FR & WHR & WHHR News

if the whhr pickering, that's very interesting, providing a new phase in whhr/fr co-operation. i believe that the vor van is currently being worked on quite extensively, so that'd have to be complete for g's farm services for this to happen. james apologies for no caps - one-hand typing!

 

The plan is the Pickering Brake is only in the set from the end of April until the event in June. The new Ashbury van 2 will be used after that. I expect this train is supposed to run with a double engine if one is available.

 

yes - understand. it'll make a very good addition to what is now a very nice rake. however, my concern was with the effect of its absence on whhr services. the other whhr passenger brake is under restoration. years ago the four-wheeled coach was converted to become, if necessary, an emergency passenger brake - if that is still possible, that may be a solution. i am sure that all this has been carefully considered by both organisations - my original post was designed to congratulate fr and whhr on this further co-operation. james

 

I hadn't realised it was dual braked! Definitely good to see the two railways working together, though. Let's hope it could pave the way for similiar collaborations in future. Russell on the Aberglaslyn trains, anyone?

 

IIRC the dual braking and able to be used on both railways was a condition of the sponsor.

 

i guess it may be an impossible dream - but imagine a future where both whhr and the soon-to-be-launched fr (nwngr) rakes were also dual-braked! the baldwin already is, of course, and i understand that gowrie will be as well.
and as far as russell on the aberglaslyn is concerned (above) - i believe that the main purpose of the siding at beddgelert when built was to accommodate such at-that-time-planned heritage services - though it's been out of use for several years, it could presumably be sorted out with little effort russell has been dual-braked in the past, although it was hard to find room for all the extra pipework (and such a course remains, of course, controversial) james (usual apologies for lack of caps)

 

Given that none of those locos actually work at the moment it really does seem like an impossible dream.

None of the FR NWNGR coaches are dual braked and there are no plans to do so either.

The siding at Beddgelert is not closed according to the rule book or weekly notice. It doesn't currently have a ground frame though. I'm not sure you would need to use it anyway.

What really needs to happen is a banging together of heads over Pen-y-mount junction to come up with a plan that could actually be implemented this century. The existing proposal is so complicated it just gets pushed into the too difficult pile.

 

yes - absolutely agree. having been involved in the original negotiations in the late noughties, i have been trying to get that moving (including on this forum, and with both railways) many many times. no real interest from anyone, tbh.
so i then tried to promote the idea of having pym platform 3 as a request stop on the main line, which would be some sort of start - in the right direction. as a request stop: then if there's no traffic - no need for main line train to stop. not hard to adjust whhr train times to suit - ticketing not a problem with goodwill (was not at those galas) and so on and so on. i wrote an entire protocol for it - advantages to both railways, and hardly any disadvantages. imagine turning up at tremadog road and being offered an alternative to the short run and shed tour - a chance to go to beddgelert! more passengers in the intermediate stations carriage will always be welcome.
so why, i hear you cry, not just start at harbour? well, the package includes the gelert's farm museum....
but again, frankly no real interest. does seem a pity if a pressure group for this - has to be on both railways - were to be set up, i'd be happy to help from a distance james as usual, apologies for one-handed typing j

 

Coverage of The Snowdonian on Saturday 25th April - with locomotives Blanche and David Lloyd George (on the Ffestiniog) and Linda, Prince and Lyd on the Welsh Highland.

 

Why is the WHHR air braked or was the WHR originally air braked?

 

It was originally air braked when it was the NWNGR