The Penmaenmawr & Welsh Granite Co. owned and operated a major granite quarry on the north Wales coast located between Conwy and Llanfairfechan. Granite axe-heads and other implements from Neolithic quarries at Penmaenmawr have been found throughout Britain.
In the 1830s commercial granite quarries were opened on Penmaenmawr to meet the growing demand for granite setts. The granite was lowered from the quarry by self-acting inclines to the narrow gauge tramway which ran to jetties from where the setts were loaded into ships. The standard gauge Chester to Holyhead railway reached Penmaenmawr in 1848, after which the majority of the quarry output was sent by rail.
The quarry and its internal narrow gauge railway continued to thrive during the nineteenth century. Production at the quarry continues in 2006, though the railway was replaced by trucks in the 1960s.
Locomotives NameBuilderTypeDateWorks numberNotesPenmaenDe Winton1878The remains of the locomotive remain at the quarryLlanfairDe Winton1895Preserved at Gloddfa Ganol until 1997. Now at the Welsh Highland Railway, Dinas railway station.LouisaDe WintonScrappedWatkinDe WintonPreserved at the Welsh Highland Railway, CaernarfonHughieHunslet1899706Delivered in January 1900. Out of use by April 1942. Scrapped by 1951StephenHunslet1902771Out of use by April 1942. Scrapped by 1951SingaporeHunslet1903798Scrapped 1951DonaldHunslet1905866Out of use in August 1948. Scrapped 1951TigerHunslet1902764Inside cylinders. Out of use by April 1942. Scrapped 1951
References
See also British industrial narrow gauge railways