To celebrate the reopening of the first part of the original line to Waunfawr, a gala was held in September 2000. There were worries that the attendance might be down following of fuel shortages caused by protests at oil refineries, but the protests were called off the day before the gala and plenty of people turned out to ride on and photograph the trains. With a full fuel tank I set off early at a leisurely pace from Suffolk, but finding petrol readily available on the M6 my right foot returned to its normal leaden state and I arrived at Caernarfon in time to ride behind 'Russell' and her first passenger train along the reopened line. The society AGM that evening in Waunfawr (with special heritage train hauled by 'Caernarfon Castle') was delayed whilst many more members than expected were squeezed into the hall, a further indication of the success of the weekend.
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