Pont Cerrig y Rhyd
| Pont Cerrig y Rhyd | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Bridge | ||||||||
| Status | In Use | ||||||||
| Construction No. | OB 62 | ||||||||
| Operational No. | OB 33.49 | ||||||||
| Route Navigator | |||||||||
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| Stations | Locations | Bridges | Tunnels | Map | |||||||||
Pont Cerrig y Rhyd is an overbridge on the Welsh Highland Railway. This little bridge gives access to a couple of houses up the hill; the lane joins the main road 200 yards north of Plas y Nant Halt. It is an enchanting little walk, especially in the fading light, among the waterfalls and rocks with foxgloves and bluebells in profusion in their season. Otters can also be seen.
There is a particularly nasty hump in the railway alignment on a sharp curve just to the north of the bridge which is the result of penny-pinching about 1875, which can bring small engines plugging up the hill to a stand. It really needs the track taking up, about three feet digging out of the trackbed - probably solid Wales - and replacing the line at a more civilised level.
It follows that on Gala Days, if small locos are sent up here - e.g. Prince with more than two bogies - it is worth waiting at Pont Cerrig y Rhyd to listen to the struggle and (except on Sundays, of course) lay odds on whether the crew will be successful.