This is a volunteer-led enterprise, and the chances are that if you're on the train you'll be looked after by people who are giving their time free. In fact, dozens of young people come to us each year to enjoy their holiday time working on the railway and making new friends for life.
Of the ÂŁ28m of funds needed to restore the Welsh Highland Railway, some ÂŁ14m of it came from generous supporters, from gifts, volunteering, cash donations and regular subscriptions. And this raises a vital point - the railways are not finished.
The Ffestiniog and the Welsh Highland looks professional and is wonderful to travel on. However, to make it sustainable in the long term it must be completed to the highest standards. New carriages are needed to carry visitors in the style and comfort that we all expect.
We would like our vintage carriages, dating from the 1860s and 1870s (the oldest carriages in regular operation in the world) to be reserved for special occasions; we need new sheds to keep our carriages out of the rain; we need a new engine shed to prevent those shiny Garratts from going rusty again; we would like to replace temporary buildings with permanent ones.
These two remarkable narrow gauge railways give so much pleasure to so many people, both those who work here and those who visit. Our supporting societies, numbering some 10,000, are helping us. Could you become part of the adventure? Gordon Rushton