The Gwili Railway thread

A few other bits of news-

We ran double headed Austerities as part of the mini gala we held yesterday - photo attached

Meanwhile in the shed restoration of GWR coach 216 continues, the main outstanding effort is on door work. All the hinges have been re plugged and fixed, and the doors are being repaired one by one and returned to the coach. So far two are done with one more ready - so another 7 to go!

Also in the shed is a Ministry of Supply GW van which is having new side planking and general repairs.

TVR 28 was having the brake rigging attached prior to departure to Shildon by road next week

Ballasting on the extension due to take place later this month.

Work on Olwen's boiler continues as time permits.

Regards

Matt

 

Update

We are just into the final round of ballasting this weekend and have top ballasted around 1/4 mile on the extension today. The final part to be done is the platform road, hopefully tomorrow.

Regards

Matt

 

Some photos of the ballasting last weekend - photos of the platform, looking south from Bronwydd Crossing and north towards the road bridge.

Regards

Matt

 

Champagne moment....first steam seen at Abergwili Jtn since 1964- a good week for welsh preservation ....

Regards

Matt

 

Contacting the mags now... I'd also appreciate an email digest on what's going on so that I can pass the news on to the relevant people.

 

You must all be, er, really chuffed......... well done!

Hope the Champers tasted nice.

 

Hello,
Well Done!
The next step?

Nick
GWR 813 Fund

 

Well first I'm just going to finish my champagne...lol

There are still a number of jobs to do before we can open the line but we will continue to work towards this and once we have a date it will be announced. Many of the jobs are relatively minor but they have to be done.

Regards

Matt

 

Confirmation in this months Steam Railway that Ring Haw will visit for the summer months in 2015 to support the home fleet of Welsh Guardsman, Haulwen and hopefully Olwen.

Regards

Matt

 

In Welsh (article is the same) with a video featuring our own Mr Phillips and waterfall:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cymrufyw/30494508

Still a lot to do between now and public opening. A plan is already being hatched for the next stage at Abergwili, although further information will be revealed in due course.

 

Hey everyone, any news with the railway ? Santa season looked to go well!

Tom

 

Hi Tom

Yes we had a good Santa season and all went well. Now into the winter work programme with various repairs and maintenance to be done. The highlights this year should include the return to steam of Olwen, maybe the debut of a vintage carriage (probably GWR 216) the hire of Ring Haw from the NNR for the main season, visiting locos for the October Gala and of course the opening of the extension....

All with the usual caveats.....


Regards

Matt

 

Hi Matt,

These are both probably the silliest ideas you have ever heard, however I am going to say them anyway haha.

Firstly do you think there is enough room for a few plots of houses at Abergwili Junction? if planning could be obtained this could fund the entrance road?

Also to help raise funds for the restoration of an austerity would it be possible to aesthetically make it look like another loco? This sounds more absurd as I type it, but something like a dean goods removing the saddle tank. Using the old LMS tanker frame as its tender, a mainline loco, with the efficiency of an austerity may be easier to make an appeal for?

Cheers,

Tom

 

Don't know about the houses but the Austerity conversion has been done before. One of the Austerities at the MHR was converted to "Douglas" for their Friends of Thomas do's but was sold a couple of years ago and is undergoing restoration at Ribble Steam Railway. Personally I don't see the point in converting another - Gwili isn't long enough to require the extra coal and water capacity and you'd just be making a 'mongrel'. Ray.

 

Hi Ray, it probably is a bit daft! However the line has two austerities already and I was thinking something a bit different may make the raising of funds easier. Well the extension may make it more helpful

Tom

 

Hi Tom

There are no silly questions just sensible answers ☺

Firstly planning - I think that our land would be outside the town development zone so doubtful that residential housing could go on the site, plus how many would live next to a steam railway?

Conversions- I would tend to agree with the above poster, there isn't the requirement for a tender version of an austerity for coal and water capacity. A Thomas style conversion has been considered in the past, but we presently don't run these events so the idea is not practical anymore.

Rather than another austerity we perhaps should be looking at variety, we will have Ring Haw this summer, and hopefully some ex BR types in the future (nothing planned at this stage though)

Regards

Matt

 

Hi Matt,
Thanks for your sensible answers!

I think it would be worth looking into. There is already a house there and it is land locked land by a dual carriageway. They would be no closer than the homes in bronwydd and the hospital is a major employer and they would be real close to that.

With all these new builds happening I just though this would be a realistic option of having something more in keeping! I personally really like the austerities but something a bit different maybe an extinct ex gwr tank engine? Like the wsr mogul? Something different to give people a reason to be interested! Although I Spose tvr 28 is in this category it surely would be far more expensive?

Thanks again Matt!

Tom

 

While we're talking locos, can someone correct the Locos web page? http://www.gwili-railway.co.uk/en/enthusiasts/steam-locomotives.aspx
Either 'Our steam fleet is comprised of ...' or 'Our steam fleet comprises...' The current wording is not grammatical in any variety of English!
I know we're not supposed to worry about grammar and spelling on here, but this makes the webpage look sloppy so bad for railway's image.

 

Well it would probably make more sense for commercial development as opposedto residential as the site could feature the raikway car park and (say) a travel lodge.

Yes TVR28 would tick the boxes although it is part of a partnership and would probably be more of a roving ambassador with more sporadic use opposed to being on a 20 day on-off use on regular services. This is just speculation on my part though. In any case it has to be restored first!

The Austerities do have a certain amount of charm, although perhaps it's been so long since we had anything else I've forgotten! I have fond memories of most of the ex BR visitors though.....hopefully it won't be too long before we see something similar.

Regards

Matt