Teifi Valley Railway

There is a difference in the movement between those that enjoy restoring versus those that enjoy operating. Relaying a piece of line that has been vacant trackbed for many years is just as significant as restoring a loco or carriage. It is hard to beat the satisfaction of bringing an old railway trackbed back to life. This will continue to be a draw for many and as a result the "expansion" of the heritage network is I am sure set to continue into the future. Of course it is infinitely more expensive now than it was 20 years ago but that won't stop people trying!

 

It's interesting that this is not the first time this has happened in South Wales. The Gwili for example is made up of at least 4 different preservation societies that have all over a period of time decided to work together. These being the original Gwili preservation society, vale of Neath, Caerphilly and Swansea vale.
During this period we have also seen the fall out at Barry and the subsequent relocation.

I think it fair to say preservation in Wales is about 20-30 years behind our counter parts in England and as such some railway will thrive such as P&B etc and others will struggle.

 

Draper seemed to think that there was something "wrong" about getting Lottery money. "Cap in hand" was an expression he used although why money gained from this source was any worse than from others was not at all clear to me.

I do think that railway preservation is still a bit immature. Even well established organisations have been guilty of letting equipment and infrastructure deteriorate because effort and funding have been concentrated on extensions and the like. Adding totally new projects only adds to this.

PH

 

That could be the subject of a whole new thread...

Both Gwili and P and B started with minimal infrastructure, and a single line of modest length. Even Swanage had the platform and buildings when they started.

South Wales was a depressed area in the 80's and Local Authority policies did not have heritage railways at the top their lists for some time after that. This trend has only been changed recently with the last 5 years seeing both the Gwili and P and B receive significant grant aid for expansion via local authorities.

Many of the "other" schemes also pinned their hopes on LA support which didn't emerge and this was a factor on the closure of Swansea Vale and Vale of Neath for example.

Not being a particularly affluent area also resulted in limited volunteer pools and lack of financial benefactors which could have otherwise assisted development of the lines. There were also many fragmented schemes with until recently no clear "winners" in terms of consistent operations capable of having sustained success.

Hopefully this is changing now, but with one major narrow guage line (Brecon) and two standard guage (Gwili and P and B) it would seem that there is little room for any further schemes.

 

Hopefully this is changing now, but with one major narrow guage line (Brecon) and two standard guage (Gwili and P and B) it would seem that there is little room for any further schemes.[/QUOTE]

So what about the Garw Valley project being positioned between the Gwili and P&B schemes? With apologies for drifting off narrow gauge and Teifi in particular.

 

Excellent analysis by Matt78. In the case of the TVR, the money for the original purchase of the trackbed came from public donations and Society raffles, jumble sales and other fundraising activities. The site was heavily overgrown and was cleared and had track laid by a Manpower Services scheme supported by local authorities. The Company then had an income from ticket sales. It was always recognised that any buildings/rolling stock/extensions etc would have to be financed by grant aid - but the grants were always at a low percentage of the total costs. Wales had a lot of EU money in the late 90s and 00s and local authorities were begging people for projects to be put forward so that they could benefit from "management" fees. The main problem at TVR has always been shortage of volunteers.

 

Re Elizabeth's post above it does point out one problem that seems to be appearing on several lines, some established for many years.
That is the lack of Volunteers and new young blood coming through to the Heritage Railway movement.
I know we can all post a few exceptions to this, but have others noticed the lack of new faces and more reliance on the regular ones?

Without Volunteer Input I cannot see this Narrow gauge relaid and being run as it should.

 

So what about the Garw Valley project being positioned between the Gwili and P&B schemes? With apologies for drifting off narrow gauge and Teifi in particular.[/QUOTE]

Yes the Garw has ambitions but if you compare what has been achieved there in 20 years versus what (say) the Helston Railway has achieved in 10 then it appears that significant developments at the Garw must await pots of funding for it to establish an operation of sorts.

 

"Without Volunteer Input I cannot see this Narrow gauge relaid and being run as it should"

All the more reason to see what can be saved. Approaches to purchase the steam locos might well be made now (being based in Sweden means that's not easy for me to do!). I'd be most interested if anyone were to contact whoever's in charge now and enquire if they want to sell ...

 

I have taken up the challenge and emailed the TVR at the address given on the society webpage (which address took sone finding!).
I wonder whether I'll get the courtesy of a reply?
Anyhoo - anyone interested in putting in some moolah to a Sgt Murphy rescue fund, please stand by! (Mind you, I reckon they'd rather let it stay unused than sell it...)

 

I too would be interested -as long as we could take it to Woody Bay, of course!!

 

BTW - anyone hazard a guesstimate as to how much a nearly overhauled Ker Stuart 0-6-2 would cost??

 

Me too, potentially

 

Why is this?

 

If it's in middle of nowhere and no Volunteer accommodation or cheap B&Bs nearby this will of course hit any rescue bid?
People from further afield have to know of its problems etc, and requiring Volunteer help, if other Heritage lines and similar nearer them, how do you attract here?

 

I'm really not sure why anyone is still taking any notice of Michael Draper's views. Wasn't he subsequently found to have been cooking the books?


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pmh_74: I hope you have good evidence for that allegation, or that Mr Draper and his lawyers aren't overly sensitive to potentially libelous claims on an open forum...?