The Bangor and Carnarvon Railway was a railway company promoted to build a branch railway connecting Caernarfon with the main line at Bangor, in north-west Wales. It opened in 1852 as far as Port Dinorwic (now Y Felinheli) and was extended to Caernarfon later in the same year. At first Carnarvon station was a terminus, but a through line from Afon Wen and a branch line to Llanberis were built by other companies. At first those lines were not connected but in 1870 the Carnarvon Town Line was opened, penetrating the town by a short tunnel and connecting the other lines. The ordinary use of the line declined after 1945, but the Investiture of Prince Charles at Carnarvon in 1969 involved special use of the branch. However it closed in January 1970. In May of the same year, there was a catastrophic fire in the Britannia Bridge and the rail-borne container traffic was unable to connect Holyhead for the Irish ferry services. Caernarfon goods station was quickly brought back into use, in June 1970. When the Britannia Bridge was reopened, the Caernarfon line was finally closed on 5 January 1972. Conception The Chester and Holyhead Railway opened its line from Chester to Bangor on 1 May 1848. This was followed on 1 August 1848 by opening on Anglesey, from Llanfair to Holyhead. The intervening section was delayed by the construction of the bridge over the Menai Strait, which came to be known as the Britannia Bridge; it opened in 1850. Caernarfon (then spelt Carnarvon) was an established regional centre, and a rail connection had long been considered. The Chester and Holyhead Railway had contemplated building a branch line, but in fact it was a private scheme which gained support, to Port Dinorwic only at first. The Bangor and Carnarvon Railway was authorised on 20 May 1851. Its Act permitted the Chester and Holyhead Railway to work the line. It was to make a junction with the C&HR main line at a junction a little east of Britannia Bridge. Port Dinorwic had been provided with a dock in 1828, its principal traffic being the export of slate. The Dinorwic Railway connected to it, superseded from 1843 by the Padarn Railway. The Bangor and Carnarvon Railway reached Port Dinorwic on 1 March 1852, and the chief traffic of the new railway was slate. Passenger traffic started nine days later. It was a