Vale of Glamorgan Railway

It's now mid January; any (preferrably good) update to report on this situation please?

 

I spoke to one of the guys from the railway whilst in work, and he says they have been kicked off the land within 2 weeks and they are moving to the garw valley railway, Nick (d1074) please clarify mate, as I'm not a member anymore, due to my work commitments and sea cadets as I'm a instructor and that takes up more of my time
but it is a shame it is closing, mind you VOG council rather spend their money on fat cats than a railway which had loads of potential
cheers
rob

 

What a shame, after all their hard work. What will become of the stock and buildings etc?

 

This just shows how we must never take anything for granted; I hope something can be retrieved as people at barry have put in alot of hard work over the years.

Probably, as a general comment, the coming years will be ones of consolodating and preserving what we've got. Joe Public will be increasingly squeezed as more and more of his money has to be syphoned off to pay taxes to Britain's bankrupt banks and to pay for their executive bonuses.

 

Thanks for that. Legal question; what would happen if the presevationists declared:-
"This eviction has come as a surprise. We do not have the funds to move OUR locos and rolling stock away, especially at short notice".
If a family is evicted from a Council House in many parts of Britain the policy is for the family to take essentials only and then the house is secured by the Council until the family have foulnd alternative accommodation and then they can return to remove their possessions.

 

For those wanting the "official" version ........

Council ...... http://www.valeofglamorgan.gov.uk/o...vember_08/new_operator_for_heritage_rail.aspx

New operators .... http://www.cambrianco.co.uk/#nogo - they sound similar to the Ealing company who ran Dartmoor and Weardale lines?

 

Cambrian Transport appear to have an excellent c.v. - How many staff/consultants do they employ ?

Bob.

 

Funny that i was just thinking those same thoughts!

 

The council have issued us an "eviction notice" giving us 1 month to vacate the site. This was issued just prior to Xmas so it kindly allowed us to sort matters out over the Xmas/New Year holiday. ](*,) ](*,) Not the most beneficial of situations obviously. We are currently in receipt of legal advice with regard to the eviction issue so I cannot discuss that further.

The buildings are now under the control of the new operator. We will no longer have access to major assets such as the buffet and shop - which form a major part of the revenue stream, or the basics such as the public toilets. As regards the rolling stock, the VGR (or private owners) are responsible for the removal at their own costs.

We are indeed in advanced negotiations with the Garw Valley Railway, but these are still subject to approval by their membership. Should we receive approval to move, some of our rolling stock will have to be sold to raise funds to move the remainder. On a positive note, any move will benefit both the groups as we have stock (but no railway), the GVR have some stock and a very pretty 5 mile run down a heavily wooded former mining valley. The line is yet to formally open, but I understand is to open later this year or certainly early 2010.

For those unaware of the GVR, it is based at Pontycymmer, one of the Bridgend Valleys to the north of the M4 at Jct 36. Nearest station is Tondu on the Maesteg branch.

The situation is still very fluid, but I'll update the forum when we can release something more definite.

Thanks,

Nick
Director, VGR (and 1/8th owner of D9521.)

 

http://www.cobwebs.uk.net/garwrailway

 

Wow - they really need to redesign that website to make it more user friendly!
c'mon folks, let's have some proper titled buttons, some photos, a map etc!! \/

 

Just about the worst designed website I've seen.

 

I was going to say, preserved railway websites are quite bad usually, but that's on a new level.

 

I see the Hunslet Diesel shunter and the class 14 have already moved to the Dean Forrest railway.

 

Hang on, hang on! This appears to be a webhost that assists small community groups (Scouts etc) get a presence on the web. I'm sure something more suitable will appear in the fullness of time when the line develops.

 

Meiriongwril
Wrote

nanstallon
wrote

Corbs
Wrote

So can I take it that you three have offered your time and expertise to this railway and made arrangements to build them a new and wonderful web site?

 

Hello Gordon and Happy New Year!

You can probably imagine the stress and heartache that goes into a fairly rapid removal of stock, only for someone to criticise the website of what might be our host railway in the future (subject to agreement of course)!

Much along the lines of "ooh, I'm not sure about that shade of green". Grrrrr! :-#

Don't get me started - just don't!

Nick.

 

Take no notice of that bow-locks mate, some people just have nothing better to do.

Hope you lot get settled without too much trouble. Believe it or not, these things can sometimes be a major blessing in disguise.

Ciaran

 

Just my opinion! I understand that it is not really your priority at the moment, so perhaps not the right time to voice it. It's said and done now though.

As an aside, I think the new location looks much nicer and will be more prosperous for your group (Not the worlds biggest fan of Barry Island despite 'Gavin and Stacey').

I shouted really loudly but no-one replied

 

Hi Nick,
Hope your New Year is going OK. Lets hope it is happier than last year. At least you will not have to worry about axle loadings on that damn bridge. ](*,)

Good luck 'up the valley', one of the few that do not have a road exit to the north.*

From memory that's a steep old bit of track.

Gordon.

*Landy maybe. :smt023