The Snowdon Mountain Railway is a narrow gauge rack-and-pinion mountain railway in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It is a tourist railway that travels for 4.7 miles (7.6 km) from Llanberis to the summit of Snowdon, the highest peak in Wales.
Snowdon Mountain Railway in June 2012
Llanberis station
Llanberis Pass viewed from near Clogwyn station
Hebron station sign
A rack railway is a steep grade railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with this rack rail. This allows the trains to operate on steep grades above 10%, which is the maximum for friction-based rail. Most rack railways are mountain railways, although a few are transit railways or tramways built to overcome a steep gradient in an urban environment.
Locomotive 7 of the Vitznau-Rigi-Bahn, one of the last operational locomotives with a vertical boiler
The Pikes Peak Cog Railway is the highest rack railway in the world, at 14,115 ft (4,302 m).
The Pilatus Railway is the steepest rack railway in the world, with a maximum gradient of 48% and an average gradient of 35%.
The Mount Washington Cog Railway is the oldest mountain-climbing rack railway in the world, opening in 1868.
