Dinorwic Quarry - Internal Tramways

Internal Tramways

The first use of railways at the quarry came around 1800 when the first internal tramways were in use. These first lines were worked using horse- and hand- power. For the next seventy years the tramway system grew until it reached the point where more powerful traction was required. The first steam locomotives used were small vertical boilered locos supplied by De Winton's of Caernarfon. In 1870 the first locomotive supplied by the Hunslet Engine Company arrived at the quarry, and the majority of the locomotives that worked at Dinorwic were eventually supplied by Hunslet.

Between 1935 and 1949 the Quarry acquired 22 light internal combustion rail tractors for use on the levels. Half of these were new, the other half second-hand. Their survival rate did not match those of the steam locomotives, and when the quarry closed in 1969 only 3 still survived.

Although a nominal "2-foot gauge", the actual gauge between the rails at Dinorwic was 1 ft 10 3⁄₄ in (578 mm) in common with its neighbour Penrhyn, but fractionally narrower than the public lines of the Ffestiniog Railway or North Wales Narrow Gauge Railway which were 1 ft 11 1⁄₂ in (597 mm).