s, following the example of earlier builders of sea walls in the
district, purchased the Tan-yr-allt estate, and soon set to work to make
dry land of a large part of the ocean bed. He erected what, in the
locality, is commonly called a "cob," the great embankment which runs
across the mouth of the former estuary, shut out the sea and recaptured
4,500 acres from its rapacious maw. Behind the shelter of this
embankment (along the top of which the Festiniog Railway runs), the new
line was comparatively easily carried over the marshy ground, and no
greater gulf had to be bridged than the narrow channel in which the
river, flowing down from the bosom of Snowdon, some eight or nine miles
away, is now confined.

But there were other difficulties to be faced--difficulties not so easily
overcome as even mountain torrents and sandy estuaries. The hand of the
law was heavy upon the constructors, and even when the line was
practically ready for opening, so long a delay took place in settling
outstanding claims that the track became almost derelict. For these were
anxious days for railway promoters. The rosy promise of rich revenues
from remote Welsh lines failed to mature, and Mr. Savin, heavily weighted
with the immensity of his undertakings, and crushed by the costly
construction of his great hotels, sank under the burden. He faced his
financial embarrassments with characteristic pluck, but it was a dark
hour in the annals of British finance far beyond the boundaries of the
Principality, amidst which came the sensational failure of the Overend
and Gurney Bank, and, so far as the Welsh Coast Railway in particular was
concerned, the interminable legal wrangles not only cost money, but
postponed the hour at which the line could earn its keep.

Even under these adverse circumstances trains did occasionally run,
carrying pigs from Pwllheli, or a small load of coal or timber for some
outlying farmer or builder, or a passenger or two willing to take the
risk of an adventurous journey liable at any moment to be brought to a
sudden termination by the barriers of the bailiffs. But even bailiffs
are human; and at night, when they slept, or were turned away by subtle
hospitality at some neighbouring hostelry, journeys could be made,
dashing down from Portmadoc to Barmouth and back with all the
exhilaration of a secret expedition.

Eventually assistance came to the hard-pressed promoters, and the line
was officially opened for traffi