November 2017 Update
The passenger season has ended, activity on the Bala Lake Railway has slowed down and the pressure of everyday life has diminished dramatically. You might think that, but we would definitely comment otherwise!
The Halloween Specials were, as always, a resounding success and we send huge thanks to all the staff and volunteers who made them so. For once, the Santa Specials were blessed with snow, a lot of it, and next month we will show a pictorial. In the meantime, the BLR station webcam, as well as numerous ‘posts’, capture the atmosphere perfectly.
Around the Llanuwchllyn depot, the annual boiler inspections are progressing well, with nothing untoward about which to comment, and the inspector mentioned that the way our steam fleet was operated and maintained was to a very high standard, a tribute to Rob Houghton and his team.
Dan Laidlaw decided that the basement of the signal box needed clearing out, and, assisted by Bernard Allman, this exercise yielded a surprising amount of accumulated ‘stuff’. As the photos show, it is now clear and clean, and we hope to open it to visitors who will be able to see the inner workings and complex linkages of a ‘box and what goes on under the signal levers above. This may well be a ‘first’ for the BLR as we know of no other railways which can do the same.
We are concentrating this month on all the other jobs and activities that need doing in the winter season. As already mentioned, a supply of fresh sleepers arrived and the team set about cutting them to size. These are of Azobe wood, with a very tight grain, which means they will give many years of life. However, they have to be cut to BLR size (i.e. in half) and the tightness of the grain does the chainsaw no favours, but Rob Houghton and Dan Laidlaw got into a production rhythm with Rob cutting the sleepers in half (when he was not changing the saw chain – he got through a few) and Dan piling them neatly on to the two refurbished bogie wagons (see C&W). He then drilled the spike holes with his home-made template.
The Wednesday Gang and Working Weekends have achieved a huge improvement with much needed pruning and cutting of trees along the hillside on the approach to Pentrepiod Halt. As the photos show, it has opened up the vista and logs were cut and loaded into hopper wagons. Other members of the team attacked the vital task of shovelling mud and debris off the ballast, as well as checking and unblocking culverts. It sounds simplistic to describe it thus, but the amount of hard work and effort cannot be underestimated. Luckily, the usual atmosphere, along with copious amounts of tea and flapjacks, meant all involved garnered a great deal of satisfaction for a job very well done.
The framework for the Carriage Shed Extension has been erected, along with the track-work, which will give us much more covered space for rolling stock.
Julian Birley, BLR Director, commented; “Work is moving apace with the new Heritage Lottery funded carriage shed and interpretation centre at Llanuwchllyn. The ground and new track layout have been levelled and prepared for concreting, the main frame of the building is now up and it can really be appreciated quite what a dramatic improvement of the railway’s facilities this will be. To have an extra attraction for visitors to go and see locomotives and heritage rolling stock on display is going to be such a valuable asset, perpetuating as it does the understanding of the importance of narrow gauge railways to this area of North Wales”.
The Carriage & Wagon team of Rod Fairley, Geoff Hodgkinson and Bob Newton, ably assisted by James Parkinson, have had a busy month re-decking the two bogie flat wagons in readiness for the delivery of new sleepers, already mentioned. The old flooring was completely rotten and, in places, had already collapsed during last year’s sleeper replacement programme. Both wagons were carefully refurbished and re-painted, on one occasion in the carriage shed during a torrential downpour.
Elsewhere, Ben Nelson has been busy sprucing up the carriages and getting them ready for the Santa Specials, including decorations! The floors of some have been sanded and repainted, and this exercise will continue into the new year for completion before the season starts in earnest. Meanwhile, Brian Bennett has been busy getting Santa’s grotto ready for the man himself.
A long overdue visit to the Penrhyn Coach was made near the end of the month, and progress has been considerable, bearing in mind, as we continually state, that David Hale is building this magnum opus on his own.
Since our last update, the Coach is now a completed shell and will eventually be painted by Roger Hine, former BLR General Manager. You will recall that it was he who did the repainting ofWinifred to such an exemplary standard, thus he was the logical choice for the Coach. To do that, the Coach will be moved to North Wales but this is many months away.
In the meantime, the Coach had to be moved off its axles to allow space above so that the roof could be finished. The ply-wood (always an odd number of plies) flooring is now in place, all edges being sealed with mastic, and the removable centre section for axle inspection is a deliciously tight fit. The flooring, an 18mm thick, black 13-ply composite, heated and pressed with phenolic bonding resin, (the reason it is so dense and heavy), has been accurately cut from 10ft x 5ft sheets. As fitted, the rough side is uppermost for grip, but smooth underneath for easy hose-cleaning in due course. All the pins securing inner side panels are to be sunk and filled for a perfectly smooth surface. There are 10 windows to be built which will involve hours of intricate work, and the glass is to be delivered during December.
It should be pointed out that the wood being used is Sapele which can have what is called a ‘reverse grain’, a visible curve in the grain in a straight piece of wood. This presents a cabinet maker with considerable extra work as a piece could only be planed one way from the middle outwards, not along the whole strip, and likewise from centre outwards in the other direction, otherwise a plane might catch the ‘lip’ of the grain, with frustrating consequences. Again, we highlight this sort of unbelievable detail with which David has been faced all through the build process.
The two doors will, when finished, have taken almost as long to build as the whole coach, such is the involved building process. The windows will be raised by a strong leather strap, as in carriages of old, but the frame has to fit perfectly into the door frame which has a gently curving outside aspect, the ‘tumblehome’. The top of the window frame is secured by an aluminium strip to allow the top to be removed, should the glass ever need to be replaced. All the outer edges have to be rounded off to dispel water, and the door seals will use intumescent strip. It is hoped to complete the droplights by Christmas, but it must be remembered that each door has to be moved by two people so planning and forethought are essential and time-consuming. The brake wheel, which will be fitted on the back wall inside the coach, is currently several pieces of wood, waiting to be turned. Everything is being done by hand.
Again, we cannot emphasise too strongly that David Hale alone is building this fabulous new piece of rolling stock, and if tragedy is the correct word, it is that probably 80% or more of his skills and detail will never be seen and appreciated because it will be covered up. It is we who are fortunate to be able to inspect the painstaking but fascinating progress.
And finally……. it is not every day that we are able to entertain a noted, indeed legendary celebrity. During September, a special extra service train was laid on for the famous bass-baritone, Sir Bryn Terfel, and his film/recording crew who were making a special programme, to be broadcast on Christmas Day, called Taith Bryn Terfel – Gwlad y Gan 2, (Bryn Terfel’s Journey – Land of Song 2)
The train, steam-hauled, of course, set off for Llangower, containing as it did Sir Bryn and the whole compliment of the film crew. Three cameramen were on duty, one with the now obligatory drone, plus other assistants. Make a note of the timing; Channel S4C on Christmas Day at 21.00. (If you live outside Wales and have Sky TV, you can still find this in the depths of the channel listings).
Sir Bryn, whilst at Llanuwchllyn Station, discovered that it was the birthday of our delightful Café supervisor, Elin Mair. He immediately sang a rousing rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ to her, a day she and all present will not forget.
Last but not least, the management, staff and all involved with the BLR would like to wish all our volunteers and particularly visitors the warmest wishes for the festive season and the coming year. 2018 is going to be quite a year.
