This week the Boston Lodge steam train restoration site in Porthmadog opened to the public for the first time, and with it, it’s history.

Ffestiniog Railway’s Boston Lodge was a worksite that created the road and rail causeway ‘Cob’ across the estuary to Porthmadog in 1811.

With its creation came the first gravity-run railway to the area in the 1830s, where wagons laden with slate were sent downhill on the tracks from Blaenau Ffestiniog and the mountains beyond, speeding up the export of the valuable material.

The site has entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest railway workshop in the world.

In the 1860s it became home to two of the first steam trains and passenger services in Wales, only closing after World War II.

From 1954 onwards it became a ‘dusty worksite’ for the preservation of the steam railway, gravity train and history of the slate industry.

That was until 2019 when the management team decided to transform it into something new.

The Boston Lodge site which is now open to the public to explore through guided tours
The Boston Lodge site which is now open to the public to explore through guided tours (Cambrian News)

With £3.1 million of grant funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the working site is also now a visitor attraction, telling the story of the railway and the innovative locals that created it.

The funding has also helped rescue buildings that had fallen into disrepair.

A staff member said when they were first told there would be public tours around the site, they laughed.

Now on its first week of opening the tours which include a steam train ride across the Cob are sold out, with visitors coming from as far as Aberdeen and Germany.

The Ffestiniog Railway attracts 800 regular volunteers to run and maintain the steam train and harbour station.

Princess, one of the first two steam trains to come to Porthmadog in 1863 and still in use today thanks to the preservation work of volunteers
Princess, one of the first two steam trains to come to Porthmadog in 1863 and still in use today thanks to the preservation work of volunteers (Cambrian News)

This new project has opened up interest to a new generation of volunteers, plus more than 20 specially trained in tour guiding.

One main aim for General Manager Paul Lewin was to preserve the skills that came with the preservation project that started in 1954: “I could feel the heritage skills slipping through my fingers.”

By recruiting new volunteers, the skills of preserving and running the steam trains and station are passed down, from rivetting, welding and painting to the building of gravity train wagons.

Stephen Greig started volunteering at the site at age 16.

25 years later, he is now the visitor experience manager: “Volunteers are the lifeblood of this place.

“The skills from the original volunteers in the ‘50s are passed down through the ranks to upskill young people.

This engine shed was built in 1863 but was locked up in 1946 when the railway closed down. In 1954 a group of boys thought it would be fun to restart the railway, so they broke into the shed and discovered four locomotives sitting there, unchanged, including Princess.
This engine shed was built in 1863 but was locked up in 1946 when the railway closed down. In 1954 a group of boys thought it would be fun to restart the railway, so they broke into the shed and discovered four locomotives sitting there, unchanged, including Princess. (Cambrian News)

“The slate story was so important the volunteers wanted to save Boston Lodge from the scrap- some of those boys that rediscovered Boston Lodge in 1954 are still here today.

“It’s a special railway because of its history and heritage.

“You make friends here, we’re called the Ffestiniog family.”

Part of the new programme includes workshops for visitors to try their hands at learning the skills behind running the site.

To book a tour or workshop, visit the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highlands Railway website.