Chapter 15
LLANBERIS STATION – GWYNEDD, WALES
Next day, Sydney and Ceri were at the bottom of a large mountain. They were at a station called Llanberis. Standing at the station were two peculiar looking engines, each with one coach attached. The engines' boilers were tilted “downwards”, and their cylinders were “back-to-front”.
CERI: Those are
Enid and
Wyddfa, the railway's number two and three engines.
SYDNEY: I'm guessing that the number one is up the mountain already?
CERI: Well, not quite. Actually, they don't have a number one. Not anymore. Not since 1896.
SYDNEY: Wow! That's quite a while! What happened to their number one?
CERI: I'll tell you later, I promise.
SYDNEY: Okay. Anyway, they look cool!
Ceri nodded.
CERI: Yep. So, ready for a ride?
SYDNEY: When I'm with you, always.
Sydney and Ceri kissed. They got their tickets and got into Wyddfa's coach.
CERI: Where do you want to sit?
SYDNEY: Anywhere's fine. But, uh, do you think you could take the window seat?
CERI: Sure.
The girls sat down. Ceri took Sydney's hand.
SYDNEY: This is really exciting!
CERI: It's gonna be a lot of fun!
After a short while, several more people got on. Wyddfa's whistle blew, and the train started off.
SUMMIT STATION
After some time, Wyddfa pulled into Summit Station and let out a whistle. The girls got out of the coach.
SYDNEY: So, this is the summit? This is the top of Mt. Snowdon?
CERI: Close enough to it, yeah. The station's actually about 21 metres from below the proper summit. But, for all intents and purposes, yes, this is the Summit.
SYDNEY: Cool!
CERI: Wanna get a closer look?
Sydney took Ceri's hand.
SYDNEY: Sure.
The girls walked to a fenced off area, stopping just short of the fence.
SYDNEY: I can see the station down there.
CERI: Yep. We can see most of north west Wales up here.
SYDNEY: This is amazing! Thank you for bringing me here.
CERI: I'm happy to be here, especially with you.
Sydney and Ceri kissed.
SYDNEY: So, you were telling me earlier that the railway doesn't have a number one engine. Why's that?
CERI: It's not really the best thing to talk about during the ride, or while we still have a ride left to go down. I will tell you the whole story later, but let's just say, there was a bit of an incident.
SYDNEY: I see.
The girls got some lunch and looked around for a while. By the time they were back, the train was getting ready to leave. They got in, and Wyddfa started down the mountain.
CAR
Quite a while later, they were in the car. They were still in the parking lot.
CERI: So, you ready for a story?
SYDNEY: Totally.
Ceri got out her phone, and showed Sydney a picture.
CERI: This is
L.A.D.A.S., named after the wife of a major landowner in Gwynedd when the railway was first built.
SYDNEY: Looks a lot like Wyddfa and Enid.
CERI: They're triplets. All three were built at the same time. Anyway, the line officially opened in 1896. Two trains were going up the mountain. One pulled by L.A.D.A.S., one by Enid. Going up, everything was fine. Going down, however, that's another story. For one reason or another, possibly due to the fact it was pushing two coaches, or maybe there was something on the track, L.A.D.A.S. got knocked off the rack rail, and tumbled off the side of mountain.
SYDNEY: That's horrible!
Ceri nodded.
CERI: Luckily, her driver and firemen jumped clear before the crash. That's why they only use one coach per train. They closed the railway, and then reopened it a year later, with no further major incident, as well as with a special gripping system so the engines could grip the tracks more firmly.
SYDNEY: How exactly did Enid not get knocked off, as well?
CERI: She almost did. But, it was only L.A.D.A.S. that got knocked off, not her coach. The coaches all have brakes inside of them, and the guard quickly put on the brake. When Enid hit the bad spot of track, her coach bumped into the first one. The force of which led to Enid being forced back onto the rack rail. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough money to mend L.A.D.A.S., and she ended up being used as spare parts for the other engines.
Ceri showed Sydney another
picture. Sydney shuddered.
SYDNEY: Ouch!
CERI: I know. It's not very pretty. But, like I said, they haven't had any further incidents like that since it happened.
SYDNEY: Well, that's good. So, where to next?
