Why Betws in the basement?

Why indeed.

It's Carl Arendt's fault, sort of. He was good enough to send me some of his duplicate copies of Narrow Gauge and Industrial Railway Modelling Review (the Review). I did warn him that reading these magazines would likely lead to the building of a new layout. But little did I know where that inspiration would come from.

Issue 57 . An article about the Ganz Electric Locomotives for the Porthmadog, Beddgelert and South Snowdon Railway and a model built in 16mm scale. I was smitten.

But why?
I have no idea except for the fact that the line was in North Wales, my favourite railway location in the world.

The story of the Porthmadog, Beddgelert and South Snowdon Railway (hereafter referred to as the PBSSR to save my carpal tunnel) is a great story. A line promoted to link the slate mines at Croesor and South Snowdon with the coast. Work started on construction, locomotives were ordered but the line was never completed and the route ended up being incorporated into the Welsh Highland Railway. The wikipeda article made for fascinating reading. This lead me to another history where mention was made of a proposed line on towards Betws-y-Coed.

Ah... Betws-y-Coed. Scene of many happy childhood holiday memories. The seeds of inspiration were planted and starting to grow. I envisioned a line travelling up the Nant Gwynant, passing the beautiful Llyn Dinas and Llyn Gwynant lakes. Heading over to Capel Curig via the Nantygwyrd valley then passing Swallow Falls and the Ugly House and into Betws-y-Coed where the line would terminate close to the Railway Station.

So it seems like it would be a good idea to build a model inspired by Betws-y-Coed.

There you have it. Betws in the Basement.