rcNews

Furry friends of all shapes and sizes will be much in evidence on the Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway on 19^th and 20^th September when the railway stages a Teddy Bears' Weekend.

Younger visitors to the line will be encouraged to bring their favourite teddy with them, and every child that arrives with a bear and a paying grown-up will travel for free.

Along the line, meanwhile, there will be teddy bears to spot, while the railway’s own big ted will also be on hand to meet children and their teddies, and to pose for pictures.

“Having just organised a very successful Steam Gala for the enthusiasts at the start of the month, it’s nice to focus on the railway’s many family visitors,” said Llanfair Line spokesman Andrew Charman. “We are looking forward to seeing many young visitors to the line, with their teddy bears of course!”

Round trips depart from Welshpool station at 11.15am and 2.05pm on both days, and from Llanfair Caereinion at 10am, 1pm and 3.30pm. More details including ticket prices can be found on the railway’s website, www.wllr.org.uk, or by calling 01938 810441.

The Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway is looking forward to welcoming back the popular photographic charters organised by David Williams.  On the 5th and 6th October we are planning the popular combination of No.822 'The Earl' along with the period goods train.  On 7th October we shall be using No.12 'Joan' and an assortment of ex Zillertalbahn carriages.  Further details and contact details for bookings can be found here.

The Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway’s smallest steam locomotive will be a big star over the August Bank Holiday weekend, appearing at the Shrewsbury Steam Rally and travelling there in a very heritage manner.

Andrew Barclay 0-4-0 tank locomotive ‘Dougal’ will be taken from Welshpool to the rally site at Onslow Park, Shrewsbury, on a trailer hauled by a steam traction engine. Then on 5^th September it will return to make a grand entrance at the railway’s own Steam Gala event.

While highly unusual today, the occasion will replicate the manner in which such locomotives would have been delivered to work sites by road, in the days before the rise of the articulated lorry, a time when steam ruled the roads as well as the rails.

The plan is for Dougal to depart from the Llanfair Line’s Welshpool Raven Square station during the latter part of August, for the 15-mile trip to the rally site – the exact date and time of departure is still to be finalised but will be published on the railway’s website, Facebook and Twitter feeds.

Hauling the trailer will be no ordinary traction engine, but ‘Wolverhampton Wanderer’, a crane engine built in 1929 by the well-known manufacturer of steam locomotives for both road and rail, John Fowler. The engine is finished in the livery of its owner, freight transport specialist Leonard Crane of Wolverhampton, and has even been the subject of a Corgi Toys model.  

Wolverhampton Wanderer will be driven by John Glaze, renowned in the railway industry as a designer and inspector of boilers, while among the support crew will be W&LLR volunteers Gareth Jones, John Travis and Sam Billmore. Together with fellow volunteer James Newby, they have masterminded the expedition to Shrewsbury.

Dougal will be on show throughout Sunday and Monday (30^th-31^st August) at the rally. This is one of Shropshire’s biggest events of the year with more than 1,000 exhibits and attractions for the whole family. The loco will be the centrepiece of a W&LLR stand, which will be promoting the railway’s Steam Gala which is being held on 5^th-6^th September.

Following the end of the rally Dougal will spend a week in secure storage near Welshpool, and then on the eve of the Gala, on the evening of Friday 4^th September the loco will arrive back at Welshpool Raven Square. This time haulage will be provided by another Fowler steam road loco, ‘Foremost’, built in 1911 and recently restored to award-winning standard by Joe Walker.

The combination will spend the night at Raven Square and then at about 9am on Saturday morning they will set off to travel to the other end of the railway at Llanfair Caereinion. On arrival, a journey that is expected to take around two hours, Foremost and Dougal will form a major part of the yard displays at Llanfair as part of the Gala, these displays also including a Sentinel steam lorry and a steam car.

Dougal’s road adventure adds yet another aspect to the W&LLR’s Gala which already boasts a number of new attractions this year, including the visit of an articulated steam locomotive that formerly worked in Indonesia, ‘Pakis Baru No 5’.

“Dougal has been out of service for a while as the loco needs some boiler repairs,” said W&LLR spokesman Andrew Charman. “This excellent initiative by our members will both keep the loco in the public eye while promoting both the Shrewsbury Steam Rally and our own Gala, in an innovative and exciting way which is sure to attract the attention of many enthusiasts.”

More details of Shrewsbury Steam Rally, including advanced ticket booking facilities, can be found at www.shrewsburysteamrally.co.uk   More details of our own Gala will be available on this website shortly.

The Statfold Barn Railway’s Orenstein & Koppel 0-4-4-0T Mallet locomotive ‘Pakis Baru No. 5’ is to visit the Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway this summer, appearing as the star attraction at the mid Wales line’s annual Gala.

The 2ft 6in gauge loco, built in 1905 and repatriated from an Indonesian sugar mill by Statfold in 2004, is one of only two examples of a Mallet in a gauge above 10.25in currently working in the UK, the other 2ft gauge example also at Statfold.

Pakis Baru is scheduled to be in operation throughout the Gala, on 5th-6th September, working several demonstration trains and playing a major part in the traditional Saturday evening photography session, which this year will be choreographed, at Llanfair Caereinion.

The visiting locomotive is just one of a number of innovations at the W&LLR’s annual enthusiast event, with several new items planned alongside the most popular regular happenings that have long made the Gala so popular.

A team of W&LLR staff and volunteers has recently refurbished the run-round loop at Cyfronydd station, which will allow a much more intensive timetable – this including freight and mixed trains. The loop will also be used by a photographers’ special, to be hauled by Kerr Stuart 0-6-2T ‘Joan’ (4404/1927) and which will drop snappers off at Heniarth halt and Cyfronydd station in time to catch run-pasts by the heritage mixed trains, returning them to Llanfair afterwards.

Welshpool Raven Square station will play a major role in the event – Kitson-Meyer 0-4-4-0T ‘Monarch’ (3024/1953) will be on show outside as will the line’s Sierra Leone Railway bogie carriages, forming the backdrop to a display by the Sierra Leone National Railway Museum’s UK support group. The space released in the display shed will be occupied by a ‘Little Layouts’ model railway exhibition. There will also be traders present at Welshpool.

More stands will be found at Llanfair where the workshops will be open with stands and displays within, while conducted tours will be undertaken of the line’s Tanllan yard and stock shed, normally not accessible to the public. And stock not normally seen in action on a public day will be demonstrated, including the ex-MOD railcar ‘The Wasp’ and Hunslet mines loco ‘Ferret’, which moved under its own power for the first time in several years on 31st May. A Real ale bar and refreshments will be open throughout the weekend.

The W&LLR is also promising a special and highly photogenic event involving its currently out-of-use Barclay 0-4-0T ‘Dougal’ (2207/1946), the precise nature of which will be revealed closer to the event.

As previously, the Gala will coincide with the separate-entry Garden Railway Show at Llanfair Leisure Centre. This event is under new management this year, well-known railway bookseller and Welsh Highland Heritage Railway management team member Steve Currin having taken on the show and promised to develop it following the untimely death in January of previous organiser Steve Warrington. A free bus service will run between Llanfair station and the Garden Railway Show.

Site entry to Llanfair will cost £3 per car – parking at Welshpool will be free.

Commenting on the impending visit of Pakis Baru, W&LLR general manager Charles Spencer said; “We are making this year’s Gala busier and more varied, and we’re very grateful to Statfold Barn for offering us Pakis Baru, which will be a great attraction.”

Henry Noon of the Statfold Barn Railway commented; " We are very pleased to be supporting the W&LLR at its Gala. We are looking forward to seeing No 5 running through the beautiful Mid-Wales countryside, a far cry from its working life in the sugar mill in mid Java!"

Further details of the Gala and the timetable will be published on this website as they become available,  and discounted online tickets will be available for visitors wishing to book in advance. Updates will also appear on the W&LLR Facebook page www.facebook.com/WelshpoolSteamRailway. For more information contact the railway on 01938 810441.