NEWS UPDATE No. 115
The 11.30 departure on Friday 28th October was noteworthy, not because the management had been feeling mischievous and slotted a double-header into the schedule but because it broke a record. With its departure, the BLR achieved the record for the total number of passengers carried in an operational year.
As our General Manager David Jones succinctly put it; “Last year was to all intents and purposes a part year because of Covid but with the bounce-back during the latter part of the year, together with restricted foreign travel, people were holidaying ‘at home’ thus the BLR and other attractions benefited greatly. We did not expect 2022 to be as good because of the easing of restrictions on travel but we are delighted by the success of exceeding last year’s numbers”.
The annual Model Railway Show took place over the 24th & 25th September weekend at Bala School and was very well attended. Whilst it is not intended to be a narrow-gauge festival, a good proportion of the excellent layouts were of narrow-gauge themes and delighted children and adults of all ages. Of particular note was the standard of the trade stands which reported distinctly brisk business with the comment that a lot of the customers were serious modellers. Overall numbers were slightly down as the event was not over the Bank Holiday weekend but nevertheless, it was definitely a great success. The trains from Llanuwchllyn were kept busy all day, as was the classic single-decker bus ferrying people from the current terminus to the school and back. We will show dates for the event in 2023 later.
Another great success was the Halloween Trains on the 28th/29th October. With two special trains running on both days, almost all places were sold out. Llanuwchllyn station when only partially lit can be a bit eerie, especially with the ‘decorations’ in place but the staff and volunteers went to town, as they did at Flag Halt where all sorts of spookiness was to be seen. A great time was had by all and it was heartening that the team received quite a number of really positive comments from passengers themselves, rather than posting on social media. It meant that the BLR team have really found the right balance of spectacle and spooks. We will show the 2023 dates later.
It was back in early September that our General manager David Jones announced the Winter Maintenance Programme which will extend right through to March 2023. As always, it contains much detail about what needs to be done and when, and the first batch of track upgrades has already started, led by the ‘pre-relaying’ team. In spite of sporadic showers (“What showers?” said one), the team got busy removing spikes, unbolting fishplates, removing rails and generally getting everything ready for the main task of renewing sleepers and re-laying the track on the section from Llangower Loop to Llangower bridge. Perennial driver and volunteer Bob Greenhalgh was on hand to assist with his usual energy and he produced his customary box of flapjacks. No wonder those days with him around are popular and well-attended.
At Llanuwchllyn Station, more progress has taken place with the refurbishment of the signal box and Rod Fairley reports that the ‘eastern’ end of the ‘box is getting some serious attention with the fitting of a new corner post. He and Chris have also fitted a new window sill, and one window has gone away for repair with the other being tidied up and repainted.
The latest update from the Llyn Tegid flood defence improvements featured myriad details for what the works are including. One concerned the BLR where a trough is being constructed and will be buried beyond the rugby clubhouse in order to accommodate future expansion of the Bala Lake Railway. We have mentioned this before but it is so encouraging that this mammoth exercise of flood prevention is concerned with the extension of the railway into Bala.
Coinciding perfectly with the above is the latest bulletin from BLR Trust Chairman Julian Birley:
These wonderful recent aerial photographs show that tangible progress as the trackbed and formation for the extension of the Bala Lake Railway is taking shape. This civil engineering work is being carried out on our behalf by Natural Resources Wales, whilst they are undertaking work on the flood defences, and will soon be finished. Our thanks to all the amazing supporters who helped us raise the £277,000 to make this happen.
Planning permission will be required before we can start to lay track on this formation. We have acquired much of the land for the route and worked with local consultants to prepare and submit a planning application. This has been very challenging, demanding, time consuming and much more costly than originally anticipated. We have now managed to fulfil all requirements which will hopefully allow the Snowdonia
National Park to determine and grant us permission in early 2023.
Once we have secured planning approval, we will be making a general appeal for the next stages of the line's development and your donations at this crucial stage will help us enormously. In the meantime, please continue to support the dream that is now becoming a reality in any way you can.
Special Events for 2023 are already on the website and we publish them here as well.
- The 2022 Santa Specials – 10th and 11th December 2022. BUT, these trains are now SOLD OUT.
- St David’s Day - 26th February. Anyone living within the local postcode travels free. The trains are invariably well patronised.
- Easter Egg Hunt – 7th to 10th April.
- Race the Train - 22nd April where paddle-boarders and others race the train from Pentrepiod to the Bala Sailing Club at the far end of the line. It sounds one-sided but it most definitely is not!
- Welcome Back Alice and Holy War! – 29th and 30th April. With these two locos back in service after their ten-year overhauls, we will have five locos in steam and the BLR needs little excuse for a good party!
- A Day with “Alice, the little Welsh engine” – 29th July. Alice (and others) will be on hand to delight visitors and will be joined as always by famous author and artist Pauline Hazelwood. This is always a very popular day.
- Barbeque Specials – 3rd, 10th and 17th August. Dining on wonderful local fare at Llangower while watching the sun go down across the lake – do not miss them.
- August Steam Gala – 26th to 28th August where the title speaks for itself and any permutation of motive power is possible – and usually happens too!
- Bala Model Railway Show – 16th and 17th September in Bala School with classic bus transfer from current Bala Station to the venue and back.
- Halloween Trains – 28th and 31st October. Let your imagination run riot.
- 2023 Santa Trains – 9th and 10th December. Santa has once again accepted our invitation to visit Llanuwchllyn in 2023.
BIO-COAL. If ever there was an emotive subject in this day and age, it is the slow realisation that fossil fuel in its many forms will one day become a minority rather than a majority aspect of life. Every heritage railway in the UK is addressing this thorny subject and the BLR is the first railway in the UK to put a new substitute bio-coal variant to the test. In a nutshell, there will never be a simple alternative to best Welsh steaming coal but we have to explore what alternatives are available.
Various types of synthetic fuel are being developed for steam locomotives, some part coal with anthracite, olive husks, coal dust etc. but the type that the BLR has copiously tested contains nothing but crushed olive stones which have undergone the torrefaction process similar to the manufacture of charcoal where they are heated without oxygen and then re-heated. It is a synthetic way of mimicking the process of millions of years ago when vegetation under severe pressure became coal.
Trials of this new variant have already taken place in Ireland on a short line at Stradbally and proved satisfactory although the loco fireboxes were designed to burn peat, with its lower heat density, rather than proper steaming coal.
The BLR tried the ‘bio-coal’ for three days and six return trips of nine miles each, and in two locos, George B and Maid Marian. The trips were successfully completed although the firemen had to be particularly vigilant because of the decreased thermal efficiency of the fuel and on more than one trip, the train (with only four carriages rather than the usual six in high season) had to pause at the bottom of Dolfawr bank to raise sufficient steam for the 1:70 climb. In one instance a small amount of real coal was used for the last leg but it is interesting to note that on the final day, only eco-coal was used. One point worthy of mention is that bio-coal has only around 80% of the thermal efficiency of the real stuff, thus space in the bunkers of small locos has to be considered. On the plus side, the artificial product burns without smoke, although purists may dislike this characteristic.
In conclusion, the trials were regarded as successful and promising although more development is obviously needed. As this is a long-term exercise, it will be interesting to see how other heritage railways fare as they introduce their own trials.
And finally…… we include a delightful photo of Dan Laidlaw and family. Dan is a staff member and like his colleague Rob Houghton, has that remarkable ingenuity that only good engineers possess. Judging from young Arthur’s expression, he is well on his way to emulating his father.
We also include a photo of regular driver and IT maestro Tim Gregson during one of his recent visits. The old axiom; “You can never have too many oilcans” is fine but this number!?
