several attractions at Tan-y-Bwlch, which is the principal intermediate passenger station on the Ffestiniog Railway. Visitors can reach the station by train, on foot or by car.
