A PORTHMADOG railway has secured a grant for nearly £500,000 to help train the engineers of the future.

Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways has received a grant of £464,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) under its Skills for the Future programme for the Heritage Trainees project.

The project aims to share the rich vein of railway heritage skills with a wider community.

The project aims to introduce a diverse new audience to a heritage organisation of national importance.

This will culminate in 20 people being offered year-long traineeships to develop their heritage skills, gain a greater understanding of the broader heritage scene and act as messengers for heritage within communities not normally associated with strong heritage links.

The programme is expected to commence in the spring of 2018 and the first 10 trainees to be in post by the autumn.

Read the full story in Thursday’s north editions of the Cambrian News