Welcome in the hillsides for Castings after Welsh railway job

WALSALL castings specialist Majorfax has played a major part in extending the Ffestiniog railway in Wales, the oldest independent railway in the world.

As part of the £1.25m refurbishment project, which was partly funded by the Welsh government, the company manufactured 1,000 castings for cast-iron base plates required for the tracks, continuing the firm’s near 30-year involvement within the rail sector.

Made bespoke to the narrow gauge railway’s design requirements, the base plates were required to hold the rail to the wooden sleepers. As a result, the Ffestiniog railway was able to recover its long-lost railway link between Caernarfon and Porthmadog, with the line now covering a 40 mile route.

Majorfax managing director Steve Cooper said: “Working on such an iconic and traditional railway like the Ffestiniog has been a fantastic and interesting project for us.

“Over the past decades, we have worked with a great number of rail companies which has resulted in an unrivalled expertise when it comes to manufacturing rail specific castings.”

Majorfax has worked on a variety of other rail related projects, including orders from National Rail and London Underground.

Helping with the London Underground’s recent train and track refurbishments, Majorfax has produced castings for internal door and rail fittings as well as for the trains’ running gear.