The Penrhyn Castle Railway Museum (Welsh: Amgueddfa Rheilffordd Castell Penrhyn) is a museum of industrial railway equipment, located at Penrhyn Castle near Bangor in Wales.
.jpg) Charles of the Penrhyn Quarry Railway | |
  Location within Gwynedd | |
| Established | 1951 |
|---|---|
| Location | Llandygai, Gwynedd, Wales |
| Coordinates | 53°13′35″N 4°05′41″W / 53.2264°N 4.0947°W |
| Type | Railroad museum |
| Owner | National Trust |
| Website | Penrhyn Castle Railway Museum |
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In the nineteenth century, Penrhyn Castle was the home of the Pennant family (from 1840, the Douglas-Pennants), owners of the Penrhyn slate quarry at Bethesda. The quarry was closely associated with the development of industrial narrow-gauge railways, and in particular the Penrhyn Quarry Railway (PQR), one of the earliest industrial railways in the world. The PQR ran close to Penrhyn Castle, and when the castle was bequeathed to the National Trust in 1951 a small museum of industrial railway relics was created in the stable block.
The first locomotive donated to the museum was Charles, one of the three remaining steam locomotives working on the PQR. Over the years a number of other historically significant British narrow-gauge locomotives and other artifacts have been added to the collection.[1]
In early 2024, it was announced that the majority of the locomotives were to be moved to new homes, with the railway museum to become a new "Industrial Penrhyn" experience.[2]
Locomotives
| Name | Image | Gauge | Builder | Type | Date | Works number | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charles |  | 1 ft 10+3⁄4 in (578 mm) | Hunslet | 0-4-0ST | 1882 | 283 | Worked on the Penrhyn Quarry Railway. To be retained as part of the planned "Industrial Penrhyn" museum.[2] |
| Hugh Napier | .jpg) | Hunslet | 0-4-0ST | 1904 | 855 | ex-Penrhyn Quarry locomotive, moved to the Ffestiniog Railway and restored to working order at Boston Lodge in 2012.[3] | |
| Fire Queen |  | 4 ft (1,219 mm) | A. Horlock and Co | 0-4-0 tender | 1848 | Worked on the Padarn Railway. Moved to the Vale of Rheidol Railway in 2024.[2] | |
| Watkin | 3 ft (914 mm) | De Winton | 0-4-0VBT | 1893 | ex-Penmaenmawr & Welsh Granite Co. | ||
| Kettering Furnaces No. 3 | .jpg) | Black, Hawthorn & Co | 0-4-0ST | 1885 | 859 | Ex-Kettering Ironstone Railway.[4] Donated to the Waterford and Suir Valley Railway in 2024.[5] | |
| No. 1 | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge | Neilson and Company | 0-4-0 | 1870 | 1561 | ex Beckton Gas Works railway. Moved to the Museum of Scottish Railways in early 2024.[6] | |
| Hawarden | Hudswell Clarke | 0-4-0ST | 1899 | 526 | ex Globe Ironworks, Stalybridge Donated to the Middleton Railway in 2024 where it is now on display.[7] | ||
| Vesta |  | Hudswell Clarke | 0-6-0T | 1916 | 1223 | ex Hawarden Bridge steel works Donated to the East Lancashire Railway in 2024 and is now on display in the Bury Transport Museum.[8] | |
| Haydock |  | Robert Stephenson & Co[9] | 0-6-0T | 1879 | 2309 | Ex Haydock Collieries Railway. Moved to the Isle of Wight Steam Railway in 2024.[10] |
See also
References
- Penrhyn Castle Industrial Railway Museum (3rd. ed.). The National Trust. 1982.