Campbell's Platform railway station explained

Campbell's Platform
Type:Station on heritage railway
Borough:Tan-y-Bwlch, Gwynedd
Country:Wales
Coordinates:52.9575°N -3.9759°W
Grid Name:Grid reference
Owned:Festiniog Railway Company
Manager:Ffestiniog Railway
Platforms:1
Years:April 1965
Events:Opened for use by Col Campbell on line under restoration[1]
Years1:6 April 1968
Events1:Opened as a private halt on the reopened line to Dduallt

Campbell's Platform is a private, unstaffed halt on the Welsh narrow gauge Ffestiniog Railway. The railway was built in 1836 to carry dressed slate from Blaenau Ffestiniog to Porthmadog for export by sea. It is 9 miles and 7 chains from Porthmadog and is at 510 feet above sea level.

History

The halt was established in 1965 to serve Plas-Y-Dduallt, a small Welsh Manor House (just below the railway) dating in part from the 15th century, and where Oliver Cromwell is said to have stayed during his campaign against the Royalists of North Wales.

Colonel Andrew Campbell bought the house in 1962 and undertook a complete restoration. Road access to Plas Dduallt is recent and during the 1960s the Colonel kept his own locomotive on a siding by the halt. He ran his own train to and from Tan-y-Bwlch under running powers granted by the Ffestiniog Railway.

The Colonel allowed the use of his outhouses for hostel accommodation for volunteers. He was a licensed explosives handler and as a volunteer he did much of the rock blasting required on the spiral section of the deviation and beyond. A slate seat has been erected at Dduallt in his memory.

Campbell's Platform (named in his honour) is a private halt available for use only by residents and visitors staying at Plas Dduallt. Intending passengers must check with the Ffestiniog Railway Company before embarking on their journey. Plas Dduallt was on Most Haunted in its 2008 series for paranormal investigations.[2]

Between Campbell's platform and Tan-y-Bwlch is Coed-y-Bleiddiau cottage, a private residence that was built c1860 for the Ffestiniog Railway's Inspector of the Line. The cottage is over half a mile by steep footpath from the nearest road, and in the 1930s it was used as a holiday home by several families, including those of Granville Bantock the composer and Kim Philby the Russian spy. This cottage also has its own private railway platform, which displays a name board. The location features on the map in the Traveller's Guide, but not on the company web. Coed-y-Bleiddiau has recently been restored by the Landmark Trust, and is now used for self-catering holiday lets.

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Butt (1995), page 52
  2. Web site: BBC - North West Wales History - Plas y Dduallt . 13 June 2006 . 22 August 2006 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060822175611/http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northwest/sites/history/pages/plasdduallt.shtml . dead .