Gwili Railway Gala - October 8th 2016

Hi all,

The information below was posted on the "Gwili Railway" thread - however I've added it here, to give it a wider audience.

Hope to see some of you on October 8th.

Cheers,

Phil.

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On Saturday October 8th 2016, the Gwili Steam Railway will be holding it’s annual Gala Day.

A busy timetable of steam and diesel hauled passenger and demonstration goods trains will be running throughout the day, as well as the diesel railcar (alongside other side attractions), providing plenty to see and do.

Parking
At Bronwydd Arms station, there will be limited car-parking (on a first come, first serve basis).

An overflow carpark will be provided at Bronwydd Village Hall (SA33 6BE), with a regular shuttle-bus providing a link to the railway all day. The village hall car-park is located on the B4301, half a mile North of Bronwydd Arms station - turn left out of the station, over the level crossing, and keep going for half a mile.

Reserved disabled parking will be available for blue-badge holders at Bronwydd Arms station.

Fares
Adult £12.75
Senior £11.50
Child £5.50
Family £29.50

Tickets are available on the day, and do not have to be bought in advance. Tickets are valid on all passenger trains, all day. Please note that it is not possible to travel on the demonstration goods train.

HRA passes (and other vouchers) are unfortunately not valid during this event.

Timetable
A copy of the working timetable will be published on the railway’s website closer to the event. The timetable will include a mixture of steam, diesel, railcar and goods trains - featuring all available locomotives on passenger trains.

The first train (diesel-hauled by D2178) departs Bronwydd Arms at 1000, with the first steam-hauled departure at 1030. The final train of the day will arrive back at around 1630.

Locomotives expected to be in use will be RSH 7170 No.71516 “Welsh Guardsman”, RSH No.7849 “Moorbarrow” (visiting for the season), class 03 D2178 and the resident cl.117 DMU.

Where to eat
Hot bacon rolls will be available on board the first train of the day (1000 from Bronwydd Arms, hauled by D2178), freshly cooked in the kitchen car. The Victorian Coaches cafe at Bronwydd Arms (located in the ex-Taff Vale Railway coaches, next to the signalbox) will be serving sandwiches, rolls and home-made cakes throughout the day.

A bar will be located on board the main service train, serving a range of drinks and alcoholic refreshment.

What’s on - Bronwydd Arms...

- Intensive timetable - lots of movements to see.
- S&T Museum (at the far end of the carpark, in the old signalbox from Fairfach)
- Routemaster RM308 on display, outside the signalbox.
- Cafe open all day (in two restored ex-Taff Vale Railway coaches, located next to the signalbox)
- Trade and display stands in the carpark (weather permitting), as follows:

• Mainline & Maritime - railway book and DVD sellers
  
  
• Garw Valley Railway Society
  
  
• Dean Forest Railway
  
  
• Rhondda Tunnel Society
  
  
• Gwili Railway Preservation Society
  
  
• RSPB - “Give Nature A Home”
  
  
• Milford Haven Model Engineering Society
  

The Milford Haven Model Engineers will be running a portable dual-gauge (3.5/5” gauge) passenger-carrying track at the North end of the car-park. Rides will be available for a donation to the society, using both steam and battery electric locomotives.

At Llwyfan Cerrig...

- TVR No.28 on static display in the yard - available for ‘cabbing’.
- Carriage & Wagon workshop - view progress on rolling stock currently ‘in the shops’.
- Travelling Post Office - TPO coach open and available to visit.
- Display stands from the Welsh Train Project (TVR 28) and the Gwili Vintage Carriage Group (GVCG).

The 7.25” gauge Llwyfan Cerrig Miniature Railway will be running throughout the day, with trains hauled by resident Roanoke 0-4-0PH “Ben” (2003).

Competitions
If you’re bringing the whole family to the gala day, why not try entering one of our competitions? There will be two running during the day - with the opportunity to win free tickets to the railway, or vouchers in the shop.

Competition 1: “Guess The Mystery Item”. On the Gwili Railway Preservation Society stand (located in the carpark at Bronwydd Arms), there will be six ‘mystery railway items’. Visitors will need to guess what the items are, write their answers on the sheet, and place them in the box. The winner will be contacted via email after the event, and will also be announced after the event, via social media.

Competition 2: “Nameplates”. A number of replica locomotive nameplates (all from a particular class of loco) will be dotted around the railway, on gala day. Match the names with the numbers (given to you with your ticket), and hand in your completed answer-sheet in the ticket office. The winner will be contacted via email after the event, and will also be announced via social media.

 

Hi all,

As part of the upcoming gala event, we're running a number of competitions. Some are 'family friendly' (as above), whilst one is 'enthusiast friendly' - see below...

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Win a free ticket to the gala

Over the course of the last century, the valleys of South Wales have changed immeasurably - in places, almost beyond in recognition. Locations of industrial and railway heritage are now almost unrecognisable - where it can be hard to imagine that a busy railway ever worked there at all.

However, there are some places in South Wales where there is still evidence of the ‘old railway’, if you know where to look. The pictures in the link below were all taken in August 2016 - each shows a building or structure that has a connection with a railway past.

The pictures can be found here: http://pleg.org.uk/files_ln/Gwili.pdf (with thanks to PLEG, for hosting the PDF document online).

To win a free ticket to the Gwili Steam Railway’s Autumn Gala (on Saturday October 8th), identify the locations and (where applicable) their past railway connections. Send your answers to the email address in the link, in the format as shown below:

1. = Grumbly Crossing, Merioneth & Llantisilly Traction Company Ltd.,
2. = Llaniog Station, M&LTC Ltd etc.

If more than one set of correct answers is received, a draw of the correct answers will be made. The winner will be notified via email on Saturday October 1st, and will also be announced on social media. The winning entry will win an adult ticket to the Gwili Steam Railway’s Gala event, and cannot be exchanged for cash value. Please note that no correspondence can be entered into.

Finally, the competition is intended purely as a bit of fun, in advance of an enjoyable and fun event. Pob lwc!

 

Hi all,

Just a quick reminder of the Gwili gala, which is approaching on Saturday October 8th.

Timetables are being checked at the moment - I will post a link when it's ready. First departure is expected to be 1000 ex Bronwydd Arms (hauled by D2178, with bacon rolls on board), followed by the first steam departure at 1030.

Fares etc are as above - hope to see some of you there.

Cheers,

Phil.

 

Hi all,

Gala timetables etc are now available - thanks to PLEG for hosting them online. Links are...

Public timetable: http://pleg.org.uk/files_ln/Gwilitt.pdf
Working timetable: http://pleg.org.uk/files_ln/Gwiliwtt.pdf

Fares: adult £12.75, senior £11.50, child £5.50, family £29.50.

Limited car-parking at Bronwydd Arms station - overflow carpark at Bronwydd Arms Village Hall (SA33 6BE). As an aside (not mentioned on this thread before), the West Wales O Gauge group will be holding their annual show inside the village hall during the gala - 7 layouts, 3 traders + demonstrations.

For those that are interested, we will be closing the event by posing Taff Vale Railway '01' class 0-6-2T No.28 (the last surviving Welsh-built standard-gauge steam locomotive, owned by the NRM) for photography, outside of it's usual stabling point in Llwyfan Cerrig yard. The locomotive will be especially positioned at both Llwyfan Cerrig and Bronwydd Arms, with a connecting rail-car service to allow passengers to photograph it.

To see it, alight at Llwyfan Cerrig at 1625, to watch TVR No.28 being shunted from the yard to the platform. The locomotive will be posed under the canopy of the station building (ex Felin Fach) from approx.1645-1700, before being steam-hauled (by RSH No.71516 "Welsh Guardsman") to Bronwydd Arms at 1705. A special connecting rail-car service will depart Llwyfan Cerrig at 1720, to return passengers to Bronwydd Arms by 1730 (see timetable).

At Bronwydd Arms, TVR No.28 will be positioned for photography until approx.1745 - before being shunted outside the signalbox (ex Llandybie, 1885) for more photographs.

The event will also feature a busy timetable, with plenty of things to see and do - trade stands, vintage bus etc, details further up the thread. Hope to see some of you there!

Cheers,

Phil.

 

Hi all,

Friday evening gala update: unfortunately RSH No.7849 "Moorbarrow" is unavailable for traffic tomorrow. As a result, this has meant that there are a few small changes towards the end of the day.

Revised public timetable: http://pleg.org.uk/files_ln/Gwilitt.pdf
Revised working timetable: http://pleg.org.uk/files_ln/Gwiliwtt.pdf

NB the demonstration goods train will unfortunately not be running. All other attractions will be happening as planned.

We will still be running the intensive three-train gala timetable (using RSH No.71516 "Welsh Guardsman", cl.03 D2178 and the cl.117 DMU) - along with all the usual gala side attractions, as described earlier in this thread.

The final moves of the day (moving TVR No.28 to Bronwydd Arms, to be posed for photographs) will also still be happening as planned - see timetable above for revised times. "Welsh Guardsman" will be doing the honours, to shunt TVR No.28 - providing some unusual photo opportunities.

Hope to see some of you there tomorrow.

Thanks (and apologies),

Phil.