Trainees at Ffestiniog and Welsh Highlands Railways have been sharing their experiences of being part of an ambitious and innovative two-year training programme at the company.

The programme was set up after the railway received £454,000 in National Lottery grants to help encourage careers in the wider heritage section.

Edward Laxton, 26, says the trainee programme represents a steep learning curve, but he couldn’t be happier.

“I think I learn more in a day here than several months at school,” he said. “I could stop now, and I would have learned enough for it to be life changing.”

Laurie Price, 29, feels the same way. Like Ed, she is focussing on the maintenance of steam engines during her year as a trainee and her only regret is that she didn’t enrol in a similar course at a younger age.

She said: “I wish I’d done this 10 years ago, but I’m glad I’m here now. We’re here four days a week and we go to college one day a week to get qualifications in engineering.”

Laurie added: “In museums it’s all about preserving the objects – here it is making them work efficiently and well,” she explains.

“You’re getting the locomotives ready for the season and there are deadlines that can’t be missed. I’m not an office kind of person. I much prefer coming in here and getting covered in dirt and going home knackered.”

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