Gloddfa Ganols narrow gauge line ....

Simplex haulage with custom carriages !!!

Gloddfa Ganol (remember that one?) came up with this train as an answer to shuttling people from the car park area to the mine entrance along a short section of light railed track. The photo was taken in 1988.

Rhos Slate Quarry 1982

Rhos Slate Quarry - Buildings on Mill level

Building remains at Rhos Slate Quarry, located on the lower north eastern slopes of Moel Siabod and above Pont Cyfyng. In this 1982 view are the Barracks / Cottages plus, in the foreground, the weighbridge (?) - The latter still retaining its roof at that date, but is nowadays coming apart as the building becomes derelict.

Looking back from within the pit cutting (the pit being behind camera) towards the end wall of the mill. The layout of the site is actually quite simple with everything more or less on one level and both waste and good rock passing through this cutting - the waste heading off to the tips, while good slate would be wheeled in through the end door of the mill. However, everything had to be uphauled to this level from the pit bottom - an inconvenience that lasted until the final days of working c1952.

Inclines ....

Hafod y Llan Slate Quarry - Exit tramway upper incline drumhouse remains 1989

The ROTWSI website has a new section covering Inclines ... 4 pages of photos ranging from Dinorwic to Aberllefenni - The big and the small. Check it out below:-


Open: http://www.jgd.org.uk/rotwsi/inclines01.html

Sun 04-09-2016

Llaeron Dam, Bryn Eglwys ...

The Llaeron Dam viewed in 1990

High above Bryn Eglwys Slate Quarry is a solid piece of engineering - The Llaeron Dam. Built in the mid 1860s it held back the large Llaeron Reservoir as a water supply for the quarry. Made of earth faced with stone and capped with a slab wall it remained intact until breached for safety reasons following the closure of the quarry. The circular structure was the control tower, accessed by a walkway from the dam.

 

 

 

Still waiting ...

Metal bodied wagon still carrying a few slates - 1987

One of the rake of wagons parked at the base of Rhiwbach No.2 Incline after Maenofferen switched from rail to road and abandoned the last section of the Rhiwbach Tramway.
 

Things to do ...

Cwmorthin Slate Quarry 1989 ... The inclines were still intact in those days!

  

Delving into the archives and digging out all the negatives i have of classic Cwmorthin views ... The current section is looking way too out of date now so must get on with the durn thing .... Ahhh but, so is Minllyn ... But wait a minute, Cwm Machno needs finishing .... and those pics still to post in the Misc. Section:(

Anyway, i also played with some old 125 negatives that had a few rare shots of Bryn Eglwys (these were on the site before but looked truly awful) but this was a bit of a slog as the Epson neg scanner didn't know that 125 negs existed! ... One home made frame later and they're done & up .... Still not great but the originals were rough ...  

 

Bryn Eglwys 1979 and a rare view of the Drum Hut next to the waterwheel pit

 
.... They're grainy but more vibrant plus none of the views exist anymore!

Open: http://www.jgd.org.uk/rotwsi/bryneglwys1979.html 

Conglog is finally done ....


At last the Conglog section has had an update! This now includes photos from 2013 plus the 1990 originals have been scanned from their negatives.

Conglog Slate Quarry 1990: Rhosydd Terrace

Open: http://www.jgd.org.uk/rotwsi/conglog01.html