STEAM train buffs will find themselves in seventh heaven or better by making tracks to the north and mid-Wales area.

For this is a part of the UK boasting a host of heritage narrow gauge railways such as the Bala Lake Railway, Ffestinioig, Llanberis Lake, Snowdon Mountain, Talyllyn, and Welsh Highland routes, along with the Welshpool and Llanfair, Corris, Vale of Rheidol and the Fairbourne at Barmouth, and not forgetting the standard gauge Llangollen Railway.

They are all tremendous tourist attractions that bring in visitors not only from around the British Isles but also from around the world – especially as there is also some of the UK’s most outstanding scenery and plenty of top quality hotels and b and b’s to choose from.

One of the notable success stories from the railways is the Talyllyn, which runs for just over seven miles from Tywyn on the mid-Wales coast to Nant Gwernol, near the village of Abergynolwyn. This was the first narrow gauge railway in Britain to be authorised by an Act of Parliament to carry passengers using steam haulage.

Having originally opened in the mid-1860s to carry slate from local quarries it became the first railway in the world - almost 100 years later, to be preserved by volunteers as a heritage railway. That was in 1951.

Now it’s marking the 150th anniversary this year having just announced five especially themed weekend galas between May and September.

Each of them will reflect different aspects of the railway’s past, present and future. They begin on the May Day Bank Holiday weekend, May 2-5 and continue on July 3-5, August 7-9, August 29-31 and September 25-27.

A spokesperson for the railway said: “On every weekend there will be specially themed trains and activities, many of which will draw on our 150 year history. In addition, we are planning for several events that have never been seen on the railway before. These will be galas that will thrill and delight enthusiasts and families alike.”

Since going down the preservation line route it has grown considerably. Not only has rolling stock been added to, so too has the line itself and in 1976 an extension was opened along the old mineral line from Abergynolwyn to a new station at Nant Gwernol.

In more recent years the Tywyn Wharf station has undergone a major rebuild and extension along with improved facilities for the Narrow Gauge Railway Museum.

Their own engineering programme has built new locomotives and carriages, while other rolling stock has come through acquisition.

Another success story is the Vale of Rheidol line which has seen an upturn in passenger numbers accompanied by an even larger upturn in revenue. They put this down to new product ranges being stocked in the Aberystwyth shop and the opening of a new shop in Devil’s Bridge. The Aberystwyth shop reported its busiest day ever in late July last year.

A small but increasing number of passengers has also been making use of the recently restored intermediate stations along the line with Aberffrwd, Rheidol Falls and Rhiwfron proving popular with walkers high up in the Rheidol Valley.

The Vale of Rheidol has been busy ploughing this increased revenue into kick-starting a number of grant-funded improvements along the railway. These have been most noticeable at the stations along the line, which are now more welcoming and accessible to visitors.

Some of the changes include the new, enlarged shops at Aberystwyth and Devil’s Bridge. There are additional enhancements planned, including platform lighting and a whole raft of improvements taking place behind the scenes.

These include the further development of the new workshop, set to become Wales’ pre-eminent heritage railway engineering works. These developments will allow the Vale of Rheidol to take on more external contract work, as well as ensuring its own rolling stock is better cared for.

One particular feather in the cap of The Vale of Rheidol Railway arrived quite recently when it became the latest organisation in the UK to gain national recognition for its commitment to customer service, after being awarded WorldHost Recognised Business status.

Last year it too celebrated a 150th anniversary – that of the incorporation of its former parent company, Cambrian Railways, and one of the event marking this landmark occasion was the re-launching of locomotive No 9 Prince of Wales.

There was also another landmark for the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways last year with the complete rebuild of Porthmadog Harbour Station.

The three year, £1.3 million project was completed on schedule by volunteers, local contractors and railway staff and F&WHR chairman John Prideaux had considerable praise for all when he said: “Rebuilding and resignalling Harbour has been an ambitious project.

“It involved a huge number of volunteers, excellent local contractors and staff and called on skills more usually associated with the national network than with a heritage railway. The quality is outstanding and much remarked on by outside observers.”

He added: “It has also been a great example of teamwork, an exemplar of co-operation carried out over three winters and in some terrible weather, including 100mph gales. Completing such a complicated project on time and despite adverse conditions reflects huge credit on all the volunteers and staff who have been involved.”

And now the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland has unveiled plans for a proposed new station at Caernarfon.

Since the Welsh Highland opened in Caernarfon in 1997, when it ran just three miles to Dinas, the now 25 mile line – one of the UK's longest heritage railways - has been extended in stages, finally opening to Porthmadog in 2011. Throughout that time, Caernarfon Station has been a temporary structure.

With the opening of the £1.3 million redevelopment of Porthmadog Harbour Station in May last year, attention is now turning to the provision of a station of the high quality it believes the historic town of Caernarfon deserves.

Local residents have had an input on the design for this £1.2m project which will create new jobs and safeguard existing ones, in addition to generating extra traffic and revenue for both the F&WHR and the local economy.

The railway is working with key stakeholders including Gwynedd Council and the Harbour Trust, along with MPs and ministers in both Cardiff and Westminster, and it’s hoped the new station will help to increase visitor numbers to its route and other tourist facilities by an estimated 5,000 visitors per annum.

The F&WHR already provides significant benefits to the wider local economy, generating an estimated £25 million each year and creating more than 400 jobs.

It is expected that the additional visitors it will bring will provide two full-time jobs, an additional £750,000 of additional spend in the local economy, 19 additional indirect jobs locally, 152 safeguarded jobs locally through sustaining visitor numbers and new volunteering opportunities within the station and railway.

All of which just adds to the strong belief that the many preserved railway lines in the north-west of the Principality are steaming ahead on the right track.