Trawsfynydd and Blaenau Ffestiniog Railway

Somebody have beaten me to it below but here goes anyway 'I could imagine certain national Preseidents writing that way, limited, of course, to 140 characters!'

Steven

 

Well the NR letter is pretty damning, it looks like they were actually stopped from doing anything in August 2017

 

As Woodster21 has said, the termination letter sent to Trawsfynydd Railway Company (TRC) by Network Rail (NR) in August 2017 has been published on Facebook. I would not want to reproduce the letter here without permission of the moderators but the post in which it appears is on the Railway's public Facebook group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Bla...k/857094367804600/?comment_id=857630617750975

As a number of people have speculated, TRC have made several breaches of their licence but despite it being revoked in August, continued work and raise funds; this is shocking in my opinion. However, NR say that they are reserving the right to make a claim against TRC in respect of damage caused to a third party, so it is by no means over yet and Colin Dale could find himself in hot water. Further, certain individuals are saying they have performed an investigation into the finances (not clear if that's into the Company and/or Society), so there could be further bad news to come.

All in all, this is a disgraceful situation that tarnishes the whole preservation movement, when it had such promise. Had the TRC worked within the terms of their licence and worked with NR, then we could be having a very different conversation.

As a final insult, it would appear the original "management" (a wholly inappropriate term but there is nothing else I can think of!) are still living in denial and, unbelievably, have setup yet another Facebook group (link here if you're interested) claiming the current group is "fake"...! Spin worthy of Trump himself.

 

I see that page asks if anyone is willing to help the railway to be saved and Colin Dale has said "beware if you Do"

 

That Facebook page was actually setup by Stuart Reeder as a (perhaps mistimed/misguided) attempt to relaunch/refresh the setup.

In addition to the damage to the bridge, the unauthorised use of diggers, the unauthorised fires, the trolley crash, the lack of H&S and environmental procedures, the termination of the license, the continued work on the line despite the lack of license, the missing money from the 08 and 2HAP appeals, there are now accusations of money being used for driving lessons and unaccounted cash withdrawals.

What a total disaster and who knows how this may affect other projects trying to reopen a NR line.


Keith

 

The posts on the Facebook group have been deleted. An "admin" of the group claims it was 'a Genuin Mistake'. The one reply before comments were locked was 'Find that hard to believe'.

The same admin was also the one who shared the new page to that group.

 

I think that the word "Meltdown" is good to describe what has happened. From what has been posted about the income / expenditure I don't think we are at the end of this sorry story

 

Those last few posts above are, well, gobsmacking...

 

It was an interesting night on the Facebook pages! I'd thought all along that the people in charge didn't have a clue, and were just bumbling along. Its very sorry to hear, as people have donated their hard earned cash to the project, that has then gone in to the pockets of a couple of directors!

As said above, I can't see this being the end of the story.

 

A word of caution peeps. There's a big difference between what can be submitted as legal evidence and what, after due process, can reasonably accepted as a true and accurate record of events.

There's clearly a wordy firefight developing over the 'whys and wherefores' of what has or hasn't transpired concerning the Trawsfynydd line ...... and this 'ere forum of ours is not a court of law, but is subject to the laws on which courts adjudicate.

At this point, I'd be extremely careful about accepting partisan postings on social media as evidence of what may or may not have happened. Several posts echo the concern that events surrounding the T&BF risk tarnishing the wider heritage movement and I would urge any considering wading in to consider sources being cited as opinion forming.

There's a well known acronym in computing circles ... SISO ... which identifies the likely value of output (the "O" in SISO) based on dodgy input (the "I" in SISO and you should be able to guess what the "S" stands for!).

I don't think we're at the thread locking stage quite yet, but please folks, consider your words carefully before hitting "Reply to Thread".

 

Is it safe to comment that the FB posting shown in #430 appears to be libellous?

 

Potentially, but they seemed to be cleverly worded never to name who the accusation was at from how I read them...

 

I would think that the best resolution for this would be Network Rail taking up the trackwork & offering it to legitimate Welsh preserved lines.

Bob.

 

But surely they already have enough on their plates?

As the area is not exactly short on preserved railways, maybe something that offers an alternative attraction, like the velorail idea, would be a better way forward for this particular route.

 

Sadly I'm not surprised at this turn of events, given the history and the often incoherent babbling on the FB pages. However, now that Mr Reeder has tossed his hat in the ring, the new plan to reopen a further seven miles of track to Arenig must be a nailed-on certainty surely?

 

All we need is Alf Roberts to supply the (regauged) rolling stock and we've got a full house!

 

45015 for the reopening special?