The Gwili Railway thread

With all respect I doubt if more than a VERY few of the passengers on a Santa train care about the colour of the coaches.

 

The priority for a Santa train at the Gwili is to concentrate on simplifying services during the Santas, or at least it was when I was the Head Guard and Operations Manager. Toping and tailing allows a smoother operations, especially as very few of the customers would be particularly interested i9n seeing a loco run round it's train.

 

Maye Green paint was in stock.

 

Same philosophy on Cambrian (and no doubt many other heritage railways)

 

Took the family on the santa special and it was an absolute hit!

Fox and edwards seem to know how to deliver great events.

The gwili does have a great preservation angle and with 2 matching four wheelers almost complete for a victorian train and the service set is coming on with one carraige almost complete in Cranmore and another with fundraising live - in a couple of years a nice maroon set will be on the cards kept in the dry in the new shed. Testament to the railway being able to put on a seven coach train and two steam locos in steam - with the engines now owned by the railway or its a associated bodies. This was unimaginable when I volunteered 13 years ago.

It's an interesting topic with l150, I would love to see it in great western or br colours but the other members of my group have no real interest in railways and were so much more interested to hear the loco had pulled the orient express and been around europe! Again something not normal for a prairie. Or relevant to the carmarthen to aberyswyth line. Just the fact the railway owns a loco like that is a dream come true for many supporters. For years an austerity and 3 carraiges was the staple of the railway.

A prairie with 3 chocolate and cream 4 wheelers or even tvr 28 in a few years time is a dream that I am sure will be come a reality in time.

The management should be commended as the railway is lightyears away from what it was only a decade ago and the mis match carriages is a symptoms of dramatic growth.

Tom

 

I do wish they could go to CynwilElfed, though..

 

I am sure they will. They have the crane for it!

I guess the station buildings in abergwili, engine shed extension and the service coaches are the priority right now but I think after that attention may turn northwards. I am sure @Matt78 will give us an update in time.

Cheers, Tom

 

Quite possibly true, but I was asking what people on here think. And to keep it open I was deliberately not stating any opinion myself.

 

They key point is we are busy working through our set and are extremely grateful to the three private owners for the hire of there coaches.

The interesting comparison in the photo is between the Williamsons Maroon of the BSK and the Craftmaster Maroon of the CK.

Both supposedly the same colour but different in tone when viewed in the flesh.

 

And of course at the end of the day the colour is simply the final finish. Like other railways we are wrestling with the end of the residual life on many MK1’s bought straight from service. Our TSO was acquired from BR in 1993 and the current overhaul has seen a completely new floor, new lower outer sides, new ends, new ceiling panels, new interior side panels and 2 new doors and a raft of other jobs.

 

Fair comment. I understand that in BR (and GWR) days there was often a slightly difference actual colour depending upon where a coach was built/repainted.

 

The Santas have been running with 78019 on the front and the class 14 on the back on the NVR this year, except for yesterday when the 14 was replaced by 45 041. I'm sure T&T makes life a lot easier.

 

What is there to form an attraction if that became the destination though? Increasingly folk seem to want more than just a train ride

 

it’s a fair point. We have gone down the road of basing some activities at Llwyan Cerrig station on the return trip, where we have a museum , TPO and miniature railway, staff to talk to the passengers etc. . There is other time to visit the loco and chat to the crew as well. All this seems to go down as well as, if not better than the actual train ride.


Extending to Conwil wouldn’t necessarily detract from this, extending further almost certainly would.

 

It would be a northern terminus with a car park though... and it would also take the running line past 5 miles and provide for a better rum round loop and some more scenery.

 

But is that likely to pay the way or is it going to be a drain on resources both in reaching there and maintaining it? The station site (a private dwelling) isn't that near to Cynwyl Elfed and part of the trackbed is road access to property across the river. Personal Opinion: I'd have rather seen them work to reach Carmarthen itself on the narrow sliver of land available before building a new bridge across the river. But the costs for such a venture have skyrocketed since a feasibilty study was launched. And the carriage shed all but blocks that.

 

The station site at Conwil is owned by the railway, the house is private but would not effect operations. As for access that again is across railway land but is covered by our LRO so there is no risk to northern extension, I am sure Matt can give chapter and verse.

As for extending back to Carmarthen town it is far more challenging than simply laying track and building a bridge the geometry and the different levels as the bypass has been dug down mean it would be similar sums of cash RVR, WHR for very little benefit.

 

Yes, the challenges going north v south are very different.

going south - (towards Carmarthen town); the
Railway does not own the land nor does it have a TWO/LRO for this section which would have to be obtained. Rebuilding the bridge over the Towy is a particularly challenging task - if not virtually impossible.

going north- the railway owns the land and possesses a LRO all the way to Conwil. Trackbed access does not impact the section to the station. The biggest challenge is to repair the 3 river bridges already in place.

At the end of the day the railway has seen a period of rapid expansion in the past 3 years or so (new car park. ; platform ; carriage shed ; purchase of a locomotive and expensive carriage refurbishments). These developments have improved long term sustainability. It is debatable whether extending north would add to this ; I don’t think going south can be justified on a cost benefit basis.

 

Thank you, Matt. I had forgotten about the TWO and LRO which are just one facet of a very big job.