The Padarn Railway was a narrow gauge railway line in Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

, built to the unusual gauge of . It was built to carry slate

Slate industry in Wales

The slate industry in Wales began during the Roman period when slate was used to roof the fort at Segontium, now Caernarfon. The slate industry grew slowly until the early 18th century, then expanded rapidly until the late 19th century, at which time the most important slate producing areas were in...

 from the Dinorwic Quarry

Dinorwic Quarry

The Dinorwic Slate Quarry is a large former slate quarry, now home to the Welsh National Slate Museum, located between the villages of Llanberis and Dinorwig in north Wales. It was the second largest slate quarry in Wales, indeed in the world, after the neighbouring Penrhyn Quarry....

 to Port Dinorwic

Y Felinheli

Y Felinheli is a village lying beside the Menai Strait between Bangor and Caernarfon in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. The population is about 2,200.-Etymology:...

. It opened in 1842, replacing the previous Dinorwic Railway

Dinorwic Railway

The Dinorwic Railway was an early narrow gauge industrial railway connecting the slate quarry at Dinorwic in Caernarvonshire with the coastal port at Y Felinheli.- History :...

. The Padarn Railway closed in 1961 .

An unusual feature of the railway were the transporter waggons. These gauge vehicles were flat wagons with two parallel gauge tracks on them. Loaded slate wagons of gauge - the gauge used on the extensive internal system at the quarry - were wheeled onto the transporter wagons and carried four at a time down to their destination at Port Dinorwic where they were unloaded via a gauge incline which led to the quayside.

Since closure, part of its route has been reopened as the gauge Llanberis Lake Railway

Llanberis Lake Railway

The Llanberis Lake Railway is a narrow gauge heritage railway that runs for along the northern shore of Llyn Padarn in north Wales in the Snowdonia National Park. The starting point is the town of Llanberis at the eastern end of the lake , with the western terminus at Pen Llyn in the Padarn...

.

Locomotives

Name	Builder	Type	Date	Works number	Notes
Fire Queen Fire Queen Fire Queen is an early steam locomotive built by A. Horlock and Co. in 1848 for the Padarn Railway. It is the only surviving locomotive from that railway an is preserved at the Penrhyn Castle Railway Museum.-History:...	Horlock and Company	0-4-0 tender	1848		Withdrawn 1886, now preserved at the Penrhyn Castle Railway Museum Penrhyn Castle Railway Museum The Penrhyn Castle Railway Museum is a museum of industrial railway equipment, located at Penrhyn Castle near Bangor in Wales.In the nineteenth century, Penrhyn Castle was the home of the Pennant family , owners of the Penrhyn slate quarry at Bethesda...  at Penrhyn Castle Penrhyn Castle Penrhyn Castle is a country house in Llandegai, Bangor, Gwynedd, North Wales, in the form of a Norman castle. It was originally a medieval fortified manor house, founded by Ednyfed Fychan. In 1438, Ioan ap Gruffudd was granted a licence to crenellate and he founded the stone castle and added a...
Jenny Lind Fire Queen Fire Queen is an early steam locomotive built by A. Horlock and Co. in 1848 for the Padarn Railway. It is the only surviving locomotive from that railway an is preserved at the Penrhyn Castle Railway Museum.-History:...	Horlock and Company	0-4-0 tender	1848		Withdrawn 1880s, scrapped.
Dinorwic	Hunslet Hunslet Engine Company The Hunslet Engine Company is a British locomotive-building company founded in 1864 at Jack Lane, Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England by John Towlerton Leather, a civil engineering contractor, who appointed James Campbell as his Works Manager.In 1871, James Campbell bought the company for...	0-6-0T	1882	302	Scrapped 1963
Pandora	Hunslet Hunslet Engine Company The Hunslet Engine Company is a British locomotive-building company founded in 1864 at Jack Lane, Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England by John Towlerton Leather, a civil engineering contractor, who appointed James Campbell as his Works Manager.In 1871, James Campbell bought the company for...	0-6-0T	1886	410	Renamed Amalthea in 1909. Scrapped 1963
Velinheli	Hunslet Hunslet Engine Company The Hunslet Engine Company is a British locomotive-building company founded in 1864 at Jack Lane, Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England by John Towlerton Leather, a civil engineering contractor, who appointed James Campbell as his Works Manager.In 1871, James Campbell bought the company for...	0-6-0T	1895	631	Scrapped 1963
Hardy	Hardy Motors Ltd.	4wPM	1925	954	Scrapped 1963