Which is preferable: the heritage train or the modern for the RT to Snowdonia?
Is it better in the morning or afternoon in mid-may?
Just thinking about morning fog/cloud cover and wondering if that is an issue.
Thanks, Mary
Posted by
Lincolnshire, UK
1827 posts
When you are talking about heritage and modern, I assume you are referring to the carriages?
If so the heritage coaches used by the steam locos only take 34 passengers. The diesel coaches take 60 passengers. Trains do get very busy, especially if a pre booked coach party arrives (and the railway does get a lot). You may need to be prepared to wait quite a time at the base station to get a seat, unless you have booked in advance.
The first train leaves at 9am so any early morning mist should have cleared by then. However, clouds can build up covering the summit at any time of the day. It could be clear with bright blue skies when you start your trip but the cloud may have come down (or worse still raining) when you get to the summit.
Posted by
4 posts
We went up on the heritage train one afternoon last summer and it was perfect conditions
Posted by
38 posts
I struggled to decide this as well when planning my trip for July last year. Ultimately the majority of comments I could find when researching was that I had a better chance of less cloud cover in the afternoon but there just no guaranty. I did the steam train at 130 pm and it was clear all the way up until summit and then it was clouded over. Luckily the train moves VERY slowly so I was able to get some great scenic shots while riding up and down pre and post cloud cover.
There are less steam train trips up and back than diesel so you need to book early if that's the one you opt to go with.