IT'S a very special year for a major Gwynedd attraction.

This year, Bala Lake Railway is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

Bala Lake Railway's main season gets underway on Saturday, April 2, with celebration occasions to mark the half-century beginning with a three-day event over the May Day bank holiday weekend.

The first event, entitled 'Bala at 50', corresponds with the weekend in 1972 when the first track was laid at the railway.

As well as a re-creation of the first tracklaying train, highlights for the May Day bank holiday weekend will include the launch of a new book on Saturday, April 30.

It is called 'Rheilffordd Llyn Tegid - Y 50 Mlynedd Cyntaf / Bala Lake Railway - The First 50 Years 1972-2022' and there will be a special train hauled by Kerr Stuart Wren 'Jennie'.

'Jennie' is visiting the area from the Amerton Railway and she will be hauling additional trains on the Saturday and Monday, while double-heading with Bala Lake Railway's own engines on the Sunday.

At Llanuwchllyn Station, there will be additional attractions, including two traction engines, a sentinel steam lorry, miniature railway rides, various stands and stalls and the launch of limited edition commemorative beer 'Aur Bala' and special commemorative beer glasses.

The current Bala Lake Railway is built on a section of the former standard-gauge GWR Ruabon-to-Barmouth junction route.

This section opened in August 1868 and passenger services through Bala ceased in January 1965.

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The rebirth of the line as a narrow gauge railway came when local engineer, George Barnes, saw the potential of the lakeside section for both local and tourist traffic.

The new company, Rheilffordd Llyn Tegid Ltd (Bala Lake Railway Ltd) began its operations in 1972.

Further celebrations later this year will include an event on August 13.

This was the date the first train ran - and there will be a special commemorative day on the same date this summer.

Bala Lake Railway will mark the day with a look back into the early days of its operations and a series of trains depicting operations in those early years.

This will be followed by the 50th anniversary steam gala, which will run between August 27 and 29.

Several locomotives have been invited to visit the railway, while the timetable for the weekend will include double-headed trains, demonstration goods trains and vintage bus connections to Bala and more.

Additional steam gala events will be announced in due course.

Further information is available from https://bala-lake-railway.co.uk/ or by clicking here.