December 2015 Update
The railway is now closed for the festive season, and the locos are all drained, oiled and protected against the ravages of the inclement environment. But we ended the year on a real high with record attendance on the Santa Specials, held over the weekend of 12th and 13th December. General Manager David Jones posted the following heartfelt message:
“A big thank-you to all the volunteers who came to prepare, operate and then dismantle for the Santa Specials weekend, with special thanks to Brian and Sioux for their work over several weeks of preparation, and to Ben Nelson who did such an excellent job as apprentice ticket organiser! Despite the wind and rain, (plus more rain which meant those culverts had to be checked again), it all went extremely well. We sold out with the maximum number of children on each train, and the 10.30 train on Sunday had no spare seats at all. I believe we broke the record for Santa Specials, with passenger numbers up by a full 17%. Everyone had a great time”.
However, plans have already been put in place for much activity in January. Over 400 hardwood sleepers have already been purchased, and a significant length of track is to be relayed towards the Bala end of the line. Work will start soon into January, and there is to be another of our working weekends on the 16th-17th January. So if you want a fun and really rewarding weekend, please come and join us.
Awards are in the air for our railway. During December, notification was received to say that; ‘The Bala Lake Railway and Winifred have been shortlisted for the Heritage Railway Association Special Award for a Meritorious Project’. This centres around not only Julian Birley’s repatriation of Winifred (not forgetting Ogwen and Glyder) from the USA, but also the superb restoration of Winifred by Rob Houghton and his team, which can be summed up by the comments of the boiler inspector, who remarked that he had rarely seen such a superb job. The awards will be presented at the HRA Annual Dinner, scheduled to take place in Wolverhampton’s low level station on 6th February.
But before that, the BLR, as part of the Great Little Trains of Wales, shares another award with the Crewe-based London & North Western Heritage. Commenting on the way the six members of the GLTW work so well together, we quote from the article in the current issue of Steam Railway magazine, page 15. ‘Visit any of the six major railways, and staff will enthusiastically tell you how they have worked with one or more of their colleagues to bolster their events, share engineering expertise and now award overhaul contracts which ensure that competent in-house workforces can be built up. These are just a few of the examples of this spirit of close co-operation’. Praise indeed. February 6th will be a memorable night.
For the Penrhyn Coach news this month, a special visit was made to David Hale in Somerset, to see first-hand what progress is being made, and in spite of careful camera work etc. it is still impossible to appreciate just what a demonstration of the art of the cabinet-maker this is. The day of our visit was grey (was it ever thus?) but to see the intricacy of the joins, the uniform curves of the roof spars and symmetrical ‘tumblehome’ on the sides is to realise just what is involved. For example, all the interior side panels, cut from 8x4 sheets of wood, have the grain of the wood carefully matched, as these will be visible inside when the coach is finished. All these big sheets have been laid out in David’s drive to get that veneer match absolutely correct. Cutting each panel takes numerous ‘fittings’, such is the attention to accuracy. The drill holes are accurately located using a metal template so that they are all perfectly in line, not forgetting that the panel then has to be removed again to drill with sufficient depth into the framework, lest the wood split. There are no half measures.
As we have repeatedly said, the photos cannot begin to do adequate justice to this exercise, but it is hoped that this first-hand appraisal can give credence to the beauty of it all, as well as the cramped area in which the coach is being constructed. All the joints fit perfectly and are proverbially smooth, all the tacks are sunk into the wood and then the holes filled. We enquired about a possible completion date, and being totally realistic, we are musing about 2017. But it will be worth the wait.
As a resume’ of 2015, words such as busy, memorable, productive and exciting spring to mind. Roger Hine, General Manager for many years, retired near the end of 2014, but is still to be seen regularly volunteering for whatever needs doing. His engineering skills are always greatly appreciated, and some may not be aware of his considerable prowess as a watch-smith. Indeed, this writer has benefited from his expertise and knowledge in this field. David Jones joined us in December 2014 as the new General Manager, and immediately set about getting his feet under the table.
The big event in April was the return to steam of Winifred after her protracted restoration, led by Rob Houghton. The coaches for her inaugural runs along the line were filled to capacity, and more poignantly, the date (April 13th) was exactly 130 years to the day after her arrival at Penrhyn Quarries. That was such a special day.
Two new arrivals were both as the result of the enthusiasm of Phil Mason, who brought his recently acquired Wickham Trolley, which gave a great deal of pleasure to many during the August Gala. Accompanying the Wickham was a genuine (and very rare) single-axle trailer, which spent some time attached to Chilmark, and very good they looked together! Later in the year, Phil also brought to Llanuwchllyn his Kerr Stuart, Diana, fresh from her beautiful restoration by the Vale of Rheidol Works. However, it was soon found that she is a whisker too wide for the platforms at Bala and Llanuwchllyn, but there is a positive in everything, thus it was decided firstly to slew the track carefully at Bala by an inch or so. Llanuwchllyn presented a different problem because of point-work, so the elderly edge of the platform benefited from some gentle re-alignment to accommodate Diana and the Wickham.
On the subject of different awards, we should not forget the British Empire Medal awarded to BLR Director, Julian Birley, for Services to Railway Preservation, universally agreed to be totally deserved and long overdue. Perhaps we can hope that another might be considered when his efforts for getting the railway back into down-town Bala are recognised in the larger world.
And finally…….. The railway will re-open for Easter which occurs at the end of March. But before that, trains will be running around half term in mid-February. This neatly coincides with Valentine’s Day, and what better way to celebrate, with a difference, than a delightfully cosy ride along our famously scenic lake, and hopefully in clear, crisp weather.
During each year, we have many volunteers and members who, for reasons of location, business or illness, cannot experience what we get up to. One stalwart volunteer is recovering after a major, but thankfully successful operation. His regular ‘posts’ reveal that he is ‘confined to an armchair’, but we know that he is itching to get back to the railway. One member, for example, spent most of 2015 globe-trotting, because of motor-sport commitments, but his ‘posts’ show he is watching our activities and progress.
Whoever, wherever, we always welcome such interest and support. Therefore, we extend the very best of seasonal wishesfrom all the Directors, staff, volunteers and members to all Directors, staff volunteers and members. 2015 was a good year. With awards with which to begin 2016, the Bala Buzz will start early next year.