I've taken the liberty of posting this here as well as in the WHR news topic.
I’ve been taking a look at this year’s WHR and FR summer timetables.
For WHR round trips on quieter days there’s an 11:00 from Caernarfon returning at 16:50 and a 10:45 from Porthmadog returning at 17:05. after around a one hour layover in Caernarfon.
On busier days the only round trip leaves Porthmadog at 09:30 returning either at 17:25 with nearly three hours in Caernarfon on some days or 19:50 with five hours in Caernarfon on other days.
A full round trip on both railways isn’t possible on the same day, however if one way road transport can be organised between Pont Croesor and Porthmadog it becomes possible.
The above 09:30 to Caernarfon returns as far as Pont Croesor by 14:30, allowing sufficient time to get to Porthmadog by road to catch the 16:00 to Blaenau, returning to Porthmadog at 18:50
Alternatively there’s the 10:55 from Porthmadog to Blaenau returning at 14:00, giving time to reach Pont Croesor by road for the 15:05 to Caernarfon. This train returns to Porthmadog at 19:50.
This general pattern of service is IMHO unlikely to change much for a couple of years until the remodelling of Harbour station is completed. Even if all the funding is raised quickly it’s most likely that the cob widening would be done over one winter and the track and platform modifications done the following winter.
This year the FR has managed to run winter services from Harbour station despite the bypass road works severing the line at Minffordd simply by running on the southern bit of the WHR. The future modifications to Harbour station will probably mean no services at all from there for two winters. If so the company will doubtless wish to minimise the time taken for each phase.
<message edited by Neil Robinson on 20/01/11 01:45 PM>