A heritage railway is using water trains to help tackle the risk of fire, after one of the driest years on record.

Trains have been pulling water tanks – equipped with pumps and sprayers – to damp down the sides of railway tracks along the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways in Gwynedd. They aim to minimise the risk of steam engines causing fires but have also been able to help provide North Wales Fire and Rescue Service with water in inaccessible places to tackle other blazes.

Paul Lewin, general manager of the railway, said the water trains were like a "fire engine on rails", and had been used most weeks throughout the summer. The railway's biggest water tank holds 3,300 gallons (15,000 litres).

"I don't think more than a week has gone by without us needing to mobilise the water trains for some reason," said Mr Lewin. "A lot of that has been protective work, dousing the lineside with water to protect from fire."

However, he also said they were on hand to deliver water to North Wales Fire and Rescue Service in remote locations, if needed. "We had somebody set a car on fire near one of our embankments just last Thursday, which caused quite a considerable fire, and we were able to mobilise the water train and work with North Wales Fire and Rescue to send water down the embankment towards the car and the area that was on fire," he added.

The company runs about 40 miles (64km) of track between two lines around Porthmadog, Caernarfon and Blaenau Ffestiniog in Gwynedd. Mr Lewin said this year had been the driest he had seen in his 23 years at the railway.

On Tuesday afternoon, North Wales Fire and Rescue Service confirmed it was in attendance at a fire behind Maes Du Golf Club, Cwm Mountain, Llandudno, with a number of crews and wildfire units called to the scene.

A spokesperson for the service urged the public to stay away from the area and asked people in the Llandudno area to close their windows and doors, especially residents on Ffordd Maenan and Bodnant. Over the bank holiday weekend the public were also warned to stay away from a mountain fire after vehicles blocked routes the fire service were using to get to the scene.

Fire crews were called to Anglesey's Mynydd Bodafon on Saturday after receiving multiple callouts to the blaze on Friday evening. Residents of Mynydd Bodafon said they were left without water after the blaze, before supplies were restored on Monday around lunchtime.