© Cătălin Munteanu

In winter time Helsinki is caught in frozen waters. The Baltic Sea and the lakes around the city are covered with a compact coat of ice. The Finns trust the ice and they walk over it. If you dare to pass the seashore and follow the footsteps, you will find yourself surrounded by unlimited white. After the point when you will be thinking about coming back, a tiny island will emerge from the mist. Here, silent peace is to be found.

This is a project about Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways, two steam-hauled unique narrow gauge railways that have been running through the heart of Snowdonia, in North Wales, for almost two centuries now.

These two steam railways were rebuilt in the last decades with the help of hundreds of volunteers from all over the world. Through this project, their struggle to maintain the railway working is revealed. From the workshops, where locomotives and wagons are restored or built brand new, from the line itself, where the personnel bring the engine to  life in order to drag the carriage through the dramatic scenery of Snowdonia. The purpose of the project is not only to present the facts, but also for the photographs and the video to be used as advertising to reach those who want to join a long-term society, a society with a place for everyone, but most of all, a society for those with a real and great passion for steam trains.

From the first gravity trains to the pleasure travel today, these trains are kept alive not only by water and coal, but also by the fire carried by the hundreds of volunteers who are working endlessly in order to maintain the sparkle bright.

From Caerleon to Caernarfon and from the mountains to the sea, this land is a merry one. Over the misty hills the Sun will always rise and spread its warmth, even when it's pouring rain.

If you want to try your photographic skills, join me in a photo tour in Wales and London, from 24 of October until 1st of November 2014!