The new and the old meet at Blaenau Ffestiniog station in North Wales on 28th March this year. On the left is the train I arrived on from Llandudno Junction - Trafnidiaeth Cymru (Transport For Wales) 197008, and on the right is Ffestiniog Railway's Blanche, built in 1893, on the 'Quarryman' service from Blaenau to Porthmadog.
The 'mountain' on the left is actually a heap of slate waste from one of the many quarries in the area which at one time exported Welsh slate right across the world.
![[Image: IMG-2014a.jpg]](https://i.postimg.cc/DyQ5GqP7/IMG-2014a.jpg)
This day also saw the first commercial run of the Ffestiniog Railway's newest locomotive, 'James Spooner II' a brand-new Double Fairlie (think 'Mighty Mac'), completed in 2023.
![[Image: IMG-2028a.jpg]](https://i.postimg.cc/k4sCpVx8/IMG-2028a.jpg)
![[Image: IMG-2053a.jpg]](https://i.postimg.cc/25jBtWWF/IMG-2053a.jpg)
(This post was last modified: 08-27-2024, 09:54 PM by chrisjo.)
The 'mountain' on the left is actually a heap of slate waste from one of the many quarries in the area which at one time exported Welsh slate right across the world.
This day also saw the first commercial run of the Ffestiniog Railway's newest locomotive, 'James Spooner II' a brand-new Double Fairlie (think 'Mighty Mac'), completed in 2023.
![[-]](https://www.blueplastictracks.org/images/collapse.png)