The Croesor Tramway operated in various forms for over seventy years, so the appearance of Henry Joseph Jack on the stage for a mere six years would suggest that he was a minor player in the fortunes of the tramway. This was far from the case, Jack was neither a railwayman nor an engineer, but without his presence it is possible that the narrow gauge railways of North Wales would have faded into obscurity between the wars.
Jack was born in Swansea in 1869 and of his early years there is little on record. By 1912 he is recorded as being a Wine Merchant in his home town, but shortly afterwards his area of influence moved to North Wales, Jack himself moving to Maenan Manor, Llanrwst. Jack became a member of Caernarvonshire County Council, later becoming Chairman.
In 1918 the Aluminium Corporation of Dolgarrog acquired a controlling interest in the North Wales Power & Traction Company, the organisation behind the Porthmadog, Beddgelert & South Snowdon Railway. Jack by this time had become Managing Director of the Aluminium Corporation and as a result took a place on the board of the P.B.&.S.S.R.
During 1921 management changes took place that facilitated building the Welsh Highland Railway. Jack was now Chairman of the N.W.P.&.T.Co., he had become Receiver of the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways in April 1921 and then following Dolgarrog's acquisition of a controlling interest in the Festiniog, Jack became Chairman of the Festiniog Railway during July 1921. As a result of this, Jack was now in control of all the passenger carrying narrow gauge railways of that part of North Wales (to add to this, in 1922 Jack became a director of the Snowdon Mountain Railway which was also part of the Dolgarrog empire).
On 18th October 1921, the Light Railway Commissioners held a public enquiry into the Dolgarrog regime's plans for the Welsh Highland Railway. The Chairman of the Commissioners was quite blunt and told Jack that many local people held him in suspicion, being both a member of the County Council and in control of all the railways that were to make up the greater Welsh Highland/Festiniog empire. The Chairman told him that many people felt he wielded far too much influence, indeed it seems that Jack was always regarded as an upstart and an outsider from South Wales.
The Public Enquiry went the way of the railway and on 1st March 1922, Jack, together with Sir John Stewart and Evan R Davies became the first directors of the Welsh Highland Railway (Light Railway) Company. As was to be expected, the new board were very upbeat about the future of the new empire and in the North Wales Chronicle, Jack stated that the WHR desired to put the railways in such a state that they would not continue to be a disgrace to the county. Jack predicted an upturn in the slate industry, but also suggested that the WHR would be most reliant on holiday traffic. He cannot be blamed for failing to foresee the terminal failure in the slate industry, but he did have the foresight to see the possible earnings from tourist travel.
The April 1924 AGM was a stormy affair and Jack was made the scapegoat for the losses made from the start of operation. Jack cannot be blamed for failing to predict the cut throat rates that local bus operators were charging which were putting each other out of business, never mind the impact they were having on the FR/WHR passenger traffic. Jack took the blame for the lack of success of the WHR and resigned with effect from 1st November 1924, being replaced by the company's engineer, Colonel Holman F. Stephens, who became chairman and managing director during 1925. This marked the end of the Dolgarrog regime on the railways.
The most visible and enduring impact that Jack had on the WHR was the result of his insistence that the stock be cut down to run through the Moelwyn Tunnel of the Festiniog. As a result, Moel Tryfan and the carriages were cut down successfully, but Russell was butchered in vain and only once ran above Boston Lodge following the modifications.
Completing the story of Jack's career in North Wales, on the 2nd November 1925 disaster struck the village of Dolgarrog. The Eigiau Dam of the Aluminium Corporation collapsed, water leaked under the dam which itself remained intact. The water poured into the Coedty Reservoir which being small was unable to hold it. The reservoir failed and the power station and the village of Dolgarrog, one mile below, were engulfed. Most of the villagers were in the Assembly Hall for the weekly film show and so escaped, being on higher ground. Sixteen lives were lost as a result of the collapse. Jack emerged badly from this affair and the rest of his life is shrouded in mystery. It appears that he changed his name to Henry Jack McInnes and died in Tunbridge Wells in 1936.
Boyd J.I.C. - Narrow Gauge Railways In North Caernarvonshire, Volume 1, Oakwood Press 1990
Boyd J.I.C. - Narrow Gauge Railways In South Caernarvonshire, Volume 1, Oakwood Press 1988
Boyd J.I.C. - Narrow Gauge Railways In South Caernarvonshire, Volume 2, Oakwood Press 1989
Boyd J.I.C. - The Festiniog Railway, Volume 1, Oakwood Press 1975
Johnson P. - Portrait of the Welsh Highland Railway, Ian Allan, 1999